Mantle Structure beneath the Japan Sea as Revealed by Surface Waves

Abstract

Group velocities of long-period Rayleigh and Love waves are measured, by band-pass filtering and group-delay time methods, to study regional differences in a deep island arc structure. The measurements are made, over a period range 20 to 80 sec, for propagation paths across the Japan Sea. At longer periods, the observed group velocities of Rayleigh and Love waves are lower by as much as 0.1 km/sec than those for normal oceanic paths. It is found that the ARC-1 model, which was previously introduced to explain the low group velocities of long-period surface waves travelling across the Philippine Sea, can also explain these low group velocities. The major feature of this model is a reduction of mantle shear-velocity by 0.3 to 0.4 km/sec, or 8%, over a depth range 30 to 60 km as compared with that for normal oceanic models. This low mantle velocity and the high heat flow which was previously reported for this region suggest common causes such as high temperature and partial melting. The velocity contrast found here can be explained in terms of a 500°C temperature excess coupled with a 4% partial melting.