Imaging of the Hellenic subduction zone by seismic tomography

The Hellenic subduction zone is a complicated tectonic boundary, along which transitions in the nature of subducted material are believed to occur. The objective of this study was to better constrain the subsurface geometry of the Hellenic subduction zone by increasing the resolution of an existing tomographic model of the region. Increase in resolution is important for understanding the effects of inferred transitions in subducted material at depth. Nonlinear inversion of P-wave travel times was used on a global dataset expanded by temporary array data collected in southern Greece. Results show a vertically continuous slab, with a break at the depth 200-400 km detected only in the NW portion of the system. At depth above 400 kin, there is a lateral discontinuity marked by the Central Hellenic Shear Zone and Kephalonia Transform Fault, with slab more pronounced in southern part of the system. Our study supports the hypothesis of the change in subduction mode between northern and southern part of Hellenic arc in late Pliocene.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Hosa, Aleksandra M

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Stéphane Rondenay.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114344

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/114344