Surface-wave Propagation Across North America: New Methods, Observations and Models

DESCRIPTION: The project will study the propagation of fundamental-mode surface waves across North America which depend on the elastic structure of the crust and shallow mantle using data from USArray. This will result in a new set of observations, further development of a method to analyze cross spectra of ambient noise, and maps generated from the project will provide complementary constraints on the elastic structure of the crust and shallow mantle.

OUTCOMES: Research has led to better characterization of error, demonstrated that USArray stations are calibrated to within one or a few per cent, identified clear structural patterns in station signal amplification, and found that simple models for elastic velocity structure are inadequate for predicting surface-wave maps.