Array Analysis of Teleseismic Body-Wave Microseisms

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Microseismic background ?noise? is low amplitude ground motion or vibration that is commonly caused by wind, waves or even vehicle traffic. This energy has long been known to be propagated as surface waves that travel along the Earth?s surface. Less well known is that some of this energy travels through the Earth?s interior as body waves generated largely by storm waves, which are useful for studying the structure of the Earth. This phenomenon and its potential applications have been little studied. This project will apply beam forming and back projection methods can be usefully applied to analyze P-wave microseismic data from a variety of seismic arrays. These techniques could prove to be transformative for studies of Earth structure, particularly in regions of the interior that are not well sampled by seismic waves from earthquakes. Broader impacts of the work include support for a graduate student and involving an undergraduate student through the UCSD STARS program, and a unique feature of the work is its highly interdisciplinary nature; related field of study include oceanography, ocean acoustics, and seismology.