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Joint Inversion of Seismic and Magnetotelluric Data in the Parkfield Region of California Using the Normalized Cross-Gradient Constraint

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Abstract

We present jointly inverted models of P-wave velocity (Vp) and electrical resistivity for a two-dimensional profile centered on the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). Significant structural similarity between main features of the separately inverted Vp and resistivity models is exploited by carrying out a joint inversion of the two datasets using the normalized cross-gradient constraint. This constraint favors structurally similar Vp and resistivity images that adequately fit the seismic and magnetotelluric (MT) datasets. The new inversion code, tomoDDMT, merges the seismic inversion code tomoDD and the forward modeling and sensitivity kernel subroutines of the MT inversion code OCCAM2DMT. TomoDDMT is tested on a synthetic dataset and demonstrates the code’s ability to more accurately resolve features of the input synthetic structure relative to the separately inverted resistivity and velocity models. Using tomoDDMT, we are able to resolve a number of key issues raised during drilling at SAFOD. We are able to infer the distribution of several geologic units including the Salinian granitoids, the Great Valley sequence, and the Franciscan Formation. The distribution and transport of fluids at both shallow and great depths is also examined. Low values of velocity/resistivity attributed to a feature known as the Eastern Conductor (EC) can be explained in two ways: the EC is a brine-filled, high porosity region, or this region is composed largely of clay-rich shales of the Franciscan. The Eastern Wall, which lies immediately adjacent to the EC, is unlikely to be a fluid pathway into the San Andreas Fault’s seismogenic zone due to its observed higher resistivity and velocity values.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Number EAR-0838249 and by a Morgridge Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The instruments used in the Parkfield field program were provided by the PASSCAL facility of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) through the PASSCAL Instrument Center at New Mexico Tech. The facilities of the IRIS Consortium were supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement EAR-1261681. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This research is also partly supported by the Chinese government’s executive program for exploring the deep interior beneath the Chinese continent (SinoProbe-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Ninfa L. Bennington & Clifford H. Thurber

  2. Laboratory of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Haijiang Zhang

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA

    Paul A. Bedrosian

Authors
  1. Ninfa L. Bennington
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  2. Haijiang Zhang
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  3. Clifford H. Thurber
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  4. Paul A. Bedrosian
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Correspondence to Ninfa L. Bennington.

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Bennington, N.L., Zhang, H., Thurber, C.H. et al. Joint Inversion of Seismic and Magnetotelluric Data in the Parkfield Region of California Using the Normalized Cross-Gradient Constraint. Pure Appl. Geophys. 172, 1033–1052 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-014-1002-9

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