3D S-velocity model of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system beneath the Bering Sea

Abstract

The 3D S-velocity structure for the Bering Sea region is determined from dispersion analysis (Rayleigh waves), from which the most conspicuous features of the crust and upper mantle (from 0 to 400 km depth) will be revealed. In the depth range from 0 to 5 km, this model shows the distribution of the sedimentary basins present in the study area, in terms of S-velocity. For the Bering Shelf, the S-velocity values decrease southward, indicating the presence of deep sedimentary basins in the southern Bering Shelf. In the depth range from 5 to 30 km, the S-velocity model shows clearly the division of the Bering Sea basin in three sub-basins: the Aleutian Basin, the Bowers Basin and the Komandorsky Basin, produced by the Bowers Ridge and the Shirshov Ridge. In this model, the low S-velocity pattern determined for the Bering Shelf confirms that its crust is similar to a continental-type crust, no an oceanic crust. The Moho map determined in the present study, from the 3D S-velocity model, is the first Moho map calculated for the Bering Sea region. In this map, the crust beneath the Bering Shelf shows thicker thickness than a typical oceanic crust, from which is concluded that this crust must be considered as a transitional crustal structure. In the depth range from 30 to 100 km, the Aleutian Basin shows a pattern of high S-velocity that can be correlated with the origin of this basin, because this basin is considered as formed by the entrapment of a piece of Pacific plate. In the depth range from 45 to 60 km, the low S-velocity pattern shown for the eastern Aleutian arc is associated to the active arc volcanoes present in this region. From the S-velocity model, the asthenosphere beneath the study area is firstly determined from ~ 100 to ~ 180 km depth. For the depth range from 80 to 400 km, the high S-velocity pattern determined for the eastern Aleutian arc, allows the modeling (imaging) of the subducting Pacific slab, in terms of S-velocity. This pattern of high S-velocity is not visible beneath the western Aleutian arc, because the Pacific plate is not subducting beneath the Bering Sea in the western Aleutian arc.