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Attenuation of High-Frequency Seismic Waves in NW Iran

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Abstract

We analyzed 872 local earthquakes recorded by 18 seismic stations to estimate P-, S-, and coda-wave quality factors for NW Iran, an active seismic and geothermal region in the central part of the Alpine-Himalayan orogeny in western Asia. The calculated frequency-dependent attenuation relations are as follows: Qp = 38 ± 2 f 1.00±0.07, Qs = 79 ± 2 f 0.90±0.17, and Qc = 64 ± 1 f 0.86±0.18 (for a lapse time window length of 50 s). The depth variations of Qc were investigated by estimating Qc at five lapse time windows ranging from 30 to 70 s. The Analysis of Qc in sub-regions surrounding Sahand volcano, Sabalan volcano, and Talesh Mountains indicates that Qc is increasing with the increase of the lapse times. However, the Qc values estimated in the areas surrounding the volcanoes are generally lower than those of the Talesh Mountains, confirming a lithospheric contrast between the warm and weak lithosphere of NW Iran and the more rigid South Caspian Basin lithosphere located beneath the Talesh Mountains. The average Qs/Qp ratio in NW Iran is > 1.6 at all frequencies, likely due to a high degree of heterogeneities and thermal activities in the crust.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Constantinos Papazachos (Editor), Dr. Majid Mahood and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable and insightful comments and suggestions. The data acquisition by IASBS has been done by partial supports from the Royal Society under the International Collaboration Awards (ICA/R1/180234), NERC under the Earthquakes Without Frontiers project (NE/J019895/1), grant number 91003241 from Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) and Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran. We would like to express our gratitude towards the Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran for allowing us to access their earthquake data.

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Iran National Science Foundation, 91003241, Khalil Motaghi.

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, 45137-66731, Iran

    Zahra Zarunizadeh & Khalil Motaghi

  2. Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Habib Rahimi

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Zarunizadeh, Z., Motaghi, K. & Rahimi, H. Attenuation of High-Frequency Seismic Waves in NW Iran. Pure Appl. Geophys. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-024-03496-y

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