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Upper mantle anisotropy in Sri Lanka using shear-wave splitting analysis: Geodynamical implications

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Abstract

Anisotropy, a term used by seismologists to describe the variation of seismic wave velocity in different directions, is an excellent tool to examine the deformation (past and present) in the upper mantle. Seismic anisotropy beneath Sri Lanka region is investigated using core-refracted SK(K)S phases at three stations, namely MALK, PALK and HALK. Shear wave splitting measurements were done for ~30 high-quality waveforms recorded in the region, using the rotational correlation (RC), the minimum energy (SC), and the eigenvalue (EV) methods. The shear wave splitting measurement results in Sri Lanka show the presence of two anisotropic layers in the upper mantle, viz., NW–SE fast polarization direction for MALK and HALK, and NE–SW for the PALK stations in the upper layer; NNE–SSW for MALK and HALK, and NW–SE for PALK in the lower layer. Overall, fast polarization direction for Sri Lanka region is found to be NE–SW. The delay time in the upper and lower layer is found to be between 0.3–0.5 s and 0.6–0.9 s, respectively. The observed average delay time (1.2 s) in the lower layer of upper mantle describes a ~134 km thick anisotropic layer with 4% anisotropy beneath Sri Lanka region. Comparison of absolute plate motion (APM) direction with fast polarization directions indicate that the simple asthenospheric flow (SAF) model prevails in this region. On the other hand, comparison of maximum horizontal stress (Shmax) and the global positioning system (GPS) with the fast polarization direction indicates that there is partial contribution from lithospheric mantle. The anisotropy in Sri Lanka could be mainly governed by asthenospheric flow and partially due to lithospheric mantle.

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Acknowledgements

We warmly thank Andreas Wüstefeld for his useful help in providing the SplitLab package. We thank Dr Radheshyam Yadav and Dr V M Tiwari, for providing us the maximum principal stress direction (Shmax) results for comparison. The comments from the anonymous reviewers are constructive and valuable that have greatly improved the manuscript. K Borah gratefully acknowledges the financial support by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), India (Project No. MTR/2019/001260). Seismic waveform data has been obtained from Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Management Centre (DMC) and GEOFON Data Centre networks: GE (https://doi.org/10.14470/TR560404) and II (https://doi.org/10.7914/SN/II). Most of the data processing was done using Seismic Analysis Code (SAC) and figures were made using Generic Mapping Tools (GMT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741 246, West Bengal, India

    Shivam Chandra, Kajaljyoti Borah & Avilash Barua

  2. Center for Climate and Environmental Studies, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741 246, West Bengal, India

    Kajaljyoti Borah

  3. Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 610011, Japan

    Pousali Mukherjee

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  1. Shivam Chandra
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  2. Kajaljyoti Borah
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  4. Pousali Mukherjee
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Contributions

SC: Data analysis, writing, revising and editing the original draft. KB: Supervision, discussion, revision, correction, improvement. AB: Editing, improvement. PM: Discussion, revision, corrections, improvement.

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Correspondence to Kajaljyoti Borah.

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Communicated by Anand Joshi

Supplementary material pertaining to this article is available on the Journal of Earth System Science website (http://www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Journal_of_Earth_System_Science).

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Chandra, S., Borah, K., Barua, A. et al. Upper mantle anisotropy in Sri Lanka using shear-wave splitting analysis: Geodynamical implications. J Earth Syst Sci 132, 91 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02107-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02107-z

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