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Differential Crustal Attenuation in the Garhwal and Kumaon Himalaya Obtained from Seismological and Geophysical Studies

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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

The Uttarakhand Himalaya which comprises of the Garhwal and Kumaon Himalaya lies in the central seismic gap region of India. Strong motion networks have been installed separately in the Garhwal and Kumaon Himalaya under various sponsored research projects funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). These networks have recorded several near field earthquakes in the recent past. Recorded data from these networks have been utilised to study the crustal attenuation characteristics of these two regions. The crustal attenuation characteristics of medium can be directly estimated from the frequency dependent quality factor ‘Q’. Estimation of shear wave quality factor, coda wave quality factor and attenuation relations have been made by using same methodology in the data set obtained separately from these two regions. It has been found that there is a substantial difference in the attenuation characteristics of the crustal rocks in these two regions. Since shear wave attenuation has a close relation with the shear wave velocity, therefore, the shear wave velocity has been estimated at various locations of the Garhwal and Kumaon Himalaya by both active and passive methods. It has been found that the average shear wave velocity of crustal rocks in the Garhwal Himalaya is comparatively higher than that in the Kumaon Himalaya which clearly support the high attenuation property of the crustal rocks in the Kumaon Himalaya compared to the Garhwal Himalaya.

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Acknowledgement

Authors thank Dr. H.K. Gupta and Dr. Sandeep Singh for invitation to contribute this paper. Authors also thank IIT Roorkee for providing all the necessary support required for the research presented in this paper. Research work presented in this paper is the outcome of project grant no. DST/Seismo/23(483)/2004, SR/S4/ES-596/2011, EMR/2015/002500, MoES/P.O. (Seismo)23(483)/2004, MoES/P.O. (Seismo)(42)/2009, MoES/P.O. (Seismo)/1/(203)/2013 and MoES/P.O. (Seismo)/1(325)/2017, respectively.

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247 667, India

    A. Joshi & Mohit Pandey

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  1. A. Joshi
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  2. Mohit Pandey
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Correspondence to A. Joshi.

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Joshi, A., Pandey, M. Differential Crustal Attenuation in the Garhwal and Kumaon Himalaya Obtained from Seismological and Geophysical Studies. J Geol Soc India 98, 79–82 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-022-1932-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-022-1932-2

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