Savani: A variable resolution whole-mantle model of anisotropic shear velocity variations based on multiple data sets

International audience

We present a tomographic model of radially anisotropic shear velocity variations in the Earth's mantle based on a new compilation of previously published data sets and a variable block parameterization, adapted to local raypath density. We employ ray-theoretical sensitivity functions to relate surface wave and body wave data with radially anisotropic velocity perturbations. Our database includes surface wave phase delays from fundamental modes up to the sixth overtone, measured at periods between 25 and 350 s, as well as cross-correlation traveltimes of major body wave phases. Before inversion, we apply crustal corrections using the crustal model CRUST2.0, and we account for azimuthal anisotropy in the upper mantle using ray-theoretical corrections based on a global model of azimuthal anisotropy. While being well correlated with earlier models at long spatial wavelength, our preferred solution, savani, additionally delineates a number of previously unidentified structures due to its improved resolution in areas of dense coverage. This is because the density of the inverse grid ranges between 1.25° in well-sampled and 5° in poorly sampled regions, allowing us to resolve regional structure better than it is typically the case in global S wave tomography. Our model highlights (i) a distinct ocean-continent anisotropic signature in the uppermost mantle, (ii) an oceanic peak in above average ξ<1 which is shallower than in previous models and thus in better agreement with estimates of lithosphere thickness, and (iii) a long-wavelength pattern of ξ<1 associated with the large low-shear velocity provinces in the lowermost mantle.