Seismic location improvements from an OBS/H temporary network in Southern Tyrrhenian Sea
Author(s)
Date Issued
March 24, 2006
Issue/vol(year)
2-3/49(2006)
Language
English
Abstract
We present the first investigation performed on the seismicity of Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, off-shore Sicily
with the contribution of data from broad-band ocean bottom seismometers and hydrophones (OBS/H). Offshore
data were recorded during the TYrrhenian Deep sea Experiment (TYDE) from December 2000 to May
2001 in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Hypocenter locations of a cluster of 53 seismic events occurred in
March 2001 in north-eastern Sicily were estimated by the integration of land (permanent network) and offshore
(temporary network) data and compared with locations estimated from land data only. The scatter of
the cluster was evaluated by dispersion parameters. The off-shore data significantly reduced the scatter of
the swarm hypocenters also restricting the depth range of the cluster. Moreover, space trends of the event
distribution originally shown by the land data were only partially confirmed by the land-sea joint data.
In order to assess the efficiency in terms of hypocenter mislocations in the subject area, of a land-sea
integrated network with respect to a land-based network, we performed simulations by assuming a grid
distribution of earthquakes and a recent local 3D velocity model, computing synthetic arrival times of body
waves to the stations of both network configurations (integrated and land-based) perturbing the computed
times and relocating earthquakes by inversion. The results of the synthetic tests demonstrated that the
presence of sea bottom stations in the Tyrrhenian basin can reduce the mislocations of large magnitude
and/or superficial earthquakes in the southernmost Calabria and Messina Strait and of low magnitude and/or
deep earthquakes in north-eastern Sicily. The major accuracy of synthetic earthquake locations obtained
including OBS/H data provides an additional support to the interpretation of the cluster occurred in March
2001 and to the opportunity of long-term installation of an off-shore network like TYDE in the study region.
with the contribution of data from broad-band ocean bottom seismometers and hydrophones (OBS/H). Offshore
data were recorded during the TYrrhenian Deep sea Experiment (TYDE) from December 2000 to May
2001 in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Hypocenter locations of a cluster of 53 seismic events occurred in
March 2001 in north-eastern Sicily were estimated by the integration of land (permanent network) and offshore
(temporary network) data and compared with locations estimated from land data only. The scatter of
the cluster was evaluated by dispersion parameters. The off-shore data significantly reduced the scatter of
the swarm hypocenters also restricting the depth range of the cluster. Moreover, space trends of the event
distribution originally shown by the land data were only partially confirmed by the land-sea joint data.
In order to assess the efficiency in terms of hypocenter mislocations in the subject area, of a land-sea
integrated network with respect to a land-based network, we performed simulations by assuming a grid
distribution of earthquakes and a recent local 3D velocity model, computing synthetic arrival times of body
waves to the stations of both network configurations (integrated and land-based) perturbing the computed
times and relocating earthquakes by inversion. The results of the synthetic tests demonstrated that the
presence of sea bottom stations in the Tyrrhenian basin can reduce the mislocations of large magnitude
and/or superficial earthquakes in the southernmost Calabria and Messina Strait and of low magnitude and/or
deep earthquakes in north-eastern Sicily. The major accuracy of synthetic earthquake locations obtained
including OBS/H data provides an additional support to the interpretation of the cluster occurred in March
2001 and to the opportunity of long-term installation of an off-shore network like TYDE in the study region.
References
ANDERSON, H. and J. JACKSON (1987): Active tectonics of the Adriatic region, Geophys. J. R.
Astr. Soc., 91, 937-983.
ARGNANI, A. (2000): The southern Tyrrhenian subduction system; recent evolution and
neotectonic implications, Ann. Geofis., 43, 585-607.
ARGNANI, A., and C. SAVELLI (1999): Cenozoic volcanism and tectonics in the southern
Tyrrhenian Sea; space-time distribution and geodynamic significance, J. Geodynamics, 27, 409-432.
BARBERI, F., P. GASPARINI, F. INNOCENTI and L. VILLARI (1973): Volcanism of the
Southern Tyrrhenian Sea and its geodynamical implications, J. Geophys. Res., 78, 5221-5232.
BEN-AVRAHAM, Z. and M. GRASSO (1990): Collisional zone segmentation in Sicily and
surrounding areas in the Central Mediterranean, Ann. Tectonicae, 4 (2), 131-139.
BEN-AVRAHAM, Z. and M. GRASSO (1991): Crustal structure variations and transcurrent
faulting at the eastern and western margins of the Eastern Mediterranean, Tectonophysics, 196, 269-
277.
BERANZOLI, L., G. ETIOPE, P. FAVALI, F. FRUGONI, G. SMRIGLIO, Y. AOYAGI, T.
MURAYAMA, M. SHINOHARA and K. SUYEHIRO (1997): Microsismicità nel Mar Tirreno
Meridionale registrata da una rete di Ocean Bottom Seismometers nel periodo 15 Ottobre-3
Novembre 1996, Riassunti del 16o Convegno GNGTS, 11-13 Novembre, Roma , 66.
BOSCHI, E., GUIDOBONI E., FERRARI G., VALENSISE G. and P. GASPERINI (1997):
Catalogue of the strong earthquakes in Italy from 461 b.C. to 1990 (in Italian), ING-SGA, Bologna,
pp. 973.
CALAIS, E., C. DE METS and J.-M. NOCQUET (2003): Evidence for a post-3.16-Ma change in
Nubia-Eurasia-North America plate motions?, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 216, 81-92.
CIMINI, G.B. (1999): P-wave deep velocity structure of the Southern Tyrrhenian Subduction Zone
from nonlinear traveltime tomography, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 3709-3712.
DAHM, T., M. THORWART, E. R. FLUEH, T. BRAUN, R. HERBER, P. FAVALI, L.
BERANZOLI, G. D’ANNA, F. FRUGONI and G. SMRIGLIO (2002): First deployment of new
ocean bottom broadband seismological instruments in the Tyrrhenian Sea reveals unknown centers
of submarine activity, EOS, 83 (29), 309-320.
DOGLIONI, C., F. INNOCENTI and G. MARIOTTI (2001): Why Mt. Etna?, Terra Nova, 13, 25-
31.
EVANS, J.R., D. EBERHART-PHILLIPS and C.H. THURBER (1994): User's manual for
simulps12 for imaging VP and VP/VS: a derivative of the "Thurber" tomographic inversion simul3
for local earthquakes and explosions, USGS Open-file Report, 94-431.
FACCENNA, C., P. DAVY, J.P. BRUN, R. FUNICIELLO, D. GIARDINI, M. MATTEI and T.
NALPAS (1996): The dynamics of back-arc extension: an experimental approach to the opening of
the Tyrrhenian Sea, Geophys. J. Int., 126, 781-795.
FACCENNA, C., T.W. BECKER, F.P. LUCENTE, L. JOLIVET and F. ROSSETTI (2001a):
History of Subduction and Back-arc Extension in the Central Mediterranean, Geophys. J. Int., 145,
809-820.
FACCENNA, C., F. FUNICIELLO, D. GIARDINI and F.P. LUCENTE (2001b): Episodic back-arc
extension during restricted mantle convection in the Central Mediterranean, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,
187, 105-116.
FINETTI, I. and A. DEL BEN (1986): Geophysical study of the Tyrrhenian opening, Boll. Geof.
Teor. Appl., 110, 75-156.
GASPARINI, C., G. IANNACCONE, P. SCANDONE and R. SCARPA (1982): Seismotectonics
of the Calabrian Arc, Tectonophysics, 82, 267-286.
GIARDINI, D. and M. VELONÀ (1991): Deep seismicity of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Terra Nova, 3, 57-64.
GVIRTZMAN, Z. and A. NUR (2001): Residual topography, lithospheric structure and sunken
slabs in the central Mediterranean, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 187, 117-130.
HIRN, A., R. NICOLICH, J. GALLART, M. LAIGLE, L. CERNOBORI, B. ACCAINO, F.
AVEDIK, M. BIANCA, J. DIAZ, J.-C. LEPINE, G. METTON, C. MONACO, A. NERCESSIAN,
L. PETRONIO, S. POU, M. ROMANELLI, V. GALLARES, M. SAPIN, L. TORTORICI, I.
MARSON, M. SACHPAZI, B. DELLA VEDOVA (1997): Roots of Etna Volcano in faults of great
earthquakes, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 148, 171-191.
KISSLING, E., W.L. ELLSWORTH, D. EBERHART-PHILLIPS and U. KRADOLFER (1994):
Initial reference models in local earthquake tomography, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 19635-19646.
LUCENTE, F.P., C. CHIARABBA and G.B. CIMINI (1999): Tomographic constraints on the
geodynamic evolution of the Italian region, J. Geophys. Res., 104 (B9), 20307-20327.
MALINVERNO, A. and W.B.F. RYAN (1986): Extension in the Tyrrhenian sea and shortening in
the Apennines as result of Arc migration driven by sinking of the lithosphere, Tectonics, 5, 227-
245.
MELETTI, C., E. PATACCA and P. SCANDONE (2000): Construction of a seismotectonic model:
the case of Italy, Pure Appl. Geophys., 157 (1-2), 11-35.
NERI, G., G. BARBERI, G. OLIVA and B. ORECCHIO (2005): Spatial variations of seismogenic
stress orientations in Sicily, south Italy, Phys. Earth and Planet. Int., 148, 175-191.
NERI, G., G. BARBERI, B. ORECCHIO and M. ALOISI (2002): Seismotomography of the crust
in the transition zone between the southern Tyrrhenian and Sicilian tectonic domains, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 29 (23), 2135, doi:10.1029/2002GL015562.
NERI, G., G. BARBERI, B. ORECCHIO and A. MOSTACCIO (2003): Seismic strain and
seismogenic stress regimes in the crust of the southern Tyrrhenian region, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,
213, 97-112.
NICOLICH, R., M. LAIGLE, A. HIRN, L. CERNOBORI and J. GALLART (2000): Crustal
structure of the Ionian margin of Sicily: Etna volcano in the frame of regional evolution,
Tectonophysics, 329, 121-139.
NOCQUET, J.-M. and E. CALAIS (2004): Geodetic Measurements of Crustal Deformation in the
Western Mediterranean and Europe, Pure Appl. Geophys., 161 (3), 661-682.
PIROMALLO, C. and A. MORELLI (1997): Imaging the Mediterranean upper mantle by P-wave
travel time tomography, Ann. Geofis., 40, 963-979.
SCANDONE, P. and M. STUCCHI (1999): La zonazione sismogenetica ZS4 come strumento per
la valutazione della pericolosità sismica, In: “Le ricerche del GNDT nel campo della pericolosità
sismica (1996-1999)”, edited by Galadini F., Meletti C., and Rebez A., GNDT.
SELLA, G.F., T.H. DIXON and A. MAO (2002): REVEL: A model for recent plate velocities from
space geodesy, J. Geophys. Res., 107, doi:10.1029/2000JB000033.
SELVAGGI, G. and C. CHIARABBA (1995): Seismicity and P-wave velocity image of the
Southern Tyrrhenian subduction zone, Geophys. J. Int., 121, 818-826.
SGROI, T., T. BRAUN, T. DAHM and F. FRUGONI (2005): An improved seismicity picture of
the Southern Tyrrhenian area by the use of OBS and land-based networks: the TYDE experiment,
Ann. Geophys., 48/5 (in press).
SOLOVIEV, S.L., I.P. KUZIN, S.A. KOVACHEV, M. FERRI, I. GUERRA and G. LUONGO
(1990): Micro-earthquakes in the Tyrrhenian Sea as revealed by joint land and sea-bottom
seismographs, Mar. Geol., 94:131-146.
TINTI, S., A. MARAMAI and L. GRAZIANI (2004): The new catalogue of Italian Tsunamis, Natural
Hazards, 33, 439-465.
Astr. Soc., 91, 937-983.
ARGNANI, A. (2000): The southern Tyrrhenian subduction system; recent evolution and
neotectonic implications, Ann. Geofis., 43, 585-607.
ARGNANI, A., and C. SAVELLI (1999): Cenozoic volcanism and tectonics in the southern
Tyrrhenian Sea; space-time distribution and geodynamic significance, J. Geodynamics, 27, 409-432.
BARBERI, F., P. GASPARINI, F. INNOCENTI and L. VILLARI (1973): Volcanism of the
Southern Tyrrhenian Sea and its geodynamical implications, J. Geophys. Res., 78, 5221-5232.
BEN-AVRAHAM, Z. and M. GRASSO (1990): Collisional zone segmentation in Sicily and
surrounding areas in the Central Mediterranean, Ann. Tectonicae, 4 (2), 131-139.
BEN-AVRAHAM, Z. and M. GRASSO (1991): Crustal structure variations and transcurrent
faulting at the eastern and western margins of the Eastern Mediterranean, Tectonophysics, 196, 269-
277.
BERANZOLI, L., G. ETIOPE, P. FAVALI, F. FRUGONI, G. SMRIGLIO, Y. AOYAGI, T.
MURAYAMA, M. SHINOHARA and K. SUYEHIRO (1997): Microsismicità nel Mar Tirreno
Meridionale registrata da una rete di Ocean Bottom Seismometers nel periodo 15 Ottobre-3
Novembre 1996, Riassunti del 16o Convegno GNGTS, 11-13 Novembre, Roma , 66.
BOSCHI, E., GUIDOBONI E., FERRARI G., VALENSISE G. and P. GASPERINI (1997):
Catalogue of the strong earthquakes in Italy from 461 b.C. to 1990 (in Italian), ING-SGA, Bologna,
pp. 973.
CALAIS, E., C. DE METS and J.-M. NOCQUET (2003): Evidence for a post-3.16-Ma change in
Nubia-Eurasia-North America plate motions?, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 216, 81-92.
CIMINI, G.B. (1999): P-wave deep velocity structure of the Southern Tyrrhenian Subduction Zone
from nonlinear traveltime tomography, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 3709-3712.
DAHM, T., M. THORWART, E. R. FLUEH, T. BRAUN, R. HERBER, P. FAVALI, L.
BERANZOLI, G. D’ANNA, F. FRUGONI and G. SMRIGLIO (2002): First deployment of new
ocean bottom broadband seismological instruments in the Tyrrhenian Sea reveals unknown centers
of submarine activity, EOS, 83 (29), 309-320.
DOGLIONI, C., F. INNOCENTI and G. MARIOTTI (2001): Why Mt. Etna?, Terra Nova, 13, 25-
31.
EVANS, J.R., D. EBERHART-PHILLIPS and C.H. THURBER (1994): User's manual for
simulps12 for imaging VP and VP/VS: a derivative of the "Thurber" tomographic inversion simul3
for local earthquakes and explosions, USGS Open-file Report, 94-431.
FACCENNA, C., P. DAVY, J.P. BRUN, R. FUNICIELLO, D. GIARDINI, M. MATTEI and T.
NALPAS (1996): The dynamics of back-arc extension: an experimental approach to the opening of
the Tyrrhenian Sea, Geophys. J. Int., 126, 781-795.
FACCENNA, C., T.W. BECKER, F.P. LUCENTE, L. JOLIVET and F. ROSSETTI (2001a):
History of Subduction and Back-arc Extension in the Central Mediterranean, Geophys. J. Int., 145,
809-820.
FACCENNA, C., F. FUNICIELLO, D. GIARDINI and F.P. LUCENTE (2001b): Episodic back-arc
extension during restricted mantle convection in the Central Mediterranean, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,
187, 105-116.
FINETTI, I. and A. DEL BEN (1986): Geophysical study of the Tyrrhenian opening, Boll. Geof.
Teor. Appl., 110, 75-156.
GASPARINI, C., G. IANNACCONE, P. SCANDONE and R. SCARPA (1982): Seismotectonics
of the Calabrian Arc, Tectonophysics, 82, 267-286.
GIARDINI, D. and M. VELONÀ (1991): Deep seismicity of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Terra Nova, 3, 57-64.
GVIRTZMAN, Z. and A. NUR (2001): Residual topography, lithospheric structure and sunken
slabs in the central Mediterranean, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 187, 117-130.
HIRN, A., R. NICOLICH, J. GALLART, M. LAIGLE, L. CERNOBORI, B. ACCAINO, F.
AVEDIK, M. BIANCA, J. DIAZ, J.-C. LEPINE, G. METTON, C. MONACO, A. NERCESSIAN,
L. PETRONIO, S. POU, M. ROMANELLI, V. GALLARES, M. SAPIN, L. TORTORICI, I.
MARSON, M. SACHPAZI, B. DELLA VEDOVA (1997): Roots of Etna Volcano in faults of great
earthquakes, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 148, 171-191.
KISSLING, E., W.L. ELLSWORTH, D. EBERHART-PHILLIPS and U. KRADOLFER (1994):
Initial reference models in local earthquake tomography, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 19635-19646.
LUCENTE, F.P., C. CHIARABBA and G.B. CIMINI (1999): Tomographic constraints on the
geodynamic evolution of the Italian region, J. Geophys. Res., 104 (B9), 20307-20327.
MALINVERNO, A. and W.B.F. RYAN (1986): Extension in the Tyrrhenian sea and shortening in
the Apennines as result of Arc migration driven by sinking of the lithosphere, Tectonics, 5, 227-
245.
MELETTI, C., E. PATACCA and P. SCANDONE (2000): Construction of a seismotectonic model:
the case of Italy, Pure Appl. Geophys., 157 (1-2), 11-35.
NERI, G., G. BARBERI, G. OLIVA and B. ORECCHIO (2005): Spatial variations of seismogenic
stress orientations in Sicily, south Italy, Phys. Earth and Planet. Int., 148, 175-191.
NERI, G., G. BARBERI, B. ORECCHIO and M. ALOISI (2002): Seismotomography of the crust
in the transition zone between the southern Tyrrhenian and Sicilian tectonic domains, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 29 (23), 2135, doi:10.1029/2002GL015562.
NERI, G., G. BARBERI, B. ORECCHIO and A. MOSTACCIO (2003): Seismic strain and
seismogenic stress regimes in the crust of the southern Tyrrhenian region, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,
213, 97-112.
NICOLICH, R., M. LAIGLE, A. HIRN, L. CERNOBORI and J. GALLART (2000): Crustal
structure of the Ionian margin of Sicily: Etna volcano in the frame of regional evolution,
Tectonophysics, 329, 121-139.
NOCQUET, J.-M. and E. CALAIS (2004): Geodetic Measurements of Crustal Deformation in the
Western Mediterranean and Europe, Pure Appl. Geophys., 161 (3), 661-682.
PIROMALLO, C. and A. MORELLI (1997): Imaging the Mediterranean upper mantle by P-wave
travel time tomography, Ann. Geofis., 40, 963-979.
SCANDONE, P. and M. STUCCHI (1999): La zonazione sismogenetica ZS4 come strumento per
la valutazione della pericolosità sismica, In: “Le ricerche del GNDT nel campo della pericolosità
sismica (1996-1999)”, edited by Galadini F., Meletti C., and Rebez A., GNDT.
SELLA, G.F., T.H. DIXON and A. MAO (2002): REVEL: A model for recent plate velocities from
space geodesy, J. Geophys. Res., 107, doi:10.1029/2000JB000033.
SELVAGGI, G. and C. CHIARABBA (1995): Seismicity and P-wave velocity image of the
Southern Tyrrhenian subduction zone, Geophys. J. Int., 121, 818-826.
SGROI, T., T. BRAUN, T. DAHM and F. FRUGONI (2005): An improved seismicity picture of
the Southern Tyrrhenian area by the use of OBS and land-based networks: the TYDE experiment,
Ann. Geophys., 48/5 (in press).
SOLOVIEV, S.L., I.P. KUZIN, S.A. KOVACHEV, M. FERRI, I. GUERRA and G. LUONGO
(1990): Micro-earthquakes in the Tyrrhenian Sea as revealed by joint land and sea-bottom
seismographs, Mar. Geol., 94:131-146.
TINTI, S., A. MARAMAI and L. GRAZIANI (2004): The new catalogue of Italian Tsunamis, Natural
Hazards, 33, 439-465.
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