Collaborative Research: Imaging Seismic Heterogeneity within the Antarctic Mantle with Full Waveform Ambient Noise Tomography

拟议研究的非技术描述：本项目将应用尖端地震成像方法对现有地震数据进行研究，以研究冰层覆盖的南极大陆下地球的三维结构。这项研究将提高对地球结构和热点以及地质上近代和古代裂谷系统的认识。这些结果将有助于建立由于冰盖厚度变化而引起的冰运动和基岩高程变化的模型。研究结果也将有助于指导未来的地震数据收集。研究人员将把现有的软件从罗德岛大学的高性能计算机转移到阿拉巴马州的超级计算机设施。该项目还将通过与新墨西哥州索科罗县的学生和教师讨论科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）、地球科学的就业机会以及计算机在科学研究中的重要性，扩大公众对南极洲科学研究的理解。来自阿拉巴马州的项目人员将访问索科罗，并与新墨西哥理工学院和索科罗高中的学生分享研究成果。该项目还将通过应用这些方法研究南极地质，在不断扩大的计算地震学领域培养本科生和研究生。拟议研究的技术说明：该项目旨在更好地解决三维南极地幔结构和粘度，并确定稳定的南极东部岩石圈内古代裂谷的位置。为了实现这一目标，研究人员将利用全波形层析反演技术，将长周期环境噪声数据与地震约束相结合，以比传统层析方法更准确地解析结构。拟议的研究将使用阿拉巴马州的超级计算机设施和罗德岛大学开发的程序和方法来完成。新的层析成像结果将有助于评估Dronning Maud Land以及东南极洲的Wilkes和Aurora冰下盆地下的岩石圈结构，在那里将探索先前的裂谷事件和岩石圈中部的不连续性。在南极洲西部，这项工作将阐明南极西部裂谷系统的最东端，以及威德尔海的裂谷结构和可能的成分变化。现有南极地震模型的精度将通过模型验证方法进行量化。研究人员将强调南极洲断层成像分辨率仍然不足的地区，未来的部署将提高分辨率。

Nontechnical description of proposed research: This project will apply cutting-edge seismic imaging methods to existing seismic data to study the three-dimensional structure of the Earth beneath the ice-covered Antarctic continent. The study will improve understanding of Earth structure and hotspots and geologically recent and ancient rift systems. The results will be useful for models of ice movement and bedrock elevation changes due to variation in ice sheet thickness. The results will also help guide future seismic data collection. The researchers will transfer existing software from the high-performance computers at The University of Rhode Island to the Alabama supercomputer facilities. The project will also broaden public understanding of scientific research in Antarctica by engaging with the students and teachers in Socorro County, New Mexico to discuss career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the Earth Sciences, and the importance of computers in scientific research. Project personnel from Alabama will visit Socorro and share research with students at New Mexico Tech and at the Socorro High School. The project will also train undergraduate and graduate students in the expanding field of computational seismology, by applying these approaches to study Antarctic geology.Technical description of proposed research: The project seeks to better resolve the three-dimensional Antarctic mantle structure and viscosity and to identify locations of ancient rifts within the stable East Antarctic lithosphere. To accomplish this, the researchers will utilize full-waveform tomographic inversion techniques that combine long-period ambient noise data with earthquake constraints to more accurately resolve structure than traditional tomographic approaches. The proposed research will be completed using the Alabama supercomputer facilities and the programs and methodology developed at The University of Rhode Island. The new tomographic results will be useful in assessing lithospheric structure beneath Dronning Maud Land as well as the Wilkes and Aurora Subglacial Basins in East Antarctica, where previous rifting episodes and mid-lithospheric discontinuities will be explored. In West Antarctica, the work will elucidate the easternmost extent of the West Antarctic Rift System as well as rifted structure and possible compositional variations within the Weddell Sea. The accuracy of existing Antarctic seismic models will be quantified through model validation approaches. The researchers will highlight regions of Antarctica where tomographic resolution is still lacking and where future deployments would improve resolution.