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Exploring the Mackenzie Mountains Lithosphere: 3D P Wave Velocity Tomography and Thermal Structure

Description: 

The Mackenzie Mountains of northwestern Canada are distinguished by their complex tectonic history. Despite the distance from the nearest plate boundary (~700 km), the Mackenzie Mountains are experiencing active crustal deformation making it an intriguing feature for study as the mechanism leading to uplift is not well understood. In our research, we aim to enhance the existing tomography on the lithosphere below the Mackenzie Mountains by incorporating traveltime tomography of direct P, Pn, and teleseismic phases. The P wave velocities will be converted to temperature and the variations in lithospheric temperature will be assessed. The initial model utilized in this study is from ambient noise tomography by Schutt et al. (2023). A total of 65976 arrival times are utilized for this study, which were recorded from 5451 events using 294 well distributed seismic stations in the study area. In this study, comprehensive imaging was obtained through the use of the FMTOMO software package, which uses the fast-marching method to predict travel times and a subspace inversion method to adjust model parameters to fit the data observations. Our results reveal a low velocity feature beneath the Mackenzie Mountains that extends from the crust to the asthenosphere. The velocity structure will be used to estimate temperature, thereby giving an improved understanding of the tectonic processes and mantle dynamics at play in the uplift.

Session: Earth’s Structure from the Crust to the Core [Poster]

Type: Poster

Date: 4/16/2025

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Abdalaziz

Student Presenter: Yes

Invited Presentation: 

Poster Number: 87

Authors