The main purpose of the Western Superior Transect is to test accretionary
models to better understand the assembly and stabilization of the Archean
lithosphere. The analysis of recordings of earthquake-generated waves is
one of the best tools to acquire information about the internal structure
and the past or present deformations of the Earth. The use of modern portable
seismic station able to record broader signal frequency spectrum waveforms
from distant earthquakes, has allowed us to improve the analysis of body
waves and surface waves through recently developed techniques.My main area of study is to apply some of these techniques to teleseismic data collected in the Archean Superior Province as an effective way of studying its lithospheric elastic properties which control the propagation of seismic waves through isotropic or anisotropic media. The principal objectives were to give:
An estimation of the effective upper mantle anisotropy using SKS
splitting analysis
A 2-D imaging of the velocity heterogeneity to depths exceeding 300 km
applying P-wave and S-wave tomography
An assessment of the shear-wave velocity structure and of the presence
of lithospheric anisotropy using Surface Wave Dispersion
Velocity
A numerical modeling integrating SKS splitting and surface wave data in
order to constrain a realistic anisotropic model across the Western Superior
Province
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