A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America

Conventional spectral T e studies use the real part of the admittance between gravity anomalies and topography or, alternatively, the square of the magnitude of the coherency (i.e., coherence). Here we show the utility of treating both the admittance and coherency as complex quantities. Inverting t...

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Main Authors: Kirby, Jonathan, Swain, Christopher
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Geophysical Union 2009
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34771
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author Kirby, Jonathan
Swain, Christopher
author_facet Kirby, Jonathan
Swain, Christopher
author_sort Kirby, Jonathan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Conventional spectral T e studies use the real part of the admittance between gravity anomalies and topography or, alternatively, the square of the magnitude of the coherency (i.e., coherence). Here we show the utility of treating both the admittance and coherency as complex quantities. Inverting the real parts to estimate T e, we use the imaginary parts to tell if the inversion is biased by noise. One method inverts the square of the real coherency, with the internal-to-total load ratio F derived (as a function of wave number) directly from the gravity and topography. The other method inverts the real part of the admittance assuming that F is wave number-independent. We test the methods using synthetic elastic plate models loaded at the surface and Moho in such a way that the final relief is the actual North American topography. In some of the models we add gravity noise generated by a model having both surface and internal loads such that the final topography is zero and find that both methods are susceptible to noise. Application of the two methods to North America gives T e maps showing substantial agreement except in regions affected by noise, but these are not a dominant part of the total area. Given the suggested mechanisms by which noise might arise, it is not surprising that it is not a more widespread feature of the North American craton. Importantly, both methods show that large parts of the Canadian Shield are characterized by T e > 100 km.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-347712019-02-19T04:28:08Z A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America Kirby, Jonathan Swain, Christopher Conventional spectral T e studies use the real part of the admittance between gravity anomalies and topography or, alternatively, the square of the magnitude of the coherency (i.e., coherence). Here we show the utility of treating both the admittance and coherency as complex quantities. Inverting the real parts to estimate T e, we use the imaginary parts to tell if the inversion is biased by noise. One method inverts the square of the real coherency, with the internal-to-total load ratio F derived (as a function of wave number) directly from the gravity and topography. The other method inverts the real part of the admittance assuming that F is wave number-independent. We test the methods using synthetic elastic plate models loaded at the surface and Moho in such a way that the final relief is the actual North American topography. In some of the models we add gravity noise generated by a model having both surface and internal loads such that the final topography is zero and find that both methods are susceptible to noise. Application of the two methods to North America gives T e maps showing substantial agreement except in regions affected by noise, but these are not a dominant part of the total area. Given the suggested mechanisms by which noise might arise, it is not surprising that it is not a more widespread feature of the North American craton. Importantly, both methods show that large parts of the Canadian Shield are characterized by T e > 100 km. 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34771 10.1029/2009JB006356 American Geophysical Union fulltext
spellingShingle Kirby, Jonathan
Swain, Christopher
A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America
title A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America
title_full A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America
title_fullStr A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America
title_full_unstemmed A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America
title_short A reassessment of spectral T e estimation in continental interiors: the case of North America
title_sort reassessment of spectral t e estimation in continental interiors: the case of north america
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34771