Earth’s dynamics and structure from combined geodynamic and seismological modelling

Assoc. Prof. Manuele Faccenda

Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova

2025.05.16（星期五）15:00，理科二号楼2821

摘要：

   The present-day structure of the Earth’s interior is mainly determined by means of seismological methods. The interpretation of seismological data (e.g., isotropic velocity anomalies and anisotropy patterns) is however non-unique, as different processes occurring simultaneously can be invoked to explain the observations. A further complication arises when regional tomographic seismic models ignore seismic anisotropy, which generates apparent seismic anomalies due to non-uniform sampling of anisotropic areas. The presence of these apparent anomalies is quite problematic, as they can bias our understanding of the Earth’s internal structure.

   Geodynamics and seismology are strictly linked because the geodynamic evolution affects the elastic properties of the medium we want to study with seismic methods. Accordingly, and to decrease the uncertainties related to the interpretation of seismological observations, geodynamic modelling can be exploited to reproduce the micro and macro scale dynamics and structure of different tectonic settings, yielding a valuable first-order approximation of the rock isotropic and anisotropic elastic properties. The model output can be subsequently validated against observations by performing seismological synthetics (e.g., SKS splitting, travel-time tomography, receiver functions, azimuthal and radial anisotropy). Such a model can then be used to give a more robust and physically-based interpretation of the observables and/or to further improve seismological models by providing a-priori information for subsequent (adjoint) inversions and/or to test new seismic inversion methods.

   During the seminar I will (i) discuss the importance of inverting for seismic anisotropy to have a more informative view of the Earth’s interior, (ii) present the new open-source software ECOMAN, designed to Explore the COnsequences of Mechanical Anisotropy in the maNtle by means of combined of geodynamic and seismological simulations, and (iii) show some applications of the methodology. 

报告人简介：

    Manuele Faccenda于2005年在意大利佩鲁贾大学获硕士学位，2010年在苏黎世联邦理工学院获博士学位。2009年至2012年在澳大利亚蒙纳士大学进行博士后研究。2012年至今在意大利帕多瓦大学担任助理教授、副教授。2015年获EGU杰出青年科学家奖“Arne-Richter Award”。其研究兴趣包括：

    地球动力学：区域和全球尺度的板块构造与地幔对流过程，不同构造环境下的变质与岩浆作用，岩石圈断裂、多孔介质中的流体流动、深部地震活动、变形岩石中的力学各向异性及其对地震成像和地球动力学的影响。

    地震学：地震学正演与反演建模、多震相各向同性/各向异性地震层析成像、地震成像技术的发展。

    灾害与资源地球物理学：用于监测火山、石油和地热区（如埃特纳火山和瓦尔达格里地区）的三维和四维地震层析成像。