Teleseismic delay times,Bouguer anomalies and inferred thickness of the African lithosphere |
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| Authors: | JD Fairhead CV Reeves |
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| Institution: | Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Leeds, Leeds , LS2 9JT,Great Britain |
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| Abstract: | Teleseismic P-wave travel time residuals (delay times) have been determined for 38 African seismograph stations using a total of 104 presumed Russian underground nuclear explosions. The delay times (T) for seismograph stations situated on Precambrian crust within the interior of Africa, where surface erosion is minimal, appear to be linearly related to both the station elevation (E) and Bouguer anomaly (B) such that: T=(1.12±0.32)E?(1.81±0.44)(1) T=?(0.013±0.005)B?(1.81±0.60)(2) where T is in seconds,E in kilometres and B in milligals. Equation 2 has been used to predict delay times more generally using the smoothed Bouguer anomaly map of Africa. The delay time map is tentatively used to derive a map of lithosphere thickness which takes into account lateral variations of velocity within both the lithosphere and asthenosphere. The lithospheric thickness model indicates a major zone of thin lithosphere (or thick asthenosphere) is associated with the East African Rift system and its continuation into southern Africa. Concomitant seismicity and volcanism further suggest that incipient separation of the continental plate is taking place along the axis of this zone. |
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