Name
Crustal velocity structure of central and southern Nova Scotia margin from first-arrival traveltime tomography
Date & Time
Monday, May 25, 2026, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Description
The rifting architecture along the Nova Scotia margin exhibits a remarkable along-strike transition from an extremely amagmatic segment in the north to a central magma-poor segment and a magma-rich segment in the south, as inferred from magnetic, seismic reflection and refraction data. Regional P-wave velocities along the margin are constrained using wide-angle ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) data by picking primary and secondary arrival travel times and employing a layered velocity-modeling approach. However, layered modeling is significantly dependent on user input and interpretation, as it relies on a priori information for layer boundaries, typically derived from coincident multichannel seismic reflection images, and because picking secondary arrivals can be challenging. In contrast, first-arrival traveltime tomography (FATT) applied to OBS data produces smooth velocity models with minimal a priori constraints. To date, only OETR-2009, the northernmost profile across the margin, has been processed using FATT. Here, we present new FATT models for the Scotian Margin Transect (SMART) OBS lines 3 and 2. We perform traveltime tomographic inversion of crust (Pg), mantle (Pn), and Moho (PmP) refracted and reflected arrivals recorded by 11 OBSs deployed over the ~280-km-long profile SMART 3 across the southern margin, and by 21 OBSs deployed over the ~500-km-long profile SMART 2 across the central margin. We compare our results with existing tomographic results from profile OETR-2009 to examine along-strike variations in crustal structure, and with recently published layered velocity models along SMART lines 2 and 3 to evaluate key differences between modeling approaches and their resulting velocity structures.
Location Name
Marion McCain - Scotiabank Hall
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Poster
Abstract ID
379
Speaker Organization
Dalhousie University
Session Name
S-2
Co-authors
Mladen R. Nedimović at Dalhousie University K.W. Helen Lau at Dalhousie University Vittorio Maselli at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Presenting Author
Ana Corbalan at Dalhousie University