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
McInnes Room
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
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