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Toward Seeing the Earth's Interior Through Unbiased Tomographic Lenses

Zaroli, C; Koelemeijer, P; Lambotte, S; (2017) Toward Seeing the Earth's Interior Through Unbiased Tomographic Lenses. Geophysical Research Letters , 44 (22) pp. 11399-11408. 10.1002/2017GL074996. Green open access

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Abstract

Geophysical tomographic studies traditionally exploit linear, damped least squares inversion methods. We demonstrate that the resulting models can be locally biased toward lower or higher amplitudes in regions of poor data illumination, potentially causing physical misinterpretations. For example, we show that global model S40RTS is locally biased toward higher amplitudes below isolated receivers where raypaths are quasi‐vertical, such as on Hawaii. This leads to questions on the apparent low‐velocity structure interpreted as the Hawaii hot spot. We prove that a linear Backus‐Gilbert inversion scheme can bring the Earth's interior into focus through unbiased tomographic lenses, as its model estimates are constrained to be averages over the true model. It also efficiently computes the full generalized inverse required to infer both model resolution and its covariance, enabling quantitative interpretations of tomographic models.

Type: Article
Title: Toward Seeing the Earth's Interior Through Unbiased Tomographic Lenses
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/2017GL074996
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074996
Language: English
Additional information: This is the published version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: tomography, inverse theory, mantle
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10063308
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