Uppermost mantle radial anisotropy based on double-beamforming of ambient noise cross correlation beneath Iranian plateau

The continental lithosphere of the Iranian plateau is complicated by a multitude of tectonic processes resulting from the convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. In order to investigate the deformation mechanisms of the uppermost mantle, this study presents a radial anisotropy model beneath the Iranian Plateau constructed by long period (10-100 s) Rayleigh and Love waves from ambient noise data. The broadband Rayleigh and Love signals are extracted from continuous data recorded by 88 seismic stations using a double-beamforming algorithm. Due to utilizing long period surface waves, we apply finite-frequency ambient noise tomography to generate two-dimensional dispersion maps. These phase velocity maps are consistent with those obtained from conventional methods. Finally, we invert Rayleigh and Love local phase velocity dispersion curves using a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo inversion method. The obtained radial anisotropy model shows negative values in Central Iran suggesting a horizontal character of the minerals likely due to a channelized asthenospheric flow in the upper mantle.