Full waveform tomography for lithospheric imaging: results from a blind test in a realistic crustal model

A comprehensive validation of 2-D, frequency-domain, acoustic wave-equation tomography was undertaken in a 'blind test', using third-party, realistic, elastic wave-equation data. The synthetic 2-D, wide-angle seismic data were provided prior to a recent workshop on the methods of controlled source seismology; the true model was not revealed to the authors until after the presentation of our waveform tomography results. The original model was specified on a detailed grid with variable P-wave velocity, S-wave velocity, density and viscoelastic Q-factor structure, designed to simulate a section of continental crust 250 km long and 40 km deep. Synthetic vertical and horizontal component data were available for 51 shot locations (spaced every 5 km), recorded at 2779 receivers (spaced every 90 m), evenly spread along the surface of the model. The data contained energy from 0.2 to 15 Hz.