Abstract
•Seismic model of southern Africa utilizes tomographic inversion of body wave data.•The Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe fast keels reach depths of ∼350 and ∼250 km, respectively.•Limpopo belt represents a negative velocity perturbations down to a depth of ∼250 km.•Finite-frequency sensitivity kernels allow resolving relatively small-scale anomalies.•Various resolution tests allow evaluation of the extent of smearing effects.
We present a 3D high-resolution seismic model of the southern African cratonic region from teleseismic tomographic inversion of the P- and S-body wave dataset recorded by the Southern African Seismic Experiment (SASE). Utilizing 3D sensitivity kernels, we invert traveltime residuals of teleseismic body waves to calculate velocity anomalies in the upper mantle down to a 700 km depth with respect to the ak135 reference model. Various resolution tests allow evaluation of the extent of smearing effects and help defining the optimum inversion parameters (i.e., damping and smoothness) for regularizing the inversion calculations.
The fast lithospheric keels of the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons reach depths of 300–350 km and 200–250 km, respectively. The paleo-orogenic Limpopo Belt is represented by negative velocity perturbations down to a depth of ∼250 km, implying the presence of chemically fertile material with anomalously low wave speeds. The Bushveld Complex has low velocity down to ∼150 km, which is attributed to chemical modification of the cratonic mantle. In the present model, the finite-frequency sensitivity kernels allow to resolve relatively small-scale anomalies, such as the Colesberg Magnetic Lineament in the suture zone between the eastern and western blocks of the Kaapvaal Craton, and a small northern block of the Kaapvaal Craton, located between the Limpopo Belt and the Bushveld Complex.