Smooth constraint inversion technique in genetic algorithms and its application to surface wave study in the Tibetan Plateau

IntroductionThe dispersion phenomena, which can be observed when surface wave travels through the Earth interior, has been extensively applied in investigating the velocity structure of the Earth interior. Usually, the dispersion curve is a nonlinear function of the thickness, S and P wave velocities and density of each layer. Because surface wave inversion is a multiple-minima problem, the result strongly depends on the initial model in traditional linear inversion. Genetic algorithm (GA) …

Smooth constraint inversion technique in genetic algorithms and its application to surface wave study in the Tibetan Plateau

Smooth constraint is important in linear inversion, but it is difficult to apply directly to model parameters in genetic algorithms. If the model parameters are smoothed in iteration, the diversity of models will be greatly suppressed and all the models in population will tend to equal in a few iterations, so the optimal solution meeting requirement can not be obtained. In this paper, an indirect smooth constraint technique is introduced to genetic inversion. In this method, the new models produced in iteration are smoothed, then used as theoretical models in calculation of misfit function, but in process of iteration only the original models are used in order to keep the diversity of models. The technique is effective in inversion of surface wave and receiver function. Using this technique, we invert the phase velocity of Raleigh wave in the Tibetan Plateau, revealing the horizontal variation of S wave velocity structure near the center of the Tibetan Plateau. The results show that the S wave velocity in the north is relatively lower than that in the south. For most paths there is a lower velocity zone with 12~25 km thick at the depth of 15~40 km. The lower velocity zone in upper mantle is located below the depth of 100 km, and the thickness is usually 40~80 km, but for a few paths reach to 100 km thick. Among the area of Ando, Maqi and Ushu stations, there is an obvious lower velocity zone with the lowest velocity of 4.2~4.3 km/s at the depth of 90~230 km. Based on the S wave velocity structures of different paths and former data, we infer that the subduction of the Indian Plate is delimited nearby the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone.