Velocity Structure of the UK and Northwestern Europe

Richard England and Annabel Kelly

Part of Annabel's PhD research involved building a 3-D model of the velocity structure of the continental crust beneath the UK and NW Europe. This model has been compiled from the existing wide angle reflection/refraction  seismic profiles acquired around the UK.

Preliminary models of UK velocity structure have been published in:Clegg, B and England, R. W. 2003. Velocity Structure of the UK from a compilation of wide-angle and refraction data. Geological Magazine, 140, 453-467.

Annabel's new models are substantially more detailed. Velocity is defined in 3D (40 km x 40 km x 1 km deep blocks) which enable the data to be used for studies of the tectonic evolution of the crust, improved location of earthquakes, and improved modelling of teleseismic arrivals. Velocities can be converted to density to enable us to study the strength of the crust and its isostatic equilibrium.

Examples of Annabel's maps showing velocity at 16.5 km depth and at 26.5 km depth beneath northwestern Europe and a pdf copy of a manuscript published in JGI (details below) describing the model can be downloaded here. (.pdf 3Mb).

Kelly, A., England, R. W. and Maguire, P.K.H. 2007. A crustal seismic velocity model for the UK, Ireland and surrounding seas. Geophysical Journal International. Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03569.x

An ascii file of Annabel's velocity model is available for academic use in a form suitable for use on a computer running unix. Please note that the copyright to the model is owned by the University of  Leicester. If you would like a copy for ACADEMIC RESEARCH ONLY follow the link below, and send me an email with your name, institution and email address. If you would like a copy of the dataset for commercial use please contact me directly (rwe5@le.ac.uk).

Velocity model for academic research

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Last updated: 29th May 2008
R.W.England
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