From Craton to Present Mountains - The Scandinavian Lithosphere Imaged by Rayleigh Surface Waves and Ambient Noise

The Scandes mountain range along the western rim of the Archean Baltic craton with elevation up to 2500 m forms an exceptional setting as the orogeny terminated 420 Ma ago and the Caledonides were deeply eroded afterwards. Since this region lacks recent compressional tectonic forces, a comprehensive explanation for the topography, which shows north-south and lateral variations along the Scandes, is missing. In my dissertation, I use earthquake surface waves and ambient noise to image the crustal and mantle structure aiming to provide new clues about the topography’s origin. The focus is also on exploring structural differences between the various tectonic domains. Here, I benefit from the seismic recordings by the ScanArray network supplemented by permanent and previous projects, distributed over entire Scandinavia. First, I performed a beamforming of Rayleigh surface waves which yielded average phase velocities for the study region and several of its sub-regions. An unusual 360° or sin(1θ) phase velocity variation with propagation azimuth is observed in northern Scandinavia and southern Norway/Sweden but not in the central area. For periods >35 s, a 5% variation between the maximum and minimum velocities was measured for opposite backazimuths of 120° and 300°, respectively. Such a variation is incompatible with the intrinsic azimuthal anisotropy and the path average approximation made in tomography. I assumed an eastward dipping lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) to be the causing structure, inspired by some preliminary velocity models and observations made in previous studies. To test this hypothesis, I carried out 2D full-waveform modeling of the Rayleigh wave propagation. The models include a steep gradient at the LAB in combination with a pronounced reduction in the shear velocity below the LAB. The synthetic results are consistent with the observations: Faster phase velocities are obtained for propagation towards the thinning lithosphere, and lower ones for propagation in the direction of deepening LAB. The interference of reflected surface wave energy at the steep LAB with the forward propagating fundamental mode probably causes this peculiar effect. Second, the joint inversion of Rayleigh surface waves and ambient noise provides structural imaging down to 250 km depth. Resultant from my velocity model, I derive a new crustal model from which maps of the Moho depth as well as of the high-density lower crustal layer (LCL) are obtained. I observe crustal thickening from west to east below the Precambrian low-topography terranes, which is mainly a consequence of eastward thickening of the LCL. In contrast to the southern Scandes, with the overall highest topography (2,500 m), a crustal root below the northern Scandes (max. 2,100 m) is seen which diminish towards the central Scandes (max. 1,000 m). The LAB below the Scandes is deepening from west to east. The sharp steps in the LAB and strong velocity reductions both in the south (90–120 km LAB depth with 5.5% Vsv contrast) and the north (150 km LAB depth with 9% Vsv contrast) surprisingly correlate with the Caledonian mountain front. Whereas smoother laterally varying structures (150–170 km LAB depth with 4% Vsv contrast) are found below the central Scandes. The correlation of the lithosphere thickening with the Caledonian front might be related to metasomatism as result of the orogeny and/or the passive margin rifting. In Precambrian Scandinavia, low-velocity areas below 150 km depth are observed beneath the Archean Karelia craton in northern Finland. At mantle depth, the Paleoproterozoic Norrbotten craton can be separated from the Karelia craton, Caledonides and Paleoproterozic Svecofennian likely due to different degrees of metasomatism. Based on the structural differences, I conclude that different mechanisms are responsible for the compensation of the topography. The northern Scandes are likely compensated by a combined Airy-Pratt isostasy as implied by low-density rocks in the shallow crust (<15 km depth), a high-density layer in the deep crust (>10 km LCL thickness) and the mountain root. The strongly reduced velocities at sub-lithospheric depth additionally suggest an uplift contribution from the upper mantle. Since the southern Scandes lacks these crustal attributes, they experience mainly mantle-driven buoyancy. In both cases, however, I assume the influence of small-scale edge-driven convections (EDC) that can arise at sharp LAB gradients. EDC emplaces thereby low-density material at sub-lithospheric depths by the upwelling of hot asthenosphere which implies additional buoyancy of the lithosphere. Moreover, the lateral topography differences along the Scandes can be explained by varying EDC cell dimensions. Primarily, Pratt isostasy compensates the low topography central Scandes, but a contribution from dynamic support could act as well. Ultimately, I see the strong gradients at the LAB below the southern and northern Scandes as the cause of the observed 1θ phase velocity variation. While the smoother velocity structure in the central study area explains the absence of the 1θ effect