Skip to main content Skip to footer content

Geometry and mechanical crustal properties in NE Italy based on seismic and gravity data

G. Dal Moro, C. Braitenberg and M. Zadro

Abstract: 

A mechanical model along two sections of the crust in the South Eastern (SE) Alpine area, which includes the values of density, P-wave velocity, and elastic parameters is presented. Two published seismic refraction profiles crossing the SE-Alpine belt are the basis for a gravimetric interpretation of the Bouguer anomalies, adopting the experimental relations which correlate the P-wave velocity of a sample to its density. The elastic parameters of the model are then calculated from the seismic velocities and the densities obtained from the gravimetric modelling, assuming the Poisson hypothesis. The velocity-density model allows conclusions to be drawn regarding the crustal lithology, if laboratory measurements of rock samples are taken for granted. We find that the partition into upper, middle and lower crust is in good agreement with the results obtained in the Central Alps. Knowledge of the mechanical and geometrical characteristics of the crustal structures is of great interest in studies of the time evolution of the deformational field in seismic areas and its interpretation in terms of the acting stress field.