Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 5161

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Tectonophysics
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / t e c t o

Reection Image Spectroscopy across the Andean subduction zone

M. Yoon a,, S. Buske b, S.A. Shapiro b, P. Wigger b
a
b

Institut fr Geophysik, Zentrum fr Marine und Atmosphrische Wissenschaften, Universitt Hamburg, Bundesstr. 55, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
Fachrichtung Geophysik, Freie Universitt Berlin, Malteserstrasse 74-100 (Haus D), D-12249 Berlin, Germany

A R T I C L E

I N F O

Article history:
Received 23 February 2007
Accepted 27 March 2008
Available online 11 April 2008
Keywords:
Deep seismic imaging
Heterogeneities
Scattering
Andean subduction zone
Fluid migration

A B S T R A C T
This paper presents new insights into the South American subduction zone from reprocessed seismic images.
We applied a 3D Kirchhoff prestack depth migration scheme to data sets containing different narrow frequency
ranges in order to extract additional details from seismic reection images. This approach accounts for the
effects of scattering on the seismic image, especially for structures below a heterogeneous overburden. The
reection image in such environments will differ signicantly when focusing on different frequency ranges due
to the frequency dependence of scattering that is likely to be present. The narrow frequency range images
uncover reectors in one frequency range that are masked in another range. Furthermore, the images enable
for instance the characterization of the medium in terms of scatterer concentration and thus improve the
structural interpretation. The analysis of these images might help to distinguish between small-scale structures
in the high-frequency band and large-scale structures in the low-frequency band. We call this imaging
approach Reection Image Spectroscopy (RIS). We applied the RIS approach to the ANCORP'96 data set, an
onshore deep seismic reection prole across the South American Central Andes. The narrow frequency range
images revealed additional details that we interpret as features directly linked to uid migration processes in
the subduction zone. Furthermore, structural details of the oceanic crust and the overlying mantle and crust are
revealed. From the narrow-frequency range images we interpret that the top of the so called Nazca reector at
70 km depth marks the upper limit of the hydrated mantle wedge, whereas the bottom of the reector
represents the top of the subducted oceanic crust. The compilation of our results with local earthquake data
conrms this interpretation. Similar features observed in another deep seismic prole (PRECORP'95) support
this interpretation, too. Furthermore, the RIS images show a highly reective heterogeneous zone between the
Nazca reector at 70 km depth and a prominent mid-crustal Bright Spot (Quebrada Blanca Bright Spot) at about
30 km depth. We associate this zone with a complex network of ascending uids or partial melts, initiated by
ascending uids released from the subducted oceanic plate. This observation links the Quebrada Bright Spot
directly to the dehydrating oceanic plate.
Crown Copyright 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Intensive geological and geophysical studies were carried out to
investigate the South American convergent margin and its related
subduction processes (e.g. Oncken et al, 2006; Reutter et al, 1996;
Buske et al., 2002; ANCORP Working Group, 2003; Sick et al., 2006).
The long-term subduction of the oceanic Nazca Plate below the South
American Plate formed the Andes, the largest Cordilleran type orogen
(e.g. Scheuber and Giese, 1999). The Altiplano-Puna Plateau between
the Western and the Eastern Cordilleras has an average height of
4000 m, with a crustal thickness reaching 70 km. Previous studies on
earthquakes and focal mechanism in the Central Andes between 20S
and 23S indicated a complex internal structure of the WadatiBenioff-Zone (e.g. Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004). Its relation to the
plate interface could not fully be explained yet, e.g., earlier investiga Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mi-kyung.yoon@zmaw.de (M. Yoon).

tions revealed an apparent vertical offset between seismic reections

interpreted as the top of the subducted plate and the subduction zone
seismicity (e.g. ANCORP Working Group, 2003).
Two onshore deep seismic reection proles PRECORP'95 and
ANCORP'96 acquired along 21S and 22.5S (Fig. 1), were processed in
order to obtain additional details of the crust and mantle along the Central
Andean subduction zone. Both data sets were processed using 2D and 3D
Kirchhoff prestack depth migration (KPSDM) (Yoon et al., 2003). The
KPSDM scheme was implemented especially accounting for the irregular
survey geometry and the topography along the prole. It yielded detailed
structural images of the subduction zone. The ANCORP depth section
provided an almost complete image of the subducted oceanic plate as well
as enhanced visibility of reectors in the overlying continental crust and
mantle along 21S (Fig. 2, from Yoon et al., 2003). A strong, east dipping
reector is visible for almost 160 km along of the whole prole. In
addition, the section shows a prominent west dipping Bright Spot in the
middle crust. The east dipping reector is called the Nazca reector,
mainly representing the oceanic crust. Strikingly the reector changes its

0040-1951/$ see front matter. Crown Copyright 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2008.03.014

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Fig. 1. Overview on the study area. The location of the ANCORP and PRECORP proles (red) and the local coordinate system used for the 3D depth migration (blue). The black lines
mark the Precordilleran Fault System (PCFS) which splits up into the West Fissure (WFS) and the Sierra-de-Moreno Fault System (SMFS) south of 21.5S.

appearance with depth, i.e. the shape and strength: Along the rst 20 km
the section shows two parallel, clearly distinguishable east dipping
reectors at 4050 km depth. These reectors are interpreted as the top
and bottom of the oceanic crust (Buske et al., 2002). The upper reector is
visible down to depths greater than 80 km. Below depths of 70 km it
becomes one thick and blurred reector with no noticeable internal
structure. At x=110 km and at depths larger than 80 km the reector
becomes weak and diffuse and is hardly visible. The variation and sudden
decrease of the reector strength is not only an indication of the
complexity of the reector and possible changes of petrologic parameters,
but can be also caused by the inuence of heterogeneous overburden on
the reector image. Especially, it is assumed that the abrupt disappearance of the Nazca reector at x =115 km is linked to the highly reective
Quebrada Blanca Bright Spot (QBBS) which is located in the crust at

depths between 15 and 30 km (Fig. 2). The seismic image of the Nazca
reector is likely to be affected by energy loss and uctuation due to
scattering that occurs in the area of the QBBS. Another important
observation is the apparent offset between the top of the local
earthquakes (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004) and the Nazca reector
between x =110160 km at depths larger than 80 km. It was proposed that
below this depth the Nazca reector does not represent the oceanic crust
itself, but rather trapped uids at the serpentinization front in the
hydrated mantle wedge above the slab (Yuan et al., 2000; ANCORP
Working Group, 2003). However, features supporting this interpretation
are hardly observed in the reection data itself.
In order to extract additional structural details that might provide
a reasonable explanation for the latter issues we reprocessed the
ANCORP'96 data set. The reprocessing was performed using only

Fig. 2. Top-2D prestack depth section of ANCORP section with local earthquake hypocenters indicated by black dots (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004). Note the increasing apparent
offset between the Nazca reector and the hypocenter locations between 100 and 160 km.

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53

Fig. 3. Synthetic depth sections. The reectivity in the heterogeneous layer increases for strong velocity uctuations. The deep reector appears weak and discontinuous for large
velocity uctuation and small horizontal scale length. It nearly completely disappears for 20% variance in all images.

narrow-frequency ranges of the data. This was done to account for the
possible effects of frequency dependent scattering due to heterogeneities
in the overburden.

We call this approach Reection Image Spectroscopy (RIS). An

introduction to the RIS approach is given in the following part. In Section 3,
the application of the RIS method to the ANCORP data set is described. The

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M. Yoon et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 5161

results are shown and interpreted in Section 4. A detailed discussion of the

results is given in Section 5. A conclusion closes the paper.
2. Reection Image Spectroscopy
Seismic imaging in the presence of strong heterogeneities is still a
challenging task as scattering and travel time uctuations may
signicantly affect wave propagation.
Scattering is regarded as the redistribution of seismic energy into
reected (backscattered) and transmitted (forward scattered) waves.
The amount of scattered energy and of wave eld uctuations varies in
dependence on the magnitude of the velocity uctuation as well as on
the ratio between the wavelength and the spatial size of the
heterogeneities. Therefore, seismic images will signicantly differ
when migration is performed focusing on different frequency ranges.
To provide an analytical description of scattering phenomena multiple
scattering effects have to be considered which are difcult to handle.
Numerical modeling of seismic attenuation due to scattering showed
that the amount of scattering attenuation depends on the correlation
properties of the medium, the P- and S-wave velocities, and the
frequency contents of the incident wave (Hong and Kennett, 2003).
Other modeling studies show that scattering and travel time
uctuation caused by a heterogeneous overburden affect the image
of a reector below (Yoon, 2005). Fig. 3 shows synthetic depth
sections generated for a subsurface model with a heterogeneous layer
between 1535 km depth and a reector at 70 km depth. The velocity
uctuations are distributed according to a 2D exponential autocorrelation function. The horizontal scale length and the velocity uctuations of the heterogeneous layer vary between 1000 m, 4000 m and
6000 m and 1%, 5%, 10% and 20%, respectively. The vertical scale length
of the heterogeneities was 200 m for all models. Five synthetic shot
gathers were calculated using a nite-difference forward modeling

scheme for each velocity model. The shot gathers were prestack depth
migrated using a constant migration velocity and stacked afterwards.
The images show that the distortion of the reector image depends on
the strength of the velocity uctuation and the scale length of the
heterogeneities in the overburden. The image distortion increases
with increasing velocity uctuation and decreasing scale lengths. The
migrated sections containing narrow-frequency ranges of the data are
shown in Fig. 4. The data set was bandpass ltered before migration
such that four narrow-frequency range data sets were obtained. The
frequency ranges were 05 Hz, 510 Hz, 1015 Hz and 1520 Hz. These
data sets were migrated separately. The images reveal that the image
uctuations differ in different frequency ranges and that strong
scattering leads to severe amplitude loss and phase uctuations in a
certain frequency range of the data while it appears less severe in
another range (compare the 1520 Hz and 05 Hz image in Fig. 4). The
image of a deep reector below a strongly heterogeneous overburden
is affected by the loss of coherency and reection strength. The
reector shape is biased by wave eld uctuations. In the case of
extremely strong velocity uctuations in the overburden, the lower
reector is hardly visible at all. Thereby, scattering in another
frequency band might be less severe, such that reectors are imaged
properly with respect to their shape and amplitude (e.g. Fig. 10, 05 Hz
image). In the broadband image these uctuations are superimposed.
Besides the extraction of the true shape of the reectors, in principle
the method can be used to gain additional information on the spatial
parameters of the heterogeneities in the medium. The Reection
Image Spectroscopy (RIS) method is designed to extract structural
details from seismic reection images in strongly heterogeneous
media. The method accounts for the frequency dependence of
scattering and its inuence on the reection image.
The principle scheme of the RIS approach is displayed in Fig. 5. The
conventional imaging scheme consists of preprocessing of the data

Fig. 4. Narrow-frequency range depth sections. In the 1520 Hz image the deep reector is severely affected and suffers from coherency loss, whereas it appears clear and undistorted
in the 05 Hz image.

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55

Fig. 5. Schematic RIS ow. The conventional imaging scheme consists of preprocessing of the data and prestack depth migration (upper ow). In the RIS approach only narrowfrequency ranges selected by additional bandpass ltering after the preprocessing are imaged separately instead of using the full-frequency range of the data.

and prestack depth migration. In the RIS approach bandpass lters are
applied to separate different frequency ranges of the data set after the
preprocessing and prior to migration. Afterwards, instead of using the
full-frequency range the data subsets containing only the selected
narrow-frequency range are imaged separately. The frequency ranges
and the bandwidths of the bandpass lters are dependent on the data
and adjusted to the frequency content of the data. The bandpass lter
parameters are determined by analysis of the frequency spectra of the
data and testing of different bandpass parameters.
3. Application of the RIS method to the ANCORP'96 data set
The ANCORP prole was acquired in 1996 across the Central Andes.
A total of 131 explosion shot gathers were recorded along a total of
385 km prole length. The nominal maximum offset was 25.1 km.
Strong ground roll, occurrence of seismological events during the
recordings, bad as well as non-uniform receiver coupling, changing
data coverage and altitude variations of more than 4000 m along the
prole required a non-conventional processing scheme. This included
a 3D prestack depth migration scheme (Buske, 1999) implemented
from topography and an additional ofine stacking to improve the
signal-to-noise ratio (Yoon et al., 2003).
The application of the RIS method to the data was performed using
similar preprocessing steps (see Table 1) and migration parameters
used for imaging the depth section as presented in Fig. 2 (Yoon et al.,

2003). The preprocessing of the data consisted mainly of trace editing,

muting and noise ltering in the frequency and the frequency-wave
number domain. After preprocessing the frequency spectrum of the
data ranged between 5 and 20 Hz. To separate the different narrowfrequency ranges the preprocessed data were then bandpass ltered.
After testing of different bandpass lters with different bandwidths
and frequency ranges bandpass lters with a xed frequency
bandwidth of 5 Hz were applied to the data. The frequency bands
were 510 Hz, 1015 Hz, and 1520 Hz. It provided most adequate
separation of reections visible in three different narrow-frequency
bands. The bandpass ltered sub data sets were then migrated
separately. The resulting depth migration volume was 50 km wide
(NS), 250 km long (WE) and 130 km deep each. To enhance the
visibility of reectors, the envelope sections of the migrated shot
gathers were calculated, i.e. the envelopes for each trace of the
migrated sections which enhanced apparently weaker reections in
areas with poor receiver coupling prior to the nal stacking. Similar
to the previous processing nally parallel WE slices that are located
near the prole line were stacked and provided the nal 2D depth
sections. The nal stacking further improved the signal-to-noise ratio
and thus the visibility of reectors. These sections are referred to as
the low (510 Hz)-, the middle (1015 Hz)- and the high-frequency
(1520 Hz) image in the following. Lateral amplitude balancing was
not applied to the data.
4. The results

Table 1
Performed processing steps.
Preprocessing

RIS

Imaging

Trace editing
Spike muting
Bandpass lter
fk domain lter
Top and bottom mute
Bandpass lter parameter testing
Separation of frequency ranges using bandpass lter 510 Hz,
1015 Hz and 1520 Hz
3D Prestack depth migration of data sets containing limited
frequency ranges
Calculation of envelope sections after migration
Final ofine stacking

The application of the RIS method to the ANCORP'96 data yielded

three narrow-frequency range depth images. Each of the images reveals
different features of the crustal structure and of the Nazca reector. The
interpreted narrow-frequency range images compiled with the local
hypocenters (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004) are displayed below the
corresponding images in the following gures. The analysis of the fault
plane solutions of the relocated seismicity indicated uid related events
that are locally restricted to the oceanic crust and the uppermost mantle.
Thereby, the top of the seismicity lies just beneath the interface of the
continental mantle and the oceanic crust.
Fig. 6 shows the 510 Hz image. At the beginning of the prole
(x = 020 km) two thin parallel east dipping reectors (Nazca reector)
are clearly visible. Between x = 2050 km the shape of the reectors

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M. Yoon et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 5161

Fig. 6. a) The low-frequency image (510 Hz). b) With interpretation and hypocenter locations (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004). The Nazca reector at the beginning of the prole is
identied as two parallel east dipping reectors, changing its shape at 70 km (see arrow) and becomes one thick wedge-shaped reection. The dashed lines mark the reections
interpreted as the top and bottom of the oceanic crust.

become less clear and discontinuous, but between 50 and 70 km both

parallel reectors are clearly visible again. At x = 70 km at depths
larger than 70 km instead of two reectors only one dipping thick
reector appears. This reector becomes blurred and thicker with
increasing depth towards the middle of the prole. The apparent
thickness of the reector increases from 6 km (x = ~70 km) to almost
14 km (x = ~ 110 km). At x = 115 km the appearance changes abruptly
again and only diffuse and weak reectors segments are visible which
totally disappear at x = 160 km. A vertical, apparently highly heterogeneous zone can be observed between x = 100110 km, at depths
between 1545 km, where the Nazca reector appears with its
maximum thickness of about 14 km. Further to the east the QBBS is
imaged between x = 120160 km at depths between 2045 km. It
appears as a zone of diffuse reector elements showing higher
reectivity at the western part and less reectivity at its eastern end.
The top of the QBBS shows a west dipping component, the lower
boundary appears rather horizontal.

The 1015 Hz image is displayed in Fig. 7. The two sharp parallel

east dipping reectors are only visible over the rst 20 km of the
prole. Between x = 2050 km the image of the Nazca reector is
slightly weaker and diffuse compared to the reector visible in the
low-frequency image. Between x = 5070 km only one reector is
visible. This reector lies in the prolongation of the upper of the two
parallel reectors. Similar to the 510 Hz image the Nazca reector
becomes thicker and blurred again at 70 km. It appears as a thick
wedge-shaped, very strong reector between x = 80115 km. The
image does not reveal any internal structure. At x = 115 km the
reector apparently disappears. In contrast to the low-frequency
image the continental upper crust appears almost transparent above
the Nazca reector for the rst 80 km of the prole. However, a large
vertical zone with signicant reectivity can be observed between
x = 80115 km reaching down to depths of about 70 km. This
heterogeneous zone shows a large number of short and diffuse
reectors without preferred orientation. It apparently connects the

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57

Fig. 7. a) The intermediate-frequency image (1015 Hz). b) With interpretation and hypocenter locations (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004). The image reveals a vertically extended
heterogeneous zone which is associated with ascent path of uids released from by the subducted plate, migrating through the overlaying mantle and crust. Thin, weak reection at
depths between 50 and 60 km are observed that indicated the continental Moho.

deeper part of the Nazca reector directly to the western edge of the
QBBS. The QBBS itself appears as a relatively thin and distinct bended
reector with a clear west dipping component. In addition, thin weak
east dipping reectors are visible between x = 6590 at depths
between 5060 km. These reectors are interpreted as the continental
Moho.
In the high-frequency image (Fig. 8) the reectors generally appear
weaker and more diffuse compared to the other narrow-frequency
images. Contrary to the low- and intermediate-frequency image the
two parallel dipping reectors are hardly visible at the beginning of
the prole. At x = 60 km a thin east dipping reector is observed at
60 km depth, that can be traced down to almost 90 km depth. The
wedge-shaped Nazca reector between x = 70110 km reveals its
internal structure. The strong reector can be differentiated into two
major parts: the upper wedge-shaped part with mainly horizontal
reectors at depths between 70 and 85 km. This is interpreted as part
of the hydrated mantle wedge. The lower part shows thin parallel east
dipping reectors. These events marking the lower boundary of the
Nazca reector are interpreted as the top of the oceanic crust as well

as the oceanic Moho. The Nazca reector abruptly disappears at

x = 115 km. Again, a heterogeneous zone with high reectivity is visible
between x = 90110 km at depths of 2050 km, similar to the other
images. The western edge of the QBBS appears with less clear shape
compared to the intermediate-frequency image. However, the eastern
part of the bended reector shows a clear west dipping component.
The comparison of all three images shows that the 510 Hz image
provides the most pronounced and clear reectors from the oceanic
crust at the beginning of the prole (x = 050 km). In both other
sections these reectors appear less coherent. The distortion of these
reectors is strongest in the 1520 Hz image. The 510 Hz image
reveals sharp reectors from the oceanic crust between x = 5070 km
of the prole. These reectors are interpreted as the continuation of
the oceanic crust visible between x = 020 km. Both other images only
provide pronounced reectors from the top of the oceanic crust, but
not from the oceanic Moho. In the 510 Hz and in the 1015 Hz image
the Nazca reector appears as a large strongly reective zone with a
maximum height of 15 km between x = 70110 km. The images do not
reveal internal structural details of the Nazca reector.

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Fig. 8. a) The high-frequency image (1520 Hz). b) With interpretation and hypocenter locations (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004). The image reveals the internal structure of the
Nazca reector at depths larger than 70 km: strong horizontal reections indicate a wedge-shaped zone of trapped uids above the slab. Weaker east dipping reections below are
interpreted as the top of the oceanic crust. The prolongation (red dashed) shows a good correlation with the local WadatiBenioff zone.

The RIS images indicate that the amount of image distortion is not
only a function of the wave length, but rather dependent on the
relative size of the heterogeneities in the overburden compared to the
dominant wave length. Thus, depending on the scale lengths of the
heterogeneities, scattering might be more severe in the lower
frequency band than in the higher frequency band range and vice
versa.
The RIS images of the ANCORP'96 data reveal additional internal
structural features of the Nazca reector and the continental crust and
mantle that will be discussed in detail in the next section.
5. Discussion
The narrow-frequency range images of the ANCORP'96 prole
revealed important structural details of the subduction zone. Some of
them might help to understand and explain two major issues that are
not fully claried yet. Firstly, the apparent offset between the Nazca
reector and the hypocenter locations. Secondly, the role of uids in

the subduction zone with respect to local seismicity and reectivity.

Both issues are discussed in the following.
A schematic sketch with the most important results and their
interpretation is shown in Fig. 9. The numbers (no. 15) mark important
features recovered by the narrow-frequency range images, the letters
AD mark prominent way points along the interpreted uid path.
5.1. Apparent offset between the Nazca reector and the hypocenter
locations
As mentioned before an apparent offset is observed between the
Nazca reector and the top of the hypocenter locations. One possible
explanation considers a systematic deviation in reector and hypocenter
depths due to the usage of different velocity models for imaging and
localization. The hypocenter locations were calculated using a velocity
model derived from local earthquake tomography. A comparison
showed that the latter model contained relatively higher velocities
than the model from Lueth (2000), which was used for migration of the

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59

Fig. 9. Combined results from RIS, receiver function studies (Yuan et al., 2000), local earthquake analysis (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004), geothermal studies (Springer, 1999) and
interpreted uid migration scenario for the ANCORP prole at 21S. PCFS: Precordilleran fault system. Black solid: veried reectors from RIS analysis; red magenta: Moho derived
from receiver function study; dashed black: top of oceanic crust; grey solid: isotherms; blue arrows: possible uid and melt migration paths. The numbers 15 mark the main
important features obtained from RIS, the letters AD mark way points along the uid paths. For detailed description of AD and 15 see text.

reection data. This difference might explain the apparent offset.

However, a comparison of depth sections calculated with different
velocity models indicated that the observed offset cannot be explained
by the difference of the velocity models only (Yoon, 2005). The study
showed that the maximum deviation of reector depths due to
uncertainties in the migration velocity model is in the range of about
35 km. The localization error of the hypocenter locations is about 3 to
5 km in depth (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004). Thus, if estimated
errors are reliable, even a superposition of both errors cannot fully
explain the depth differences between the Nazca reector and the
hypocenter locations up to 1520 km at x = 160 km. The ANCORP
Working Group (2003) proposed an alternative explanation. Based
on seismic and petrophysical observations they interpreted that the
Nazca reector at depths larger than 70 km depth is the image of the
hydrated serpentinized mantle wedge and not the oceanic plate
itself. Thereby, the reector strength and the abrupt disappearance
are attributed only to serpentinization and its breakdown due to
temperature increase with depth. Our results provide indications for
a more detailed structural interpretation. The high-frequency image
revealed that the Nazca reector at depths larger than 70 km
represents two structural units: the subducted oceanic crust on one
hand and the hydrated mantle wedge in the overlaying mantle on the
other hand (Fig. 9, no. 2 + 3). The prolongation of the reector
interpreted as the top of the oceanic crust (black dashed line)
correlates well with the top of the hypocenter locations. The shape
and the location of the reector are also in good correlation with the
geometry of the oceanic plate derived from receiver functions
analysis (Yuan et al., 2000). As a result the hypocenters are mainly
located in the oceanic crust and in the upper oceanic mantle.
5.2. The role of uids in the subduction zone with respect to local
seismicity and reectivity
Fluids and uid migration play an important role in subduction
zones. A large number of uid migration models and transportation
mechanism in subduction zones were proposed, modeled and
discussed (e.g. Tatsumi, 1989; Peacock, 1990; Iwamori, 1998). In the
following, we will try to link some of the key features observed in the
narrow-frequency images to uid migration (e.g. aqueous uids and
water-rich melts) and related phenomena.

It is commonly accepted that the oceanic lithosphere dehydrates

during subduction. Depending on the dip angle of subduction and the
composition of the down going plate the depth interval and the amount
of uid released from hydrated sediments, amphibolized basalts and
serpentinized peridotites varies (Ruepke et al., 2004). The geothermal
gradient controls the depths where aqueous uids are released and
migrate into the overlaying mantle (Iwamori, 1998).
Based on our results we propose the following uid migration
scenario for the Andean subduction zone at 21S: At the beginning of the
prole the Nazca reector appears as two sharp parallel east dipping
reectors, which are clearly interpreted as the top of the oceanic crust
and the oceanic Moho. The parallel reectors can be traced until
x = 75 km, down to depths of 7075 km. There, the low-and the
intermediate-frequency images indicate a clear break in the reection
pattern (Fig. 9, no. 1). The Nazca reector changes its appearance from
two parallel thin reectors to one thick and strong reector, which has a
more undened shape. The reector becomes blurred at larger depth.
This change in its appearance is attributed to the fact that the oceanic
lithosphere starts to release water continuously on the way from point A
down to point B (Iwamori, 1998). The released uids ascend vertically
into the overlaying mantle and form hydrous phases, e.g. serpentine and
chlorite. In the beginning a thin layer of serpentinite is formed. With
ongoing subduction chemically bound water, mainly in the form of
chlorite, lawsonite, amphibole and serpentine, is transported down to
greater depths. Simultaneously, dehydration of the oceanic plate
continues inducing local seismicity by dehydration embrittlement and
local reactivation of features in the slab, e.g. fracture zones (Dobson et al.,
2002; Kirby et al., 1996; Hacker et al., 2003). The WadatiBenioff zone is
well imaged by intermediate-depth seismicity linked to these dehydration processes (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004). With the increasing
amount of released and ascending uids, a larger water volume is being
trapped in the overlaying mantle wedge, forming a thick serpentinized
mantle wedge, which was observed in teleseismic studies in Cascadia
(Bostock et al., 2002). This contributes to the thick and blurred
appearance of the strong Nazca reector as observed at depths larger
than 70 km (Fig. 9, no. 3). Above and east of the hydrated mantle wedge
the temperatures in the fore arc region become too high (higher than
500 C) and serpentinization stability breaks down which possibly
explains the sudden decrease of reectivity. However, we link the abrupt
lateral apparent decrease of reectivity not only to the breakdown of

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porous ow along grain boundaries and buoyancy-driven propagation

of uid lled cracks. Thereby, numerical modeling of uid lled
fracture propagation showed that even for a simple model migration
of uids via uid lled fractures results in complex ow patterns
(Dahm, 2000). Furthermore, vertically ascending uids (aqueous
solution or water-rich melt) lower the solidus temperature of the
rock and cause signicant melting along uid ascending paths
(Tatsumi, 1989). A complex network of vertical and horizontal uid
(water, water-rich melt and partial melt) lled fractures and pores is
built. The narrow-frequency range images reveal a vertically extended
zone of heterogeneous reections (Fig. 9, no. 4). This zone is
interpreted as the mentioned network of ascending uid paths
indicating that the Nazca reector is directly linked to the QBBS
(Fig. 9, D). This zone of high reectivity shows a good spatial correlation with a low-velocity zone observed in P-wave tomography
(Koulakov et al., 2006). There, this low-velocity anomaly is interpreted
as a zone of rising diapires containing partially molten felsic rocks
originating from the hydrated mantle wedge. Also, results from
attenuation tomography studies in this area show a vertical zone of
increased attenuation (Schurr et al., 2003). Thereby, the observed
strong attenuation in the crust and mantle was attributed to uids
and/or partial melts. The QBBS is interpreted to be a region of trapped
uids and partial melts with its uid source located in the oceanic
plate. The strong reectivity of the QBBS is related to these uids and
partial melts trapped within either small-scale pockets or larger scale
non-connected uid traps. The observed strong crustal reectivity
might also be related to small-scale magmatic traps and/or strongly
sheared zones. Other models, e.g. larger scale inter-connected traps,
are hardly correlated with the observation from magnetotelluric data
inversion as they cannot explain the lack of the required lowresistivity anomaly (ANCORP Working Group, 2003).
The western ank of the QBBS and the eastern ank of the vertical
heterogeneous zone can be linked to the location of the sub-vertical
Precordilleran fault system at the surface. Its eastern ank is linked to
the recent volcanic arc at the surface that is active since 13 Ma (Baker
and Francis, 1978). In the area above the QBBS the worlds largest
concentration of porphyry copper mineralization can be found (e.g.
Quebrada Blanca mine). Hence, the proposed uid paths through the
mantle up to the crust are interpreted as the conduits for mineralizing
uids (ANCORP Working Group, 2003).
5.3. Continental Moho reectors

Fig. 10. a) Prestack depth section of the PRECORP prole. b) The PRECORP prole with
local hypocenters (Graeber and Asch, 1999) and interpretation with respect to the
ndings in the RIS images of the ANCORP data set. Black dashed: Reections interpreted
as top of oceanic and top of hydrated mantle wedge. Blue dashed: interpolated
extrapolation of top oceanic crust.

serpentinization, but also to the inuence of the QBBS on the seismic

image (e.g. see Fig. 4). The QBBS is interpreted as a highly heterogeneous
zone where strong scattering occurs thus affecting the image of the
Nazca reector below.
Due to the breakdown of serpentine stability uids are released
again and migrate towards higher temperature regions by aqueous
solution (dashed blue arrow pointing to C in Fig. 9). Thereby, the uid
paths, eventually along pre-existing faults, are assumed to be not only
vertical, but also horizontal and sub-horizontal, building a complex
network of uid and melt migration paths. During the vertical ascend
the released water reacts with peridotites and form hydrous phases,
e.g. amphibole again (Davies and Stevenson, 1992). The transport of
hydrous phases by the slab-induced mantle wedge ow then leads to
the net transport of water being horizontal, across the mantle wedge
from the slab. Two other commonly cited uid ow mechanisms are

The intermediate-frequency image recovered weak reectors

between x = 7090 km at depths between 5060 km that show a
small east dip component (Figs. 7 and 9, no. 5). These reectors are
interpreted as the continental Moho. In the full-frequency range
image these reectors were only visible in the western part of the
prole. The Moho reectors correlate well with the Moho location
derived from receiver function analysis (Yuan et al, 2000).
5.4. The PRECORP'95 prole
With respect to the ndings of the narrow-frequency band images
for the ANCORP section an advanced structural interpretation of the
PRECORP depth section is provided. The westeast heading 50 km
long deep seismic prole was located approximately 150 km further to
the south of the ANCORP'96 prole at 22.5S (see Fig. 1). In the 2D
depth image (Fig. 10) similar features to those that were observed in
the ANCORP section are identied, e.g. a prominent mid-crustal Bright
Spot (the so-called Calama Bright Spot) at depths between 1525 km
and east dipping reector segments at a depth of about 65 km
between x = 5060 km (Yoon et al., 2003). The section further reveals
almost horizontal reectors at depths of about 80 km (x = 90120 km).
Below these reectors thin east dipping reectors are visible. The
results from the RIS analysis indicate that the horizontal reectors in

M. Yoon et al. / Tectonophysics 472 (2009) 5161

the middle of the prole at a depth of about 80 km represent the

highly reective hydrated mantle wedge as seen in the ANCORP
section. However, the reectors appear thinner and weaker compared
to the strong Nazca reector observed in the ANCORP'96 prole. The
thinner east dipping reectors at depths larger than 80 km are
interpreted as the top of the subducted oceanic crust. The prolongation of these dipping reectors correlates well with the top of the local
hypocenter locations (blue dashed in Fig. 10b). It indicates that the
hypocenters are mainly located in the oceanic crust and in the upper
mantle. The reported uncertainty of the absolute vertical hypocenter
position is about 34 km (Rietbrock and Waldhauser, 2004).
6. Summary and conclusion
The application of the RIS method to the ANCORP'96 data
successfully provided seismic images that reveal important additional
structural details of the Andean subduction zone. The analysis of the
narrow-frequency band images indicates that the Nazca reector can
be separated into two parts. The upper part at 70 km depth represents
the hydrated mantle wedge, whereas the reectors in the lower part
reveal the top of the subducted slab itself. The prolongation of these
reectors to greater depths t with the top of the hypocenter locations
and with the slab geometry derived from receiver function analysis.
Hence, the apparent offset between the Nazca reector and the
hypocenter locations can be resolved and reasonably explained.
In addition, the narrow-frequency range images reveal structural
features that can be directly linked to uid related phenomena in
subduction zones. For example the change of shape and strength of
the Nazca reector along its appearance at x = 70 km in all RIS images
indicates the beginning of serpentinization of the mantle wedge due
to rising uids from the oceanic plate. Ongoing dehydration and
consequently larger amounts of released uid cause an increase of the
hydrated zone in the mantle. The hydrated mantle wedge appears as
an increasing strong thick reector until the reector apparently
breaks down. This breakdown is not only caused by the breakdown of
serpentine stability, but also is caused by strong scattering in the
heterogeneous zone above the Nazca reector. There, the QBBS is
located, a west dipping highly reective mid-crustal structure. The
images further indicate that the QBBS is directly linked to the oceanic
plate. The narrow-frequency range images indicate a complex
network of vertical and horizontal uid migration paths in the
overlaying mantle and crust probably initiated by vertically ascending
uids released from the oceanic plate. We propose the RIS method as
an additional tool that enables the extraction of additional information from reection data and thus improves the structural interpretation of seismic images, especially in heterogeneous environments.
Acknowledgments
The ANCORP96 project was funded by the Bundesministerium fr
Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie within DEKORP
and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the Collaborative Research Center 267 (Deformation Processes in the Andes). We
thank the German and Chilenian eld crews, the Universidad Catolica
del Norte (Antofagasta), Codelco Chile and numerous other participants and institutions. The eld instruments were provided by the
Freie Universitt Berlin and the Geophysical Instrument Pool (GIP) of
the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam. We like to thank the reviewers
(Camelia Knapp and anonymous) for their comments and suggestions
that helped in improving the manuscript.
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