Waveform inversion for 3-D earth structure using the Direct Solution Method implemented on vector-parallel supercomputer

We implement the Direct Solution Method (DSM) on a vector-parallel supercomputer and show that it is possible to significantly improve its computational efficiency through parallel computing. We apply the parallel DSM calculation to waveform inversion of long period (250–500 s) surface wave data for three-dimensional (3-D) S-wave velocity structure in the upper and uppermost lower mantle. We use a spherical harmonic expansion to represent lateral variation with the maximum angular degree 16. We find significant low velocities under south Pacific hot spots in the transition zone. This is consistent with other seismological studies conducted in the Superplume project, which suggests deep roots of these hot spots. We also perform simultaneous waveform inversion for 3-D S-wave velocity and Q structure. Since resolution for Q is not good, we develop a new technique in which power spectra are used as data for inversion. We find good correlation between long wavelength patterns of Vs and Q in the transition zone such as high Vs and high Q under the western Pacific.