Inversion of the reflected SV-wave for density and S-wave velocity structures

Density is one of the most essential properties that determines the dynamic behavior of the Earth. Besides, density has been commonly used to investigate the mineral composition, porosity and fluid content of rock. Therefore, a reliable estimation of the density structure is one of the most important objectives in both global seismology and seismic exploration. However, seismic inversions of independent density estimates are ill-posed because density has a large trade-off with velocities. Shear wave propagation is sensitive to both density and the S-wave velocity. We show that the reflected SV-wave (SV-to-SV wave) at an incident angle of 22.5 degrees depends only on density contrast, and at incident angle 30 degrees it depends only on S-wave velocity contrast. Thus, density as well as S-wave velocity can be directly inverted from the reflected SV-wave as separate and independent parameters. The forward modelling has high accuracy, the inverse problem is well-posed and the misfit function can be easily regularized. Field data application demonstrates the proposed method can efficiently recover reliable and high-resolution density and S-wave velocity of fine sturctures. Thus, this method has great potential in geological interpretation including understanding regional Moho structure, crustal and mantle formation and evolution, and rock lithologic composition and fluid-filled porosity.