Application of revised ray tracing migration to imagine lateral variations of seismic fabric corresponding to different tectonic styles in the Northern Apennines

Migration of zero-offset seismic sections of deep crust can be done with methods based on ray tracing. We modify the classical ray tracing migration method (RTM), introducing a consistency check to control whether back-propagated rays satisfy the condition of strict normal incidence at the migrated reflector. A synthetic test shows the effectiveness of the method; in particular the control of normal incidence allows elimination of physically inconsistent reflectors from the migrated section. Then RTM is applied to a crustal seismic profile acquired in central Italy, using a velocity model obtained from wide-angle data that reproduces the gross structures of the Apenninic crust. The lateral variation of the seismic fabric shown from the migrated section reveals the presence of coexisting extensional and compressional tectonic regimes. Kinematic diffraction modelling gives additional information about both the distribution of seismic velocities and major active geodynamic processes in the upper lithosphere. The migrated section supports the subdivision of northern Apennines in two tectonic regions: a stretched upper plate (Tuscany and northern Thyrrenian), supported by a rise of the asthenosphere, and a downwarped lower plate (Adria), subducted below the mountain belt.