Enhanced Moho retrieval in the presence of sediment using waveform fitting of receiver function

Description

The receiver function technique is widely used to image crustal structure using P–to–S converted phases at the Moho discontinuity. However, the presence of sedimentary layers generates additional P-to-S conversions and reverberations, which can overprint the Moho phases and pose problems in imaging crustal structure using standard receiver function techniques. We introduce a robust two-step method that combines H-k stacking to determine average thickness and Vp/Vs of the sediment layers followed by waveform-fitting of the observed receiver function to constrain the average crustal thickness and Vp/Vs. We tested the method using both synthetic data, and real data from stations in the Netherlands located on sediments. We show that the new method outperforms other common approaches in retrieving accurate Moho depth estimates and sub-sediment Vp/Vs ratios, even in cases where the Moho phases are completely overprinted by large-amplitude phases related to sedimentary layers.

Period	7 Mar 2024
Event title	Nederlands Aardwetenschappelijk Congres NAC 2024
Event type	Conference
Location	Utrecht, NetherlandsShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National