Fine-Scale Structure of the Moho From Receiver Functions: Effects of a Deforming Crust

Andrija Mohorovicic, a Croatian seismologist, is credited with the first estimation in 1906 of crustal thickness using the critically refracted phase Pn. The crust-mantle boundary has become commonly known as the Moho and its depth, structure, formation, and evolution remains an important research topic in seismology, petrology, and tectonics. Other seismic phases sensitive to Moho depth and structure are the converted phases Ps and Sp, and the associated 2p1s and 1p2s reverberation phases that are isolated in receiver function waveforms. With sufficient station coverage, multiple receiver functions can be migrated and stacked into cross-sections of the crust. Crustal cross-sections from tectonically active regions reveal dramatic variations in amplitude and frequency content of Moho phases that we associate with fine-scale structure, and possibly anisotropy at the crust-mantle boundary. The Moho amplitude or "brightness" is a measure of the crust-mantle impedance contrast, thickness and structure within the crust-mantle boundary, and effects of scattering from 3D structure. Processes directly related to these Moho structures include crustal thickening, crustal extension, crustal flow, delamination or convective removal, and eclogitization. Therefore, the fine-scale seismological structure of the Moho is an important constraint in regional tectonic reconstructions. Examples of receiver function crustal images and their tectonic implications from the western US, South American Andes, and the Tibetan plateau will be reviewed.