Deep crustal structure of the Paraná Basin from receiver functions and Rayleigh‐wave dispersion: Evidence for a fragmented cratonic root

Abstract

The deep crustal structure of the Paraná Basin of southern Brazil is investigated by analyzing P‐ and PP‐wave receiver functions at 17 Brazilian Lithosphere Seismic Project stations within the basin. The study area can be described as a typical Paleozoic intracratonic basin that hosts one of the largest Large Igneous Province of the world and makes a unique setting for investigating models of basin subsidence and their interaction with mantle plumes. Our study consists of (1) an analysis of the Moho interaction phases in the receiver functions to obtain the thickness and bulk Vp/Vs ratio of the basin's underlying crust and (2) a joint inversion with Rayleigh‐wave dispersion velocities from an independent tomographic study to delineate the detailed S‐wave velocity variation with depth. The results of our analysis reveal that Moho depths and bulk Vp/Vs ratios (including sediments) vary between 41 and 48 km and between 1.70 and 1.76, respectively, with the largest values roughly coinciding with the basin's axis, and that S‐wave velocities in the lower crust are generally below 3.8 km/s. Select sites within the basin, however, show lower crustal S‐wave velocities slightly above 3.9 km/s suggestive of underplated mafic material. We show that these observations are consistent with a fragmented cratonic root under the Paraná basin that defined a zone of weakness for the initial Paleozoic subsidence of the basin and which allowed localized mafic underplating of the crust along the suture zones by Cenozoic magmatism.