Simultaneous inversion for crustal thickness and anisotropy by multiphase splitting analysis of receiver functions

Abstract

SUMMARY We present a technique to derive robust estimates for the crustal thickness and elastic properties, including anisotropy, from shear wave splitting of converted phases in receiver functions. We combine stacking procedures with a correction scheme for the splitting effect of the crustal converted Ps-phase and its first reverberation, the PpPs-phase, where we also allow for a predefined dipping Moho. The incorporation of two phases stabilizes the analysis procedure and allows to simultaneously solve for the crustal thickness, the ratio of average P- to S-wave velocities, the percentage of anisotropy and the fast-axis direction. The stacking is based on arrival times and polarizations computed using a ray-based algorithm. Synthetic tests show the robustness of the technique and its applicability to tectonic settings where dip of the Moho is significant. These tests also demonstrate that the effects of a dipping layer boundary may overprint a possible anisotropic signature. To constrain the uncertainty of our results we perform statistical tests based on a bootstrapping approach. We distinguish between different model classes by comparing the coherency of the stacked amplitudes after moveout correction. We apply the new technique to real-data examples from different tectonic regimes and show that coherency of the stacked receiver functions can be improved, when anisotropy and a dipping Moho are included in the analysis. The examples underline the advantages of statistical analyses when dealing with stacking procedures and potentially ambiguous solutions.