Point estimates of Crustal thickness Using receiver Function Stacking

Abstract

Introduction: Through receiver function analysis, this study inquires into some of the most basic properties of the crust below southern and central Quebec. Methods: This is accomplished, using receiver function technique, by stacking waveforms from 277 teleseismic events magnitude 6.0 and larger to find the delay in arrival time for several phases of the p-wave coda, relative to the initial p-wave arrival. This information is used to establish a linear relationship between thickness and p- to s-wave velocity ratio, each of which is stacked for a given station to identify a best-fit estimate for depth to the moho and Vp/Vs ratio. To determine their accuracy these results are compared with previous seismic studies, as well as synthetically generated receiver function p-wave arrivals based on simple 1d crustal models. Thickness calculations for the crust varied from 28 to 48 km; variation which was most likely the result of either complicated 3d structures or a shortage of available high-magnitude events for some stations. most of the results fell within appropriate windows outlined by studies like liTHoprobe. discussion: given that the 9 broadband stations used in this study compose an area from the superior province, grenville province and a selection of their subprovinces and intrusions, reliable evaluations of the crustal thicknesses below these seismic stations have broad relevance in understanding the crustal structure below Quebec.