GC_SRF: A new generalized strategy for obtaining the lithospheric
thickness from S-wave receiver functions and its application to
southeastern Tibet
Abstract
The selected rotation angle and deconvolution time window during S-wave
receiver function (SRF) calculations and the final SRF quality control
may introduce artificial interference. Here we overcome these problems
by proposing a new strategy, the GC_SRF strategy, which employs grid
search and correlation analysis to obtain reliable SRFs. Extensive tests
using synthetic and real data suggest that the GC_SRF strategy is a
suitable approach for constraining lithospheric thickness, and
reproducible and robust depth estimations of the
lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) are obtained. Specifically,
this GC_SRF strategy can restore the weak Sp phases from full wavefield
synthetic seismograms. Similar, but clearer, discontinuity patterns that
contain no artificial interference compared with those obtained in
previous studies of southeastern Tibet are produced here. The post-stack
migrated SRFs reveal that the Chuandian region has a thicker crust and
either a poorly defined or unclear LAB, whereas a thinner crust and
clear LAB is present at ~160 km depth beneath the
Sichuan Basin. The absence of a continuous LAB in the Chuandian region
may suggest lithospheric regrowth due to mantle plume processes.