Earth System Science Data (May 2023)

Moho depths beneath the European Alps: a homogeneously processed map and receiver functions database

  • K. Michailos,
  • K. Michailos,
  • G. Hetényi,
  • G. Hetényi,
  • M. Scarponi,
  • M. Scarponi,
  • M. Scarponi,
  • J. Stipčević,
  • I. Bianchi,
  • I. Bianchi,
  • L. Bonatto,
  • W. Czuba,
  • M. Di Bona,
  • A. Govoni,
  • K. Hannemann,
  • T. Janik,
  • D. Kalmár,
  • D. Kalmár,
  • R. Kind,
  • R. Kind,
  • F. Link,
  • F. P. Lucente,
  • S. Monna,
  • C. Montuori,
  • S. Mroczek,
  • S. Mroczek,
  • A. Paul,
  • C. Piromallo,
  • J. Plomerová,
  • J. Rewers,
  • S. Salimbeni,
  • F. Tilmann,
  • F. Tilmann,
  • P. Środa,
  • J. Vergne

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2117-2023
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15
pp. 2117 – 2138

Abstract

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We use seismic waveform data from the AlpArray Seismic Network and three other temporary seismic networks, to perform receiver function (RF) calculations and time-to-depth migration to update the knowledge of the Moho discontinuity beneath the broader European Alps. In particular, we set up a homogeneous processing scheme to compute RFs using the time-domain iterative deconvolution method and apply consistent quality control to yield 112 205 high-quality RFs. We then perform time-to-depth migration in a newly implemented 3D spherical coordinate system using a European-scale reference P and S wave velocity model. This approach, together with the dense data coverage, provide us with a 3D migrated volume, from which we present migrated profiles that reflect the first-order crustal thickness structure. We create a detailed Moho map by manually picking the discontinuity in a set of orthogonal profiles covering the entire area. We make the RF dataset, the software for the entire processing workflow, as well as the Moho map, openly available; these open-access datasets and results will allow other researchers to build on the current study.