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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 24, 8044, doi:10.1029/2003GL018192, 2003

The crustal structure of the East Anatolian plateau (Turkey) from receiver functions

Ekrem Zor

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey


Eric Sandvol

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA


Cemil Gürbüz

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey


Niyazi Türkelli

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey


Dogan Seber

Institute for the Study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA


Muawia Barazangi

Institute for the Study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA


Abstract

The crustal structure of the Anatolian plateau in Eastern Turkey is investigated using receiver functions obtained from the teleseismic recordings of a 29 broadband PASSCAL temporary network, i.e., the Eastern Turkey Seismic Experiment [ETSE]. The S-wave velocity structure was estimated from the stacked receiver functions by performing a 6-plane layered grid search scheme in order to model the first order features in the receiver functions with minimum trade-off. We found no significant crustal root beneath the western portion of the network, but there is some evidence of crustal thickening in the northern portion of the network. We found an average crustal thickness of 45 km and an average crustal shear velocity of 3.7 km/s for the entire eastern Anatolian plateau. Within the Anatolian plateau we found evidence of a prominent low velocity zone where the crust thickness is approximately 46 km. These results suggests that the 2 km high topography across the Anatolian plateau is dynamically supported because most of the plateau appears to be isostatically under-compensated. Also, there appears to be a region of thin crust at the easternmost edge of the Anatolian plateau that may be a relic from the accretion of island arcs to the Eurasian plate.

Received 17 July 2003; accepted 14 October 2003; published 26 November 2003.

Index Terms: 7203 Seismology: Body wave propagation; 7205 Seismology: Continental crust (1242); 7218 Seismology: Lithosphere and upper mantle; 8102 Tectonophysics: Continental contractional orogenic belts; 8115 Tectonophysics: Core processes (1507).

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Citation: Zor, E., E. Sandvol, C. Gürbüz, N. Türkelli, D. Seber, and M. Barazangi (2003), The crustal structure of the East Anatolian plateau (Turkey) from receiver functions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(24), 8044, doi:10.1029/2003GL018192.