Crustal Thickness Beneath the Dinarides and Surrounding Areas From Receiver Functions

Abstract

Knowledge about the crustal thickness is one of the key elements in the reconstruction of the regional tectonic history. The Dinaric mountain belt is one of the most enigmatic segments of the Alpine‐Mediterranean collision zone, characterized by large variations in crustal thickness and not studied sufficiently. We present a new Moho depth map for the wider Dinarides region which was created using teleseismic earthquake recordings from 87 permanent and temporary seismic stations in the region. Teleseismic data were analyzed using the receiver function method to extract converted P to S waves.

The resulting Moho topography fits well within a structural framework comprising a thicker crust under the Dinarides, which gradually becomes thinner toward the Pannonian and Adriatic domains. The profiles crossing the northwestern Dinarides are marked by a relatively sharp decrease in crustal thickness north of the main thrust front. This transition is followed by significant crustal thinning toward the Pannonian basin. The Mohorovičić discontinuity lies the deepest in the central and southern Dinarides, at depths of over 55 km. Here similarly to the northwestern segment we observe a jump in the crustal thickness when transitioning toward the Internal Dinarides, which hints at possible underthrusting (or subduction) of the Adria plate in this region. Moho depths in the transition zone toward the Pannonian basin and in the Pannonian basin proper vary between 25 and 35 km. In the Adriatic domain, we find crustal thickness ranging from 30 km to more than 45 km around the Central Adriatic islands.