Moho and LAB Across the Western Alps (Europe) From P and S Receiver Function Analysis

Abstract

In spite of numerous active and passive seismological investigations, the existence of continuous or interrupted continental subduction below the Western Alps is still open to debate. Many of the observations focus on the Moho or the deeper part of the mantle, while reliable information on the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB) below the Alpine region is scarce. Exploiting the data from the dense, broadband AlpArray Seismic Network we present a set of Receiver Function (RF) measurements on the Moho and LAB of a region encompassing the Western Alps, which includes the Ivrea Geophysical Body (IGB), a fragment of mantle placed at a few kilometers depth at the collision margin between Eurasia and Adria plates. We derive seismic velocity profiles of the crust-uppermost mantle below each station down to about 250 km, through the joint inversion of P and S RF. We constrain the lateral variations of the Moho and LAB topographies across the colliding plates, and quantify the errors related to our measurements. Our results allow us to considerably expand the published data of the Moho depth and to add a unique set of new measurements of the LAB. Our observations show that Eurasia and Adria lithospheres have a comparable thickness (on average 90–100 km), and are colliding below the IGB, and that Eurasia is not presently continuously subducting below Adria. These observations suggest that there is a gap between the superficial (continental) European lithosphere and the deep (oceanic) lithosphere, confirming the discontinuous structure imaged by some seismic tomography models.