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PyGLImER: A New Modular Software Suite to Image Crustal and Upper-Mantle Discontinuities Using a Global Database of Ps and Sp Receiver Functions
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  • Peter Makus,
  • Stéphane Rondenay,
  • Lucas Sawade,
  • Lars Ottemöller,
  • Felix Halpaap
Peter Makus
GFZ Potsdam

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Stéphane Rondenay
University of Bergen
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Lucas Sawade
Princeton University
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Lars Ottemöller
University of Bergen
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Felix Halpaap
University of Bergen
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Abstract

Over the last decades, the receiver function technique has been widely used to image sharp discontinuities in elastic properties of the solid Earth at regional scales. To date, very few studies have attempted to use receiver functions for global imaging. One such endeavour has been pursued through the project “Global Lithospheric Imaging using Earthquake Recordings” (GLImER). Building on the advances of GLImER, we have developed PyGLImER - a Python-based software suite capable of creating global images from both P-to-S and S-to-P converted waves via a comprehensive receiver function workflow. This workflow creates a database of receiver functions by downloading seismograms from selected earthquakes and analysing the data via a series of steps that include pre-processing, quality control, deconvolution, and stacking. The stacking can be performed for common conversion points or single stations. All steps leading to the creation of receiver functions are automated. To visualise the generated stacks, the user can choose the desired survey area in a graphical user interface, and then explore the selected region either through 2D cross-sections or a 3D volume. By incorporating results from two independent seismic phases, we can combine the advantages of both phases for imaging different discontinuities. This results in an increased robustness and resolution of the final image. For example, we can use constraints from S receiver function images, which are multiple-free but relatively low resolution, to differentiate between real lithospheric/asthenospheric structures and multiple-induced artefacts in higher-resolution P receiver function images. Our preliminary results agree with those from recent regional and global studies, confirming the workflowís robustness. They also indicate that the new workflow combining P and S receiver functions has the potential to resolve global lithospheric discontinuities such as the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) or the midlithospheric discontinuity (MLD) more reliably than approaches using only one type of incident phase. PyGLImER will be distributed as open-source software, providing an easily accessible tool to rapidly generate high-resolution images of structures in the lithosphere and asthenosphere over large scales.