Precise and accurate crust models are necessary for reliable hypocenter determination and study of seismicity, which is essential for seismic hazard analysis. They can provide clues to understand tectonics and geodynamics. Also, such structure models are important to perform accurate strong ground motion prediction.
In the present study, we perform receiver function analysis to study crust structure beneath Mongolia using waveform data recorded at station ALTA deployed in the temporary observation project, “Mongolian-Baikal Lithosphere Seismological Transect” (MoBal Transect).
First we review seismicity in Mongolia, previous studies on crust and mantle structures in and around Mongolia, and techniques of receiver function analysis. Second, we introduce the project MoBal Transect. Then, we present our results of receiver function analysis with details of data processing. We find the negative amplitude in the receiver function about 1.2 sec after the arrival of the direct P-wave. We invert this receiver function and obtain a model with low velocities from the upper crust to the middle crust. The resolution analysis suggests that the low velocity around a depth of 10 km is necessary.