The receiver structure beneath Mina, Nevada

Receiver functions obtained from broadband teleseismic P waveforms recorded at seismic station MNV, near Mina, Nevada, are inverted for the vertical shear-wave velocity structure southeast of the station. The time-domain inversion procedure for vertically heterogeneous and laterally homogeneous one-dimensional models includes smoothness constraints to minimize model roughness and a pseudo-Monte-Carlo approach to investigate the nonuniqueness of the solution models. The preferred southeast solution models show a smooth positive gradient in the mid- and lower crust with the top of the crust-mantle boundary at 34- to 36-km depth, reaching an upper-mantle P velocity of 7.8 to 7.9 km sec^-1 between 38 and 40 km. These results suggest that the crust beneath MNV may be representative of a transition zone between typical Basin and Range province crust to the east and a thicker Sierran block to the west of the station. -from Authors