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Imaging the Moho and Subducted Oceanic Crust at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, from Receiver Functions

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Abstract

Using teleseismic data recorded along a transect, which we call VEOX (for Veracruz-Oaxaca seismic line), of 46 broadband stations installed across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico, we obtained receiver functions and stacked them to study the Moho topography and back projected them to visualize the subducted slab geometry beneath the isthmus. We observed a back-azimuth dependent Moho thickness across the transect, particularly beneath the Los Tuxtlas Volcanic Field. Also, we observed the Cocos plate which subducts with an angle of 26° between 140 and 310 km from the trench. Comparison with regional seismicity indicates that it occurs below the oceanic crust.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Tectonics Observatory at Caltech and Conacyt project J51566-F. The VEOX experiment was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. We thank O. Castro Artola for providing his relocated hypocenter data and all the volunteers who contributed their time to the field work. We thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments that improved the article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Diego Melgar

  2. Departamento de Sismología, Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación, s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Xyoli Pérez-Campos

  3. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 8800 Biological Grade, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, 92093-0225, USA

    Diego Melgar

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Correspondence to Xyoli Pérez-Campos.

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Melgar, D., Pérez-Campos, X. Imaging the Moho and Subducted Oceanic Crust at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, from Receiver Functions. Pure Appl. Geophys. 168, 1449–1460 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-010-0199-5

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