Evidence for a lithospheric step and pervasive lithospheric thinning beneath southern New England, northeastern USA

Abstract

Abstract In this study, we use data from the SEISConn seismic experiment to calculate Sp receiver functions in order to characterize the geometry of upper-mantle structure beneath southern New England (northeastern United States). We image robust negative-velocity-gradient discontinuities beneath southern New England that we interpret as corresponding to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) and identify a well-defined step of 15 km in LAB depth at a longitude of 73°W, which we interpret to be the boundary between Laurentian and Appalachian lithosphere, although the offset may be larger if the putative LAB phase is reinterpreted to be a mid-lithospheric discontinuity. We infer that the lithosphere throughout the region is substantially thinner than elsewhere in the continental interior, consistent with regional tomographic studies and previously published Sp receiver function results. The presence of thinned lithosphere suggests that the low-velocity Northern Appalachian Anomaly (NAA) in the upper mantle may extend as far south as coastal Connecticut. The presence of regionally thinned lithosphere and a step in lithospheric thickness suggests that inherited structure may be preserved in present-day lithosphere, even in the presence of more recent dynamic processes associated with the NAA.