Teleseismic imaging of alpine crustal underthrusting beneath Niberia

The deep crustal structure of the northern part of Iberia, extensively explored by active seismic methods, has been investigated here by the teleseismic receiver function (RF) technique. Two N‐S transects were implemented across the Cantabrian Mountains (CMT) and the western Pyrenees (WPT). The resulting RFs were migrated to obtain depth sections of the lithosphere. These images are fairly consistent with previous seismic sections and velocity‐depth modeling. The WPT shows a clear northward‐dipping interface, interpreted as the Iberian lower crust underthrusting an European Moho identified at the northern end of the transect. In the CMT a similar pattern can be inferred, although the deep crustal geometry is not well resolved. In this transect, intra‐crustal convertors are associated to high‐velocity materials of European lower crust imbricated at shallower levels. The new results provide farther evidence on the lateral extent of the Alpine underthrusting of Iberia beneath Europe.