Due to a sharp contrast in elastic properties across the basement rocks of sedimentary basins (SBs), strong reverberations are generated during the passage of seismic waves. Traditional receiver function methods become inadequate for imaging crustal structure due to the existence of these strong reverberations. We investigate the feasibility of an autocorrelation technique to extract vertical component receiver functions from teleseismic earthquake data and the efficiency of the method to image the crustal architecture in presence of a SB. The method involves spectral whitening followed by autocorrelation and stacking in the depth domain. We show promising results when using temporary seismic networks in the eastern United States. Using synthetic and field‐data examples, we demonstrate that vertical autocorrelations are more efficient than classical radial receiver functions for interpretation purposes in an SB context. We also perform a joint analysis of the amplitudes on radial and vertical receiver functions for characterizing the thickness of the Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho). We find that the Moho in the eastern United States is a transitional layer (up to 5‐km thick) instead of a sharp boundary. Further, we point out that it is challenging to unambiguously pick and interpret reflected phases on autocorrelations because of the effects of reverberations, cross‐mode contaminations, and a narrow frequency band limiting the resolution of velocity gradients. We therefore send a message of caution for future interpretations based on this technique.

中文翻译：

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P波尾波自相关在恢复地壳结构中的效率：以美国东部的密集阵列为例

由于沉积盆地（SBs）基底岩石的弹性特性形成鲜明对比，因此在地震波通过期间会产生强烈的混响。由于存在强烈的混响，传统的接收器功能方法不足以对地壳结构进行成像。我们研究了自相关技术从远震地震数据中提取垂直分量接收器函数的可行性以及该方法在存在SB时成像地壳结构的效率。该方法涉及频谱白化，然后在深度域进行自相关和叠加。当在美国东部使用临时地震网络时，我们显示出令人鼓舞的结果。使用综合和现场数据示例，我们证明，在SB上下文中，垂直自相关比经典的径向接收器函数更有效用于解释。我们还对径向和垂直接收器函数的振幅进行了联合分析，以表征Mohorovičić不连续面（Moho）的厚度。我们发现，美国东部的莫霍面是一个过渡层（厚达5公里），而不是一个尖锐的边界。此外，我们指出，由于混响，交叉模式污染以及限制速度梯度分辨率的窄频带的影响，很难明确地选择和解释自相关的反射相位。因此，基于此技术，我们将发出谨慎的消息，以供将来解释时使用。