A Deep Seismic Reflection Piggyback to Image the Colorado Plateau Margin

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The objective of this research is an intensive study of the crust across the physiographic boundary of the Colorado Plateau. This project involves a "piggyback" deep reflection experiment to utilize the same sources that the U.S. Geological Survey will generate for its 250 km refraction profile on the Colorado Plateau in 1989. The five areas of research include: 1) a P-wave structure interpretation of vertical incidence seismic data across the edge of the Colorado Plateau emphasizing the lower crust and Moho, 2) an analysis of fan shots to image the Moho using source-receiver offsets beyond the critical distance of PmP, 3) a study of wide-angle profiles collected by the piggyback experiment, 4) analysis of Laramide and late Cenozoic deformational structures observed in the upper crust and 5) analysis and interpretation of 3-component data from the piggyback experiment with an emphasis on crustal composition derived from P and S velocities. The upcoming U.S. Geological Survey refraction experiment provides a unique opportunity to acquire and study a data set of excellent quality and close trace spacing across the Colorado Plateau margin, a boundary that separates the highly extended Basin and Range province from the stable relatively undeformed Colorado Plateau.