Crustal structure of North Dakota from joint inversion of surface wave dispersion and teleseismic P-wave reciever functions

Studying and determining crustal structure of the Earth is important for understanding the interior of the Earth. Using methods like receiver functions and surface wave dispersion allows the determination of differences in structure and composition through the crust. Jointly inverting receiver functions and surface wave dispersion reduces the error and over-interpretation of the crustal structure estimation. Receiver functions and surface wave dispersion invert well together because receiver functions are very sensitive to velocity contrasts and vertical travel times, and surface wave dispersion is sensitive to average velocity and insensitive to sharp velocity contrasts. By jointly inverting receiver functions and surface wave dispersion, shear wave velocity profiles can be created to determine the properties of the crustal structure and velocity contrasts. With the use of IRIS Transportable Array stations data throughout the United States, this thesis takes a closer look at the crustal structure of North Dakota through the joint inversion of surface wave dispersion and teleseismic P-wave receiver functions. The receiver functions in North Dakota show shallow sediment effects that affect the joint inversion process. In western North Dakota the Williston basin and in eastern North Dakota the Red River Valley cause ringing effects in the receiver functions. The shallow sediments in North Dakota control and overpower the rest of the crustal signal in the receiver functions, and thus affect the ability of determining the crustal shear wave velocity structure of North Dakota through the joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion, thus the use of background geology is necessary.