Solid Earth, 10, 893–905, 2019 https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-893-2019 © Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Lithospheric and sublithospheric deformation under the Borborema Province of northeastern Brazil from receiver function harmonic stripping Gaelle Lamarque1,2 and Jordi Julià1,3 1Programa do Pós-Graduação em Geodinâmica e Geofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN CEP 59078-090, Brazil 2Ifremer, Geosciences Marines, Centre de Brest, 29280 Plouzané, France 3Departamento de Geofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN CEP 59078-970, Brazil Correspondence: Gaelle Lamarque (
[email protected]) Received: 27 February 2019 – Discussion started: 4 March 2019 Revised: 13 May 2019 – Accepted: 14 May 2019 – Published: 21 June 2019 Abstract. The depth-dependent anisotropic structure of the 1 Introduction lithosphere under the Borborema Province in northeast Brazil has been investigated via harmonic stripping of re- Understanding intraplate deformation and its relationship ceiver functions developed at 39 stations in the region. to deep geodynamic processes such as sublithospheric flow This method retrieves the first (k D 1) and second (k D is critical for improving our understanding of the evolu- 2) degree harmonics of a receiver function dataset, which tion of continents. The Borborema Province in northeast- characterize seismic anisotropy beneath a seismic station. ern Brazil, for instance, has witnessed several cycles of de- Anisotropic fabrics are in turn directly related to the defor- formation, as well as recurrent episodes of intraplate vol- mation of the lithosphere from past and current tectonic pro- canism and uplift, during its geological history.