The crust and mantle structures of Earth, Mars, and Moon revealed by the P-wave receiver function

The structures of the crust and mantle of a planet are products of the
planet’s crystallization differentiation, recording the thermal
evolutionary history of the planet. Therefore, the crust and mantle
structures are crucial for understanding the planetary composition and
the geological activities, such as the sedimentary history, volcanism,
and the meteoritic impact process. The crust of a planet generally
refers to the outermost solid part of a rocky planet, which can be
distinguished by its chemical composition, and physical properties, like
the viscosity, geothermal gradient, and density, from the underlying
mantle. And the mantle is the zone extending from the bottom of the
crust to the top of the planet’s core. Seismic waves are considered the
most efficient tool to study planetary interiors because seismic waves
travel through the interior of rocky planets, carrying seismic signals
related to the interior. In seismology, because the P-wave receiver
function (PRF) method is very sensitive to the structures near the
station, this method has been a routine to study the crust and mantle
structures of Earth, Mars, and the Moon. In this talk, I will introduce
this method, review the PRF works on Earth, exhibit the PRFs of the
latest large marsquake S1222a of Mars, and compare the PRFs of Earth,
Mars, and the Moon. The PRF comparison of the three planets can also
enable us to estimate their crustal scattering properties, which is
helpful for planetary exploration missions in the future.