Structure of the Sierra Nevada from receiver functions and implications for lithospheric foundering

Receiver functions sampling the Sierra Nevada batholith and adjacent regions exhibit significant variations in the structure of the crust and upper mantle. Crustal Vp/Vs values are lower in the core of the batholith and higher in the northern Sierra Nevada, portions of the Basin and Range, and near young volcanic fields in the eastern Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley. P- to S-wave conversions from the Moho vary from high amplitude and shallow (>25% of the direct P-arrival amplitude, 25–35 km depth) along the eastern Sierra Nevada to low amplitude and deep (