Cratonic regions are the oldest stable parts of continents that hold most of Earth’s mineral resources. There are several open questions regarding their formation and evolution. In this PhD study, passive source seismic methods have been used to investigate the crustal and lithosphere structures of the southern African regions. Some of the main research problems that have been dealt with during this research are about (1) the heterogeneity scale of crustal structure and composition, (2) the depth extent of the cratonic keels and their layering, and (3) the strength of crustal anisotropy.
The core of this research was based on Ps- and Sp- receiver functions analysis to determine crustal thickness while finite-frequency traveltime tomography is utilized to model 3D heterogeneity in the upper mantle. Combining the two methods provides high vertical and lateral resolution.