This grant provides support to compile a comprehensive database of information on the elastic structure of the Earth's crust. Parameters that will be tabulated include depth to Moho, average crustal velocities, density, thickness of the sedimentary cover and Pn velocities. As the database grows, it will provide the necessary resource for a detailed global crustal model that is defined on a 1 degree grid, CRUST 1.0. This new model will enable the PI to obtain more detailed and unbiased tomographic images of the Earth's upper and lower mantle. The necessity to be able to perform such unbiased studies gain increasing importance as current crustal models fail to serve as reference model in the upcoming EARTHSCOPE initiative.
The crustal model will be available to other researchers on the worldwide web, together with the database it is based upon. This assures the utilization of CRUST 1.0 within a wide range of disciplines. For example, the model as a whole can be used as a starting model in other tomographic studies and earthquake location procedures or as a model to calculate predictions (such as sediment loading effects, electrical conductivity or isostatic compensation, regional wave propagation). The database will provide tables of detailed information that is currently available for local structure. This will benefit the "fine-scale research" of a particular area, i.e. for applications that seek information on a scale smaller than the 100 km of CRUST 1.0. The database will probably be the most comprehensive global crustal database that is openly available to other researchers.
