This study investigates the seismic structure and anisotropy in the crust beneath Madagascar and south-eastern Africa, using receiver functions. The understanding of seismic anisotropy is essential for imaging past and present deformation in the lithosphere-asthenosphere system. In the upper mantle, seismic anisotropy mainly results from the orientation of olivine, which deforms under tectonic (fossil anisotropy) or flow processes (in the asthenosphere). In the crust, the crystallographic alignment of amphiboles, feldspars(plagioclase) or micas or the alignment of heterogeneities such as fractures, add to a complex geometry, which results in challenges to understanding the Earth's shallow structure. The decomposition of receiver functions into back-azimuth... |