IDENTIFICATION AND INTERPRETATION OF AZIMUTHALLY VARYING CRUSTAL REFLECTIVITY WITH AN EXAMPLE FROM THE SOUTHERN CANADIAN CORDILLERA

A new approach to seismic interpretation, seismic skeletonization, is used to analyze crustal reflection data by identifying numbers of refl ection events, their lengths, their energies, and their dips, with res pect to azimuths of recorded profiles. Application of the method to cr ustal reflection data in the southern Canadian Cordillera demonstrates strong directional dependence of crustal reflectivity, with persisten t trends at 025-040 degrees (205-220 degrees), 085-095 degrees (265-27 5 degrees), 115-125 degrees (295-305 degrees), and 140-160 degrees (32 0-340 degrees). These trends are visible in both the upper and lower c rust and may be related to regional structural trends. Further applica tions of the technique, particularly in different tectonic regions, ma y allow categorization of seismic patterns and cataloguing of signatur es for complex reflection data in a manner similar to seismic stratigr aphy and structural patterns in stratified rocks.