Abstract: From the 4th International Polar Year in 2007/2008 to 2013, Chinese Antarctic inland icecap expeditions deployed cold-mode very-broadband seismic stations along the path from Zhongshan to Kunlun (Dome A). Using the observations recorded by the stations, we retrieved S-receiver functions of 7 stations from seismic waveform observations, and inverted for crustal thicknesses beneath the seismic stations using the receiver functions. The result shows, with the increasing of latitude of the seismic stations, crustal thicknesses increase from 38 km beneath Zhongshan station to ~58 km beneath EAGLE and CHNB; then decrease to 47 km beneath CHNA; and finally increase to 62 km beneath the highest point of the Antarctica, Kunlun station (Dome A). This thickness variation is consistent with the bedrock surface variation along the path. The thickness variation indicates that the tectonics between Zhongshan and CHNB is relatively homogeneous. The crustal thickness beneath Kunlun station is not only the largest in Antarctica but also is very large comparing with cratons in other continents. The crust beneath CHNA is ~10 km thinner than neighboring stations, which may be resulted by short-time observation for the station and also may indicate that the crustal structure lateral variation is very large.

Key words: crustal thickness, seismic station, Dome A, East Antarctica, Antarctic expedition