LAUSR

S U M M A R Y Teleseismic receiver functions contain information regarding Earth structure beneath a seismic station. P-to-SV converted phases are often used to characterize crustal and upper-mantle discontinuities and isotropic velocity structures. More recently, P-to-SH converted energy has been used to interrogate the orientation of anisotropy at depth, as well as the geometry of dipping interfaces. Many studies use a trial-and-error forward modeling approach for the interpretation of receiver functions, generating synthetic receiver functions from a user-defined input model of Earth structure and amending this model until it matches major features in the actual data. While often successful, such an approach makes it impossible to explore model space in a systematic and robust manner, which is especially important given that solutions are likely non-unique. Here, we present a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm with Gibbs sampling for the interpretation of anisotropic receiver functions. Synthetic examples are used to test the viability of the algorithm, suggesting that it works well for models with a reasonable number of free parameters (<∼20). Additionally, the synthetic tests illustrate that certain parameters are well constrained by receiver function data, while others are subject to severe trade-offs—an important implication for studies that attempt to interpret Earth structure based on receiver function data. Finally, we apply our algorithm to receiver function data from station WCI in the central United States. We find evidence for a change in anisotropic structure at midlithospheric depths, consistent with previous work that used a grid search approach to model receiver function data at this station. Forward modeling of receiver functions using model space search algorithms, such as the one presented here, provide a meaningful framework for interrogating Earth structure from receiver function data.