We present a summary of measurements of azimuthal anisotropy in the continental mantle based on the SKS technique and performed mostly with the active participation of the authors. The directions of polarization of the fast quasi-shear wave and the time delays between the quasi-shear waves are obtained at nearly 70 locations in all continents, except Antarctica. These data are interpreted in terms of lattice-preferred orientation of olivine which is caused by deformations in the mantle. The depth interval responsible for anisotropy is unknown but the data suggest that it may reach at least 300 km. The fast directions in SKS do not show clear correlation with the fast directions of the teleseismic P at the same seismograph stations.In the regions of present-day convergence the fast direction of anisotropy usually aligns with the plate boundary. This correlation implies that the direction of shortening is the same in the crust and the upper mantle. In the regions of rifting, the inferred direction of mantle flow usually aligns with the direction of extension in the crust.Outside the regions of recent tectonic activity we, most likely, observe a combined effect of frozen anisotropy in the subcrustal lithosphere and of recently formed anisotropy in the asthenosphere. On a global scale, in these regions there is a positive correlation between the absolute plate velocity directions and the fast directions of anisotropy. The correlation is especially strong in central and eastern parts of North America. A clear absence of any evidence of large-scale azimuthal anisotropy in the data of long-range refraction profiling for the upper 100 km of the mantle of that region implies that the effect in SKS is generated mainly at greater depths, in the asthenosphere. Orientation of olivine at these depths reflects recent and present-day flow in the mantle rather than processes of a distant geologic past.

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S U M M A R Y The paper gives a detailed description of the technique for measuring azimuthal anisotropy which was suggested earlier by Vinnik, Kosarev & Makeyeva (1984) and used by Kind et ai. (1985). The technique is based on the observations of long-period converted phases like SKS. Additionally, we describe a generalization of this approach which makes use of long-period S-waves of arbitrary polarization. Both modifications were applied to records of the GRF array in southern Germany. The results of this analysis, if combined with the data on P,, velocities (Bamford 1977), suggest that the direction of the fast velocity in the lithosphere of the region varies with depth.

S U M M A R YShear wave splitting in the seismic SKS phase provides a unique possibility to judge on deformations at depths inaccessible for direct observations. Fast S wave polarization direction in collisional belts is often parallel to the trend of the belt, although deformations of the mantle lithosphere in low-angle thrusts would lead to the fast polarization direction normal to the trend of the belt. These considerations suggested that the upper mantle in collisional belts is decoupled from the crust. However, SKS technique is notable by a poor depth resolution, and usually it assumes that the fast polarization direction is the same at any depth, which is hard to justify. Here, to investigate depth dependent azimuthal anisotropy in the mantle, we invert jointly P receiver functions and SKS particle motions at a number of seismograph stations. The technique involves azimuthal filtering of the receiver functions and provides a criterion to discriminate between the effects of azimuthal anisotropy and lateral heterogeneity of isotropic medium. A search for the optimum models is conducted with a technique similar to simulated annealing. Testing with synthetics demonstrates that this approach is robust. The results for 10 seismograph stations in the Tien Shan, the world's most active intracontinental collisional belt in Central Asia, reveal a pronounced change in the patterns of azimuthal anisotropy at a depth around 100 km. In the mantle lithosphere (at depths less than 100 km), anisotropy is relatively weak and fast wave polarization direction varies laterally in a broad range. This layer is not necessarily decoupled from the crust: its anisotropy can be a combined effect of present day thrusting and of deformations of the geologic past. In the lower layer (asthenosphere) the average azimuth of fast wave polarization is close to the trend of the belt, whereas magnitude of S wave anisotropy is stable and large (between 5 and 6 per cent). This anisotropy is a likely result of recent uniaxial shortening at right angle to the trend of the belt. At some stations the data require anisotropy in the crust. There is no evidence for anisotropy at depths exceeding 150-250 km.

We present observations of diffracted SV (SVd) for a path between the Fiji‐Tonga islands and the eastern coast of North America at distances greater than 110°. Observed features of S diffracted suggest that coupling between SVd and SHd can be ruled out as a first order effect for this path. Arrivals of SHd are late relative to IASP91 travel‐times by about 10 s, and those of SVd are late relative to SHd by 3 s, for most records. The slope of the log(SVd/SHd) spectral ratio is around 3Hz−1 in the range 0.06–0.15 Hz. A transversely isotropic low‐velocity layer in the lower‐most mantle with a thickness of 200–300 km may account for most of the observed properties of SVd.