Australia is characterized by several cratons and orogens. SOC [Fontaine, 2007] was deployed from Jan. 01, 2007 to Aug. 14, 2008 to characterize the structure of the Gawler and Curnamona cratons. Guralp 40T and 3ESP sensors were used with Orion and Earthdata digitisers operating at 25 samples per second.

The principal objective of the SOC experiment was to determine the transition between the Precambrian lithosphere and the Phanerozoic lithosphere in South Australia. The nature of the basement beneath the Lachlan Orogen and the number of ancient subduction zones are indeed still debated. Specific goals were to:

• determine the plate and the crust thicknesses with receiver functions analyses,
• constrain the deformation of the crust and the upper mantle using seismic anisotropy,
• increase the coverage of previous seismic deployments in South East Australia to improve the 3-D images of the crust and upper mantle by body wave and surface wave seismic tomography.