Open AccessLithospheric thickness and upper‐mantle deformation beneath the NE Tibetan Plateau inferred from S receiver functions and SKS splitting measurements
Author(s) -
Zhang Hongshuang,
Teng Jiwen,
Tian Xiaobo,
Zhang Zhongjie,
Gao Rui,
Liu Jiaqi
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
geophysical journal international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0956-540X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.2012.05667.x
Subject(s) - geology , lithosphere , seismology , shear wave splitting , asthenosphere , receiver function , clockwise , craton , mantle (geology) , seismometer , seismic anisotropy , plateau (mathematics) , fault (geology) , geophysics , tectonics , fold (higher order function) , mathematical analysis , mathematics , mechanical engineering , engineering
SUMMARY We present S receiver functions and SKS splitting measurements from the China Seismograph Network located in the Qinghai and Gansu provinces. Teleseismic data are used to interpret the structure of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) and upper‐mantle deformation beneath the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) in regions north of the east Kunlun Fault. Based on our observations, the LAB lies at a depth of 125–135 km beneath the northeastern Songpan–Ganzi block and the west Qinling orogen, between 145 and 175 km beneath the Kunlun and Qilian orogen, and deepens below the Qaidam Basin (175–190 km), Ordos Craton (170 km) and Alashan platform (200 km). The NETP is characterized by a nearly uniform fast NW–SE S ‐wave direction. These observations are different from those to the south of the Kunlun Fault where fast S directions are rotating clockwise from the inner plateau. The change in fast directions across the Kunlun Fault implies a sudden variation of upper‐mantle deformation. Shear wave splitting delay times vary from 0.8 to 1.9 s. Data from beneath regions north of the Kunlun–Ayimaqin suture showed that delay time was positively correlated with lithospheric thickness with an increase of 0.7 s per 100 km. This indicates that the anisotropy may develop in the uppermost mantle, such as the lithosphere, beneath the NETP.