Imaging the colliding Indian and Asian lithospheric plates beneath Tibet

Kumar, Prakash; Yuan, Xiaohui; Kind, R.; Ni, James

doi:10.1029/2005jb003930

Cited by 217 publications

(221 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The resultant crustal shortening is accommodated by the subduction of the Indian lithosphere below the Tibetan lithosphere, as shown by numerous studies using receiver functions and tomographic methods , Wittlinger et al, 2004, Kumar et al, 2006, Li et al, 2008a. The Indian crust is probably separating from the mantle lithosphere and propagating as far as central Tibet at a shallow angle (Yuan et al 1997, Li et al, 2008aRoyden et al, 2008;Nabelek et al 2009;Zhang and Klempere, 2010), whereas the mantle lithosphere itself Wenchuan earthquake could not be well modeled with crustal deformation mechanism from only middle/lower crustal escape, and suggests that vertical force contribution to crustal deformation beneath Longmenshan and East Tibet could not be excluded (Zhang et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsurface compensation may have occurred in a variety of different ways, such as by crustal thickening (Allegrè, 1984), denudation (Meng et al, 2006), slip partitioning (Chen et al, 1994;Tapponnier et al, 2001), subduction of the Indian mantle lithosphere (Kosarev et al, 1999;Kumar et al, 2006;Li et al, 2008a), lithospheric detachment (Houseman et al, 1981, Molnar, 1988, subduction of the Asian lithosphere (Willett and Beaumont, 1994;Kind et al, 2002) and eastward escape (Royden et al, 1997Clark and Royden, 2000;Klemperer, 2006). GPS displacement vectors (Gan et al, 2007) and SKS anisotropy measurements (Wang et al, 2008) indicate that the Tibetan crust (and possibly also the lithosphere and asthenosphere) is escaping eastwards, and that the main portion of the flow is being redirected towards the south east after it encounters the Sichuan Basin ( Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seismic signature of the collision between the east Tibetan escape flow and the Sichuan Basin

Zhang

Yuan

Chen

et al. 2010

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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GPS displacement vectors show that the crust in east Tibet is being squeezed in an easterly direction by the northward motion of the Indian plate, and the Sichuan Basin is resisting this stream and redirecting it mainly towards Indochina. The Longmen Shan, containing the steepest rise to the high plateau anywhere in Tibet, results from the strong interaction between the east Tibetan escape flow and the rigid Yangtze block (Sichuan Basin), but the kinematics and dynamics of this interaction are still the subject of some debates. We herein present results from a dense passive-source seismic profile from the Sichuan Basin into eastern Tibet in order to study the deep structure of this collision zone. Using P and S receiver function

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismic signature of the collision between the east Tibetan escape flow and the Sichuan Basin

Zhang

Yuan

Chen

et al. 2010

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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211

137

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“…These locations of the LAB jumps seem to mark the location of the northernmost extension of the Indian lithosphere beneath Tibet along the west and central lines. The BNS was also determined as northern end of the Indian mantle lithosphere by the neighboring INDEPTH profile (23) [called east line in Fig. 1 (see also Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We describe here results from our two recent profiles and from other experiments (INDEPTH, 1991-1992 PASSCAL, Tien Shan and Karakoram) (22)(23)(24). We herein call our recent profiles the west and central lines.…”

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confidence: 88%

The boundary between the Indian and Asian tectonic plates below Tibet

Zhao

Yuan

Liu

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The fate of the colliding Indian and Asian tectonic plates below the Tibetan high plateau may be visualized by, in addition to seismic tomography, mapping the deep seismic discontinuities, like the crust-mantle boundary (Moho), the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), or the discontinuities at 410 and 660 km depth. We herein present observations of seismic discontinuities with the P and S receiver function techniques beneath central and western Tibet along two new profiles and discuss the results in connection with results from earlier profiles, which did observe the LAB. The LAB of the Indian and Asian plates is well-imaged by several profiles and suggests a changing mode of India-Asia collision in the east-west direction. From eastern Himalayan syntaxis to the western edge of the Tarim Basin, the Indian lithosphere is underthrusting Tibet at an increasingly shallower angle and reaching progressively further to the north. A particular lithospheric region was formed in northern and eastern Tibet as a crush zone between the two colliding plates, the existence of which is marked by high temperature, low mantle seismic wavespeed (correlating with late arriving signals from the 410 discontinuity), poor Sn propagation, east and southeast oriented global positioning system displacements, and strikingly larger seismic (SKS) anisotropy.Tibetan lithosphere | receiver functions | anisotropy I t has long been recognised that the Tibetan plateau was created by the collision of the northward moving Indian plate and the relatively stationary Asian plate, which began about 50 million yr ago (1). However, the mode of deformation of the mantle lithospheres (2) remained largely unknown. A fundamental question is whether the postcollision convergence of India and Asia, estimated at >2;000 km (3, 4), was accommodated by homogeneous thickening or plate subduction (2). Global positioning systems (GPS) measurements have shown that at present an eastward motion dominates the surface deformation of northern and eastern Tibet (5). GPS and seismic anisotropy (6) indicate extrusion also of the deep Tibetan lithosphere to the east and southeast. Most surface wave studies revealed a thick lithosphere beneath much of the plateau (7-12), whereas body wave tomography observed the subducted Indian mantle lithosphere characterized by high wavespeed, in contrast to the Asian mantle lithosphere (13-15). Recently a high resolution P travel time tomographic study (15) imaged the high velocity Indian lithosphere in western Tibet below the entire plateau down to 300-400 km depth. In eastern Tibet, however, the front of the Indian plate is located south of the Yarlong-Zangbo Suture (YZS) (15). Relatively slow wave speeds are found in the upper mantle below the central and northeastern parts of the plateau. Modeling indicates that the Tibetan part of the lithosphere originated from the progressive accretion of a number of continental or island-arc type blocks before India came into direct contact with Asia (16) or stepwise subduction of the Asian pl...

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“…Underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere beneath the Eurasian lithosphere has been proposed to be the main reason for the formation of the Himalayan and Karakorum ranges (Nelson et al, 1996;Kumar et al, 2006;Tseng et al, 2009) along with the formation of the central Tibetan region (Argand, 1924;Nelson et al, 1996;Li et al, 2008). The underlying reason for the development of the northern and eastern Tibetan Plateau, however, remains enigmatic (Karplus et al, 2011;Royden et al, 2008).…”

Section: Tectonics Of the Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismic anisotropy inferred from direct <i>S</i>-wave-derived splitting measurements and its geodynamic implications beneath southeastern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The present study deals with detecting seismic anisotropy parameters beneath southeastern Tibet near Namcha Barwa Mountain using the splitting of direct S waves. We employ the reference station technique to remove the effects of source-side anisotropy. Seismic anisotropy parameters, splitting time delays, and fast polarization directions are estimated through analyses of a total of 501 splitting measurements obtained from direct S waves from 25 earthquakes ( ≥ 5.5 magnitude) that were recorded at 42 stations of the Namcha Barwa seismic network. We observe a large variation in time delays ranging from 0.64 to 1.68 s, but in most cases, it is more than 1 s, which suggests a highly anisotropic lithospheric mantle in the region. A comparison between direct S-and SKS-derived splitting parameters shows a close similarity, although some discrepancies exist where null or negligible anisotropy has been reported earlier using SKS. The seismic stations with hitherto null or negligible anisotropy are now supplemented with new measurements with clear anisotropic signatures. Our analyses indicate a sharp change in lateral variations of fast polarization directions (FPDs) from consistent SSW-ENE or W-E to NW-SE direction at the southeastern edge of Tibet. Comparison of the FPDs with Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements, absolute plate motion (APM) directions, and surface geological features indicates that the observed anisotropy and hence inferred deformation patterns are not only due to asthenospheric dynamics but are a combination of lithospheric deformation and sub-lithospheric (asthenospheric) mantle dynamics. Direct S-wave-based station-averaged splitting measurements with increased back-azimuths tend to fill the coverage gaps left in SKS measurements.

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Imaging the colliding Indian and Asian lithospheric plates beneath Tibet

Cited by 217 publications

References 44 publications

Seismic signature of the collision between the east Tibetan escape flow and the Sichuan Basin

Seismic signature of the collision between the east Tibetan escape flow and the Sichuan Basin

The boundary between the Indian and Asian tectonic plates below Tibet

Seismic anisotropy inferred from direct <i>S</i>-wave-derived splitting measurements and its geodynamic implications beneath southeastern Tibetan Plateau

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Imaging the colliding Indian and Asian lithospheric plates beneath Tibet

Cited by 217 publications

References 44 publications

Seismic signature of the collision between the east Tibetan escape flow and the Sichuan Basin

Seismic signature of the collision between the east Tibetan escape flow and the Sichuan Basin

The boundary between the Indian and Asian tectonic plates below Tibet

Seismic anisotropy inferred from direct &lt;i&gt;S&lt;/i&gt;-wave-derived splitting measurements and its geodynamic implications beneath southeastern Tibetan Plateau

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Seismic anisotropy inferred from direct <i>S</i>-wave-derived splitting measurements and its geodynamic implications beneath southeastern Tibetan Plateau