Evidence of crustal ＇channel flow＇ in the eastern margin of Tibetan Plateau from MT measurements

Magnetotelluric （MT） survey has been carried out in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its neighboring Shimian-Leshan area, Sichuan Province. Analysis of this MT data reveals that the electric structure of the Tibetan Plateau differ much from that of the Sichuan block. In general, the electric resistivity of crust beneath the Sichuan block in the east is larger than that of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in the west. The crust of the plateau is divided into upper, middle, and lower layers. The middle crust is a low resistivity layer with minimum down to 3-10Ωm about 10-15 km thick. It presumably contains partial melt and/or salt-bearing fluids with low viscosity, prone to deform and flow, producing a ＂channel flow＂ under the southeastward squeeze of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. This low-resistivity layer makes the upper crust decoupled mechanically from the lower crust. In the brittle upper crust, faults are dominated by left-lateral strike-slip and thrust motions, leading to surface rising and shallow earthquakes. The low-resistivity layer also cut the Xianshuihe-Anninghe fault zone into two sections vertically. In this region, the thicknesses of upper, middle, and lower crust vary laterally, producing a transitional zone in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau characterized by thicker crust and higher elevation in the west and thinner crust and lower elevation in the east.     

面波波形反演中的模拟退火法

采用求解非线性全局优化问题的模拟退火法作为反演手段 ,对面波波形进行反演 ,研究青藏高原地壳上地幔速度结构。通过青藏高原的面波波形振幅谱显示出在周期为 2 0 s和4 0 s时存在两个极小值 ,这可能是由地壳中存在低速层引起的。面波波形反演得到的速度模型也证实了青藏高原在 2 0 km深度左右普遍存在低速层 ;喜马拉雅山造山带在 6 0 km深度附近也存在一低速层。壳内低速层是青藏高原变形及隆升过程最重要的动力学边界条件之一     

Imaging the Indian subcontinent beneath the Himalaya

The rocks of the Indian subcontinent are last seen south of the Ganges before they plunge beneath the Himalaya and the Tibetan plateau. They are next glimpsed in seismic reflection profiles deep beneath southern Tibet, yet the surface seen there has been modified by processes within the Himalaya that have consumed parts of the upper Indian crust and converted them into Himalayan rocks. The geometry of the partly dismantled Indian plate as it passes through the Himalayan process zone has hitherto eluded imaging. Here we report seismic images both of the decollement at the base of the Himalaya and of the Moho (the boundary between crust and mantle) at the base of the Indian crust. A significant finding is that strong seismic anisotropy develops above the decollement in response to shear processes that are taken up as slip in great earthquakes at shallower depths. North of the Himalaya, the lower Indian crust is characterized by a high-velocity region consistent with the formation of eclogite, a high-density material whose presence affects the dynamics of the Tibetan plateau.     

Lithospheric thermal-rheological structures of the continental margin in the northern South China Sea

Thermal structures of three deep seismic profiles in the continental margin in the northern South China Sea are calculated, their "thermal" lithospheric thicknesses are evaluated based on the basalt dry solidus, and their rheological structures are evaluated with linear frictional failure criterion and power-law creep equation. "Thermal" lithosphere is about 90 km in thickness in shelf area, and thins toward the slope, lowers to 60-65 km in the lower slope, ocean crust and Xisha Trough. In the mid-west of the studied area, the lithospheric rheological structure in shelf area and Xisha Islands is of four layers: brittle, ductile, brittle and ductile. Because of uprising of heat mantle and thinning of crust and lithosphere in Xisha Trough, the bottom of the upper brittle layer is only buried at 16 km. In the eastern area, the bottom of the upper brittle layer in the north is buried at 20 km or so, while in lower slope and ocean crust, the rheological structure is of two layers of brittle and ductile, and crust and uppermost mantle form one whole brittle layer whose bottom is buried at 30-32 km. Analyses show that the characteristics of rheological structure accord with the seismic result observed. The character of rheological stratification implies that before the extension of the continent margin, there likely was a ductile layer in mid-lower crust. The influence of the existence of ductile layer to the evolution of the continent margin and the different extensions of ductile layer and brittle layer should not be overlooked. Its thickness, depth and extent in influencing continent margin's extension and evolution should be well evaluated in building a dynamic model for the area.     

Normal faulting in central Tibet since at least 13.5 Myr ago

Tectonic models for the evolution of the Tibetan plateau interpret observed east-west thinning of the upper crust to be the result of either increased potential energy of elevated crust or geodynamic processes that may be unrelated to plateau formation. A key piece of information needed to evaluate these models is the timing of deformation within the plateau. The onset of normal faulting has been estimated to have commenced in southern Tibet between about 14 Myr ago and about 8 Myr ago and, in central Tibet, about 4 Myr ago. Here, however, we report a minimum age of approximately 13.5 Myr for the onset of graben formation in central Tibet, based on mineralization ages determined with Rb-Sr and 40Ar-39Ar data that post-date a major graben-bounding normal fault. These data, along with evidence for prolonged activity of normal faulting in this and other Tibetan grabens, support models that relate normal faulting to processes occurring beneath the plateau. Thinning of the upper crust is most plausibly the result of potential-energy increases resulting from spatially and temporally heterogeneous changes in thermal structure and density distribution within the crust and upper mantle beneath Tibet. This is supported by recent geophysical and geological data, which indicate that spatial heterogeneity exists in both the Tibetan crust and lithospheric mantle.     

Himalayan tectonics explained by extrusion of a low-viscosity crustal channel coupled to focused surface denudation.

Recent interpretations of Himalayan-Tibetan tectonics have proposed that channel flow in the middle to lower crust can explain outward growth of the Tibetan plateau, and that ductile extrusion of high-grade metamorphic rocks between coeval normal- and thrust-sense shear zones can explain exhumation of the Greater Himalayan sequence. Here we use coupled thermal-mechanical numerical models to show that these two processes-channel flow and ductile extrusion-may be dynamically linked through the effects of surface denudation focused at the edge of a plateau that is underlain by low-viscosity material. Our models provide an internally self-consistent explanation for many observed features of the Himalayan-Tibetan system.     

Continuing Colorado plateau uplift by delamination-style convective lithospheric downwelling

The Colorado plateau is a large, tectonically intact, physiographic province in the southwestern North American Cordillera that stands at ～1,800-2,000?m elevation and has long been thought to be in isostatic equilibrium. The origin of these high elevations is unclear because unlike the surrounding provinces, which have undergone significant Cretaceous-Palaeogene compressional deformation followed by Neogene extensional deformation, the Colorado plateau is largely internally undeformed. Here we combine new seismic tomography and receiver function images to resolve a vertical high-seismic-velocity anomaly beneath the west-central plateau that extends more than 200?km in depth. The upper surface of this anomaly is seismically defined by a dipping interface extending from the lower crust to depths of 70-90?km. The base of the continental crust above the anomaly has a similar shape, with an elevated Moho. We interpret these seismic structures as a continuing regional, delamination-style foundering of lower crust and continental lithosphere. This implies that Pliocene (2.6-5.3?Myr ago) uplift of the plateau and the magmatism on its margins are intimately tied to continuing deep lithospheric processes. Petrologic and geochemical observations indicate that late Cretaceous-Palaeogene (～90-40?Myr ago) low-angle subduction hydrated and probably weakened much of the Proterozoic tectospheric mantle beneath the Colorado plateau. We suggest that mid-Cenozoic (～35-25?Myr ago) to Recent magmatic infiltration subsequently imparted negative compositional buoyancy to the base and sides of the Colorado plateau upper mantle, triggering downwelling. The patterns of magmatic activity suggest that previous such events have progressively removed the Colorado plateau lithosphere inward from its margins, and have driven uplift. Using Grand Canyon incision rates and Pliocene basaltic volcanism patterns, we suggest that this particular event has been active over the past ～6?Myr.     

Destruction geodynamics of the North China craton and its Paleoproterozoic plate tectonics

Much attention has been paid in the last two decades to the physical and chemical processes as well as temporal-spatial variations of the lithospheric mantle beneath the North China Craton. In order to provide insights into the geodynamics of this variation, it is necessary to thoroughly study the state and structure of the lithospheric crust and mantle of the North China Craton and its adjacent regions as an integrated unit. Based on the velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle constrained from seismological studies, this paper presents various available geophysical results regarding the lithosphere thickness, the nature of crust-mantle boundary, the upper mantle structure and deformation characteristics as well as their tectonic features and evolution systematics. Combined with the obtained data from petrology and geochemistry, a mantle flow model is proposed for the tectonic evolution of the North China Craton during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic. We suggest that subduction of the Pacific plate made the mantle underneath the eastern Asian continent unstable and able to flow faster. Such a regional mantle flow system would cause an elevation of melt/fluid content in the upper mantle of the North China Craton and the lithospheric softening, which, subsequently resulted in destruction of the North China Craton in different ways of delamination and thermal erosion in Yanshan, Taihang Mountains and the Tan-Lu Fault zone. Multiple lines of evidence recorded in the crust of the North China Craton, such as the amalgamation of the Archean eastern and western blocks, the subduction of Paleo-oceanic crust and Paleo-continental residue, indicate that the Earth in the Paleoproterozoic had already evolved into the plate tectonic system similar to the present plate tectonics.     

青藏高原的地质特征与形成演化

 青藏高原由于在全球所处的特殊地位,一直是各国科学家关注和竞争研究的热点地区,但仍有众多科学问题尚未达成一致。结合最新的研究进展,着重分析讨论青藏高原形成演化中的隆升过程及其地质学证据和动力学问题。青藏高原是一个独特的地质单元,有着条块相间的构造格局,地壳厚度巨大,其隆升已是不争的事实,在古生物学、沉积学、古地貌学、岩溶学和古地磁学等方面仍在积累大量证据,但对隆升过程的具体细节仍有不同认识。目前在探测地壳的精细结构方面取得了长足进展,对青藏高原下方俯冲的前沿位置、几何形态和运动方向等取得了相对统一的认识。     

Evidence of power-law flow in the Mojave desert mantle

Studies of the Earth's response to large earthquakes can be viewed as large rock deformation experiments in which sudden stress changes induce viscous flow in the lower crust and upper mantle that lead to observable postseismic surface deformation. Laboratory experiments suggest that viscous flow of deforming hot lithospheric rocks is characterized by a power law in which strain rate is proportional to stress raised to a power, n (refs 2, 3). Most geodynamic models of flow in the lower crust and upper mantle, however, resort to newtonian (linear) stress-strain rate relations. Here we show that a power-law model of viscous flow in the mantle with n = 3.5 successfully explains the spatial and temporal evolution of transient surface deformation following the 1992 Landers and 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes in southern California. A power-law rheology implies that viscosity varies spatially with stress causing localization of strain, and varies temporally as stress evolves, rendering newtonian models untenable. Our findings are consistent with laboratory-derived flow law parameters for hot and wet olivine--the most abundant mineral in the upper mantle--and support the contention that, at least beneath the Mojave desert, the upper mantle is weaker than the lower crust.     

Subduction and collision processes in the Central Andes constrained by converted seismic phases

The Central Andes are the Earth's highest mountain belt formed by ocean-continent collision. Most of this uplift is thought to have occurred in the past 20 Myr, owing mainly to thickening of the continental crust, dominated by tectonic shortening. Here we use P-to-S (compressional-to-shear) converted teleseismic waves observed on several temporary networks in the Central Andes to image the deep structure associated with these tectonic processes. We find that the Moho (the Mohorovici? discontinuity--generally thought to separate crust from mantle) ranges from a depth of 75 km under the Altiplano plateau to 50 km beneath the 4-km-high Puna plateau. This relatively thin crust below such a high-elevation region indicates that thinning of the lithospheric mantle may have contributed to the uplift of the Puna plateau. We have also imaged the subducted crust of the Nazca oceanic plate down to 120 km depth, where it becomes invisible to converted teleseismic waves, probably owing to completion of the gabbro-eclogite transformation; this is direct evidence for the presence of kinetically delayed metamorphic reactions in subducting plates. Most of the intermediate-depth seismicity in the subducting plate stops at 120 km depth as well, suggesting a relation with this transformation. We see an intracrustal low-velocity zone, 10-20 km thick, below the entire Altiplano and Puna plateaux, which we interpret as a zone of continuing metamorphism and partial melting that decouples upper-crustal imbrication from lower-crustal thickening.     

青藏高原隆升阶段性

 青藏高原的隆升不仅是印度板块与亚洲板块碰撞导致的地球内部岩石圈地球动力学作用过程的结果,并且对全球和亚洲气候变化、亚洲地貌和地表环境过程及大量地内和地表矿产资源的形成分布产生了深刻影响。因而研究高原隆升的历史不仅对解决上述重大科学问题提供重要途径,而且可为高原区域资源环境的开发和可持续发展提供理论依据。简要回顾和梳理了国内外近年来,围绕青藏高原隆升所取得的主要进展。研究表明新生代青藏高原经历了多阶段、多幕次、准同步异幅且高原南北后期加速隆升的演化过程。具体可划分为55~30、25~10及8~0 Ma 3个主要生长隆升期次。其中55~30 Ma的高原早期隆升,主要集中在高原中南部的拉萨地块和羌塘地块,并且可能隆升到接近3 km高度,或甚至更高,有人称之为“原西藏高原”,但其周缘存在准同步异幅的变形隆升响应;25~10 Ma的中期隆升,“原西藏高原”南北缘的喜马拉雅山和可可西里-昆仑山开始强烈隆升,“原西藏高原”率先隆升到目前高度并开始向东西两侧挤出物质、拉张形成南北向裂谷,高原北缘普遍产生广泛变形隆升但幅度有限;从约8 Ma开始的晚期隆升,高原南、北部边缘的喜马拉雅山和昆仑山-西秦岭以北的高原东北部隆升显著加速,经历一系列短暂快速的多幕次构造变形和生长隆升,最终形成现今高原面貌。     

基于离散元法的龙门山构造带隆升变形主控因素研究

为探明龙门山构造带隆升变形的主要控制因素, 基于龙门山构造带东西两侧下地壳物质层属性差异巨大的特征, 进行3组PFC2D离散元数值模拟对比实验, 将深度扩大至下地壳, 记录颗粒运动状态, 实现定量化分析。实验得到的变形结果及模型颗粒运动矢量图显示, 在下地壳物质属性无明显差异的条件下, 板块碰撞挤压应力及地壳厚度的差异不会在龙门山构造带形成巨大的地形高差。当下地壳黏度系数存在明显差异时, 软弱下地壳物质层颗粒相对运动速率为1.5~2.94 m/s, 平均运动速率为1.62 m/s, 大约是坚硬下地壳层颗粒平均运动速率的54倍。模型中部(龙门山构造带)出现隆升变形, 纵向影响范围为94.74%, 隆升幅度为19.85%。软弱下地壳上覆的中地壳和上地壳颗粒具有较大的向上速度分量, 上地壳物质层上涌趋势明显。巴颜喀拉块体和四川盆地地壳存在20 km的厚度差异, 使得龙门山构造带隆升幅度由14.79%增至19.85%。综合分析3组离散元模拟实验结果, 得出巴颜喀拉地块下地壳物质层与四川盆地下地块物质层的黏度差异是龙门山构造带垂向隆升变形最关键控制因素的结论, 在下地壳黏度结构存在明显差异的前提下, 巴颜喀拉块体和四川盆地的地壳厚度差异对龙门山构造带纵向上逆冲隆升幅度有明显的促进作用。     

Water content in the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle beneath the south-central Taihang Mountains: implications for the destruction of the North China Craton

Based on studies of the water content of the early Cretaceous Feixian high-magnesium basalts in the eastern part of the North China Craton （NCC）, it has been suggested that the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle of the eastern NCC was highly hydrous （〉1,000 ppm, HeO wt.） and that this high water content had significantly reduced the vis- cosity of the lithospheric mantle and provided a prerequisite for the destruction of the NCC. The eastern part of the NCC had undergone multistage subduction of oceanic plates from the south, north, and east sides since the early Paleozoic, and these events may have caused the strong hydration of the NCC lithospheric mantle. To determine which subduction had contributed most to this hydration, we measured the water contents of the peridotite xenoliths hosted by the early Cretaceous high-magnesium diorites of Fushan in the south- central part of the Taihang Mountains. Our results demon- strate that the water content of the early Cretaceous litho- spheric mantle beneath the south part of the Taihang Mountains was ~ 40 ppm and significantly lower than that of the contemporary lithospheric mantle beneath the eastern part of the NCC. Thus, the hydration of the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle of the eastern part of the NCC can be ascribed to the subduction of the Pacific plate from the west side. Thus, the main dynamic factor in the destruction of the NCC was likely the subduction of the Pacific plate.     

Study on crustal, lithospheric and asthenospheric thickness beneath the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its adjacent areas

Based on the results of pure dispersions of Rayleigh wave tomography in the Qinghai-Tlbet Plateau and its adjacent areas, tsklng S wave velocities from previous linear inversion as the initial model, using the simulated annealing algorithm, a nonlinear simultaneous inversion has been carried out for S wave velocity and thickness of different layers, including the crust, the lithosphere and the asthenosphere. The results indicate： The crustal thickness shows strong correlation with geology structures sketched by the sutures and major faults. The crust is very thick in the Qinghal-Tibet Plateau, varying from 60 km to 80 kin. The Ilthospherlc thickness in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Is thinner （130-160 kin） than Its adjacent areas. And two blocks can be recognized, divided by an NNE strike boundary running between 90°E-92°E inside the plateau. Its asthenosphere is relatively thick, varies from 150 km to 230 kin, and the thickest area is located in the western Qiangtsng. India has a thinner crust （32-38 kin）, a thicker lithosphere of 190 km and a rather thin asthenosphere of only 60 kin. Sichuan and Tarlm basins have the crust thickness less than 50 kin. Their Iithospheres are thicker than the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and their asthenospheres are thinner. A discussion has been made on the character and formation mechanism of the typical crust-mantle transition zone in the western Qiangtsng block.     

山东地区地壳及上地幔结构研究

利用布设在山东省境内的宽频带流动地震观测台阵和国家地震局固定地震观测台站记录的地震数据, 应用接收函数和SKS波分裂方法, 研究山东地区的地壳与上地幔结构, 得到该区域的地壳厚度、地壳平均P波与S波的波速比以及SKS波分裂延迟的分布情况。结果表明, 山东地区地壳厚度范围为28~39 km; 胶南隆起的北段和南段以及鲁西隆起北侧济阳凹陷的地壳厚度小于32 km, 鲁西隆起下方的地壳比较厚。研究区 P波与S波的波速比主要分布在1.67~1.94之间, 鲁西隆起西南部和胶南隆起北段该比值小于1.75, 可能是由中上地壳增厚以及下地壳减薄和拆沉造成。鲁西隆起南北P波与S波的波速比差异反映地壳活动的差异。地幔物质的各向异性显示, 山东地区西部的地壳减薄和拆沉可能仍在进行。     

Process and mechanism of mountain-root removal of the Dabie Orogen—Constraints from geochronology and geochemistry of post-collisional igneous rocks

Systematical studies of post-collisional igneous rocks in the Dabie orogen suggest that the thickened mafic lower crust of the oro- gen was partially melted to form low-Mg# adakitic rocks at 143-131 Ma. Delamination and foundering of the thickened mafic lower crust occurred at 130 Ma, which caused the mantle upwelling and following mafic and granitic magmatic intrusions. Mig- matite in the North Dabie zone, coeval with the formation of low-Mg# adakitic intrusions in the Dabie orogen, was formed by partial melting of exhumed ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks at middle crustal level. This paper argues that the partial melting of thickened lower and middle crust before mountain-root collapse needs lithospheric thinning. Based on the geothermal gradient of 6.6~C/km for lithospheric mantle and initial partial melting temperature of ~1000~C for the lower mafic crust, it can be estimated that the thickness of lithospheric mantle beneath thickened lower crust has been thinned to 〈45 km when the thickened lower crust was melting. Thus, a two-stage model for mountain-root removal is proposed. First, the lithospheric mantle keel was partially removal by mantle convection at 145 Ma. Loss of the lower lithosphere would increase heat flow into the base of the crust and would cause middle-lower crustal melting. Second, partial melting of the thickened lower crust has weakened the lower crust and increased its gravity instability, thus triggering delamination and foundering of the thickened mafic lower crust or mountain-root collapse. Therefore, convective removal and delamination of the thickened lower crust as two mechanisms of lithospheric thin- ning are related to causality.     

Characteristics and geological significance of olivine xenocrysts in Cenozoic volcanic rocks from western Qinling

Cenozoic volcanic rocks from the Haoti, Dangchang County of the western Qinling Mountains, contain a few clearly-zoned olivines. These olivines are relatively big in grain sizes and usually have cracks or broken features. Their cores have similar compositions (Mg#=90.4-91.0) to those for the peridotitic xenoliths entrained in host volcanic rocks and their rims are close to the compositions of olivine phenocrysts (Mg#=85.5-81.9). The CaO contents in these zoned olivines are lower than 0.1%. These features demonstrate that the clearly-zoned olivines are xenocrysts and disaggregated from mantle peridotites. The zoned texture was the result of the interaction between the olivine and host magma. Available data show that the volcanic rocks would have been derived from the mantle source metasomatized by subducted hydrathermally-altered oceanic crust. The formation of these Cenozoic volcanic rocks was perhaps related to the rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau.     

New geological evidence of crustal thickening in the Gangdese block prior to the Indo-Asian collision

Recent mapping in the Gangdese block has revealed many leucogranites that are similar to those in the High Himalaya. These leucogranites formed at ～140 Ma as indicated by monazite Th-Pb ion-microprobe dating and cooled at ～130 Ma as indicated by muscovite ^40Ar/^39Ar dating. In conjunction with previous structural and paleogeographic studies, the new data indicate that the Gangdese block underwent crustal thickening and associated exhumation during ～140—130 Ma. In this regard, the southern margin of Eurasia continent was comparable to the modern South American Altiplano-Puna plateau, the prime example of active ocean-continent subduction and associated thickened crust. Specifically, the early stages of crustal thickening and uplifting of the Gangdese block may result from subduction of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean. If the Tibetan Plateau would form by accretion of a series of blocks with thickened crust, an elevated topographic plateau similar to the Altiplano-Puna plateau had formed before collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Then the Tibetan Plateau would have quickly thickened, uplifted, and begun to extend soon after onset of the collision. Thus, the deformational mechanism of the Tibetan Plateau is not distributed shortening, but rather concentrating deformation within regions of thin crust between the accreted blocks.     

青藏高原地面抬升证据讨论

当前学术界在青藏高原地面何时达到现代高度问题上存在着许多不同观点,概括起来主要有３种：１４Ｍａ前已达到高于现代的最大高度,８Ｍａ前已达到或超过现代高度,距今３．４Ｍａ来分阶中强烈上升并逐步达到现代高度,之所以出现如此大的意见分歧,除高原面积广阔,研究程度不深和覆盖面不够的原因外,不同研究者所使用研究方法和证据的差异也是重要因素,在分析了各种证据对高原地面上升的记录机理后,我们认为夷平面、河流附地,