Crustal structure using receiver function in the east part of A’nyêmaqên suture belt

Twenty broadband seismographs were deployed along Hongyuan, Sichuan to Wuwei, Gansu. 81 teleseismic events were recorded in one year. We computed receiver functions from teleseismic waveform data and obtained S wave velocity structure beneath each station along the profile by using receiver function inversion method. The results revealed that the crustal structure is very complex and crustal average S wave velocity is to be on the low side. Low velocity structure generally exists in the depth range of 10~40 km in the crust between Aba arc fault and northern edge fault of Qinling earth’s axis and it is a tectonic feature of complex geological process such as ancient A’nyêmaqên Tethys ocean from closing and side colliding to subducted plate exhumed or thrust rock slice lifted. The Moho is about 50 km depth along the profile and is slightly deeper in the south than in the north.     

Crustal structure using receiver function in the east part of A＇nyemaqen suture belt

Twenty broadband seismographs were deployed along Hongyuan, Sichuan to Wuwei, Gansu. 81 teleseismic events were recorded in one year. We computed receiver functions from teleseismic waveform data and obtained S wave velocity structure beneath each station along the profile by using receiver function inversion method. The results revealed that the crustal structure is very complex and crustal average S wave velocity is to be on the low side. Low velocity structure generally exists in the depth range of 10～40 km in the crust between Aba arc fault and northern edge fault of Qinling earth＇s axis and it is a tectonic feature of complex geological process such as ancient A＇nyemaqen Tethys ocean from closing and side colliding to subducted plate exhumed or thrust rock slice lifted. The Moho is about 50 km depth along the profile and is slightly deeper in the south than in the north.     

Application of radiolarians and other fossils in non-Smith strata--Exemplified by the A'nyêmaqên melange belt in East Kunlun Mts

The main character of melange strata in an orogenic belt is the integration of mixed materials due to the superposition, displacement or loss of various tectonic slices (blocks) of different origins and environments, different scales, different grades of deformation and metamorphism, and different stages of tectonic evolution. The approach to non-Smith strata in an orogenic belt is to focus on the understanding of the age, facies, tectonic setting of the original formation and the process of deformation-metamorphism of each tectonic slice, reconstruct the history of dispersal and integration of these tectonic slices in time and space, i.e. 4-dimensional. This paper studies the age and facies of the original formation of tectonic slices in the A'nyêmaqên melange belt based on new data of radiolarians, sporo-pollen and trace fossils, and cast new lights on the research of the evolution process of that belt.     

Crustal structure of northeastern Tibet inferred from receiver function analysis

Sponsored by National Science & Technology Committee, the cooperation between China Academy of Geoscience and Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics, University Joseph, France conducted a lithospherical experiment using 40 Minititan 3-component and 13 CEIS 1-component seismometers along the road from Gonghe to Yushu in Qinghai Province during 5 months after June, 1998. The interested area is on the north of Bangong- Nujiang fault, the east of Qaidam basin, the south of Center Qilian f…     

Crustal structure beneath Qiangtang and Lhasa terrane from receiver function

To determine the crustal structure in central Tibet, we used teleseismic waveform data recorded by 18 stations in the INDEPTH-Ⅲ seismic array across the central Tibet from the central Lhasa terrane to the central Qiangtang terrane. The S-wave velocity structures beneath stations are determined by inverting the stacked radial receiver function using the GA method. The first order features in the receiver function are modeled. Our results show that the Moho in Qiangtang is about 8 km shallower than that in Lhasa terrane along the INDEPTH-Ⅲ profile. It maybe suggests the northward subduction of the Lhasa mantle lid beneath the Qiangtang terrane is affected by the India-Asia collision. We conclude that there exist low velocity zone in the middle crust across the northern Lhasa and Qiangtang terrane, which can be related to the high temperature upper mantle beneath that.     

Crustal structure beneath the Songpan—Garze orogenic belt

The Benzilan-Tangke deepseismic sounding profile in the western Sichuan region passes through the Song-pan-Garze orogenic belt with trend of NNE.Based on the travel times and the related amplitudes of phases in the record sections,the 2-D P-wave crustal structure was ascertained in this paper.The velocity structure has quite strong lateral variation along the profile.The crust is divided into 5layers,where the first,second and third layer belong to the upper crust,the forth and fifth layer belong to the lower crust.The low velocity anomaly zone gener-ally exists in the central part of the upper crust on the profile,and it integrates into the overlying low velocity basement in the area to the north of Ma‘erkang.The crustal structure in the section can be divided into 4parts:in the south of Garze-litang fault,between Garze-Litang fault and Xianshuihe fault,between Xianshuihe fault and Longriba fault and in the north of Longriba fault,which are basically coincided with the regional tectonics division.The crustal thickness decreases from southwest to northeast along the profile,that is ,from62km in the region of the Jinshajiang River to 52km in the region of the Yellow River.The Moho discontinuity does not obviously change across the Xianshuihe fault basesd on the PmP phase analysis.The crustal average velocity along the profile is lower,about 6.30 km/s.The Benzilan-Tangke profile reveals that the crust in the study area is orogenic.The Xianshuihe fault belt is located in the central part of the profile,and the velocity is positive anomaly on the upper crust,and negative anomaly on the lower crust and upper mantle.It is considered as a deep tectonhic setting in favor of strong earthquake‘s accumulation and occurrence.     

A study on deep structure using teleseismic receiver function in Western Yunnan

1 Tectonic environment and geophysical background There are two kinds of continental-oceanic contacts relationship: the Atlantic and the Pacific type. The Atlantic type is characterized by extension and lower relative activity. The continent nearby the ocean is stable and its edge is of extension and block tectonics. Europe, Africa and American belong to this kind. The Pacific type is characterized by compression and shear com-pression. The continent near the ocean is more active than othe…     

Crustal structure beneath the Songpan——Garze orogenic belt

AbstractThe Benzilan-Tangke deep seismic sounding profile in the western Sichuan region passes through the Song-pan-Garze orogenic belt with trend of NNE.Based on the travel times and the related amplitudes of phases in therecord sections,the 2-D P-wave crustal structure was ascertained in this paper. The velocity structure has quitestrong lateral variation along the profile.The crust is divided into 5 layers,where the first,second and third layerbelong to the upper crust,the forth and fifth layer belong to the lower crust.The low velocity anomaly zone gener-ally exists in the central part of the upper crust on the profile,and it integrates into the overlying low velocitybasement in the area to the north of Ma’erkang.The crustal structure in the section can be divided into 4 parts:inthe south of Garze-Litang fault,between Garze-Litang fault and Xiashuihe fault,between Xianshuihe fault andLongriba fault and in the north of Longriba fault,which are basically coincided with the regional tectonics division     

The velocity structure of crust and uppermantle in the Wudalianchi volcano area in—ferred from the receiver function

The Wudalianchi volcano is a modern volcano erupted since the Holocene.Its frequent occurrence of the small earthquake is considered to be indicator of active dormancy volcano.The S wave velocity structure is inferred from the receiver function for the crust and upper mantle of the Wudalianchi volcano area.The results show that the low velocity structure of Swave is widely distributed undemeath the volcano area and part of the low-velocity-zone located at shallow depth in the Wudalianchi volcano area.The low velocity structure is related to the seismicity.The Moho interface is not clear undemeath the volcano area,which may be regard to be an nec-essary condition for the lava upwelling.Therefore,we infer that the Wudalianchi volcano has the deep structural condition for the volcano activity and may be alive again.     

Middle Permian palaeobiogeography study in East Kunlun,A''''nyêmaqên and Bayan Har

Origin, geographic distribution and evolutionhistory of the ancient organisms are the main contentsof the study of palaeobiogeography. Besides the studyof lineage distribution, ecological geographic distribu-tion is also an interesting subject in palaeobiogeogra-phy. Palaeobiogeographic research is important in thestudy of ancient ocean and the opening and closinghistory of ancient plate. The study of palaeobio-geography in the orogenic belt is especially valuablein the division of terrences a…     

Crust and uppermost mantle structure of the Ailaoshan-Red River fault from receiver function analysis

S-wave velocity structure beneath the Ailaoshan-Red River fault was obtained from receiver functions by using teleseismic body wave records of broadband digital seismic stations. The average crustal thickness, Vp/Vs ratio and Poisson’s ratio were also estimated. The results indicate that the interface of crust and mantle beneath the Ailaoshan-Red River fault is not a sharp velocity discontinuity but a characteristic transition zone. The velocity increases relatively fast at the depth of Moho and then increases slowly in the uppermost mantle. The average crustal thickness across the fault is 36―37 km on the southwest side and 40―42 km on the northeast side, indicating that the fault cuts the crust. The relatively high Poisson’s ratio (0.26―0.28) of the crust implies a high content of mafic materials in the lower crust. Moreover, the lower crust with low velocity could be an ideal position for decoupling between the crust and upper mantle.     

3-D velocity structure in the central-eastern part of Qilianshan

Introduction The central-eastern part of Qilianshan, located along the northeastern margin of Qing-hai-Xizang (Tibetan) plateau, belongs to the Qilian tectonic zone with active neotectonic move-ment. The main active faults are Haiyuan-Qilian fault, Gulang-Tianjingshan fault and Huang-cheng-Taerzhuang fault. The research area in this paper is a rectangle (Figure 1), the location of the four apex are: A(37.50N, 101.60E), B(36.55N, 103.74E), C(37.20N, 104.20E) and D(38.15N, 102.04E). In…     

S-wave velocity structure inferred from receiver function inversion in Tengchong volcanic area

IntroductionTengchongvolcanicclusterisoneofthefamousvolcanicactiveareasinourcountry.LocatedatthenortheasternsideoftheimpingingmarginofIndianandEurasiaplates,TengchongvolcanicareabelongstoBurmaarc-shapeseismictectonicsystemofHimalayasstrongseismicactivezone.Thiskindofcomplextectonicenvironmentmakesitanareaoffrequentearthquake,volcanoandhotspringactivitiesforonewhole.Itisoneoftheyoungestvolcanicareasinourcountrywithmorevolcanoes,widerangeandcompleteeruptionstyles.Thevolcanoactedfrequentlyfrom…     

Middle Permian palaeobiogeography study in East Kunlun,A’nyêmaqên and Bayan Har

Three regions can easily be identified in the study area according to the Middle Permian palaeobiogeographic distribution of biota, they are the southern slope of East Kunlun, A'nyêmaqên and Bayan Har. Biotic constitution and ecology in the southern slope of East Kunlun and Bayan Har are very similar. Both the diversity and abundance of organisms in these two areas are very high and reefs are widely developed. However, biotic diversity and abundance in A'nyêmaqên which is between the above two areas are obviously low. Differentiation of palaeobiogeographic distribution in these areas should be due to the baring of A'nyêmaqên ocean in the time of Middle Permian. Middle Permian radiolarian chert and thick abyssal red ooze are widely spread in A'nyêmaqên, implying that the A'nyêmaqên ocean had a great scale in size. Vast scale of deep ocean basin became an impassable gulf for some of the benthos, and as a result, only part of the organisms could have the chance to get to the isolated islands situated in ocean basin. Small living space and hard conditions in the islands further limited the abundance and diversity of biota. Tectonic background reflected by the geochemical study of basalt in the three areas is coupling well enough with the palaeobiogeographic division.     

Upper crust structure of eastern A’nyemaqên suture zone: Results of Barkam-Luqu-Gulang deep seismic sounding profile

Barkam-Luqu-Gulang deep seismic sounding profile runs from north of Sichuan Province to south of Gansu Prov- ince. It is located at the northeastern edge of Tibetan Plateau and crosses eastern A’nyemaqên suture zone. The upper crust structures around eastern A’nyemaqên suture zone and its adjacent area are reconstructed based on the arrival times of refracted Pg and Sg waves by using finite difference method, ray tracing inversion, time-term method and travel-time curve analysis. The results show that the depth variation of basement along profile is very strong as indicated by Pg and Sg waves. The basement rose in Zoigê basin and depressed in eastern A’nyemaqên suture zone, and it gradually rose again northward and then depressed. The results also indicate that eastern A’nyemaqên suture zone behaves as inhomogeneous low velocity structures in the upper crust and is inclined to- ward the south. Hoh Sai Hu-Maqên fault, Wudu-Diebu fault and Zhouqu-Liangdang fault are characterized by low velocity distributions with various scales. The distinct variation in basement depth occurred near Hoh Sai Hu-Maqên fault and Zhouqu-Liangdang fault, which are main tectonic boundaries of A’nyemaqên suture zone. Wudu-Diebu fault, located at the depth variation zone of the basement, possibly has the same deep tectonic back- ground with Zhouqu-Liangdang fault. The strongly depressed basement characterized by low velocity distribution and lateral inhomogeneity in A’nyemaqên suture zone implies crushed zone features under pinching action.     

Crustal structure in northern margin of Tianshan mountains and seismotectonics of the 1906 Manas earthquake

Introduction The Tianshan orogenic belt between the Tarim and Junggar basins has re-uplifted in Cenozoic due to the collision and the northwards push-compression of Asia-India plate. The special active tectonic zones have been formed along both south and north margins of the Tianshan mountains (FENG, et al, 1991). The Tianshan seismic belt is one of the major seismic belts in China. A se-ries of strong earthquakes occurred in two flanks of the Tianshan mountains in 20th century, such as …     

The Relationship Between Strong Earthquake Activity of M_S≥7.0 on the Chinese Mainland and the West Kunlun-A'nyêmaqên Secondary Arcuate Tectonic Zone

1 THESPATIALDISTRIBUTIONCHARACTERISTICSOFMODERATE STRONGEARTHQUAKESBEFORESTRONGEARTHQUAKESWITHMS≥ 7 0　　From 1 90 0to 2 0 0 2 ,6 5largeearthquakeswithMS≥ 7 0tookplaceontheChineseContinent,ofwhich 1 0weretwin quakesorstrongaftershocks.55earthquakecaseshavebeenstudiedinthispaper.ThecharacteristicsofmoderatelystrongearthquakeactivitybeforestrongearthquakeswithMS≥ 7 0wereanalyzed ,andthenotablecharacteristicswerefoundtobetheactiveandquietphenomenaayeefore…     

The Relationship Between Strong Earthquake Activity of Ms ≥ 7.0 on the Chinese Mainland and the West Kunlun- A''nyêmaqên Secondary Arcuate Tectonic Zone

The active and quiet phenomenon of moderate strong earthquakes one year before the earthquakes with M S≥7.0, the spatial distribution characteristics of the solid tide modulating and triggering earthquakes and the strong earthquake mechanisms on the Chinese continent have been studied. The secondary arcuate tectonic zone composed of the west Kunlun-Anyêmaqên faults is believed to be a very important boundary to characterize strong earthquake activity of M S≥7.0 on the Chinese continent, that is, a boundary between the seismically active region and the quiet region of moderately strong earthquakes one year before earthquakes with M S≥7.0, and a boundary of the spatial distributions between the solid tide modulating strong earthquakes (M S≥7.0) and the non-modulating ones. It might be related with the characteristics of spatial distribution of focal mechanism solutions of strong earthquakes on the Chinese Continent.     

Crustal electric structure of Haiyuan arcuate tectonic region in the northeastern margin of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China

Through the analysis and 2-D inversion for the 5 profiles in Haiyuan arcuate tectonic region (105°～107°E,36°～37.5°N) in the northeastern margin of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, we have obtained the electric structure within a range of 160 km in width (east-west) and 60 km in depth in the studied area. The results show that the crustal electric structure can be divided into 6 sections, corresponding respectively to Xiji basin (Ⅰ), Xihuashan-Nanhuashan uplift (Ⅱ), Xingrenbu-Haiyuan basin (Ⅲ), Zhongwei-Qingshuihe basin (Ⅳ), Zhongning-Hongsibu basin (Ⅴ) and west-margin zone of Ordos (Ⅵ) from the southwest to the northeast. The crustal electric structure is characterized by a broom-shaped pattern, which scatters to the northwest and shrinks to the southeast. The structures in the top part of Haiyuan arcuate tectonic region are complete and large, however, they diminish from the arc top to the northwest and southeast ends. In the depth from 0 km to 10 km, the resistivity is high in the sections Ⅱ and Ⅵ, but relatively low in the other four sections, showing a similar pattern of basin depression. The electrical basement in the section Ⅲ is the deepest, displaying a "dustpan" shape that is deep in the southwest and shallow in the northeast. A series of discontinuous zones with high conductivity exist in the middle-lower crust in Haiyuan arcuate tectonic region, which is possibly related to the moderate and strong earthquakes in the region. The resistivity distribution in the focal area of the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake is significantly heterogeneous with an obviously high conductivity zone near the hypocenter regime.