A review of geophysical studies on the Mongolian Plateau

The Mongolian Plateau in Central Asia is an intracontinental tectonic system far from active plate boundaries.Despite its distance from these boundaries,the plateau is characterized by intense crustal deformation accompanied by voluminous Cenozoic volcanism and active modern seismicity.However,the intraplate deformation mechanism has long been debated owing to the scarcity of observations and contradictions between different results.In recent years,growing geophysical studies have been conducted on the Mongolian Plateau,providing constraints on its lithospheric structure and dynamics.Here,we review the geophysical research on the Mongolian Plateau over the last decade,including seismological,geodetic,gravity,magnetotelluric,and geodynamic aspects.This review aims to(a)describe crustal and mantle structures based on multiscale seismic images;(b)describe deformation patterns based on seismic anisotropy,focal mechanisms,and global positioning system(GPS)observations;and(c)discuss the mechanisms behind intraplate deformation,volcanism,and seismic activity across the Mongolian Plateau.Seismic images show that the crustal structure of the plateau has significant east-west differences.Several blocks in the western Mongolian Plateau have thick crusts,including the Altai Mountains,Hovsgol Rift,and Hangay Dome.The lithospheric deformation across the Mongolian Plateau has strong lateral variation,with NE-SW shortening in the Altai Mountains and W-E or NW-SE shear deformation in the Hangay Dome region and the eastern part.The varied deformation may result from the superposition of multiple mechanisms,including far-field stress in the Altai Mountains,mantle upwelling,and mantle flow in the Hangay Dome region.However,it is difficult to identify the geodynamics of the formation of the entire Mongolian Plateau because the deformation is too complicated,and the present models are not sufficient and are always partial.Overall,this review encompasses recent advances in seismic observations of the Mongolian Plateau,illuminates the heterogeneities in the crust and mantle structure and deformation of the plateau,and discusses the mechanisms behind the deformation,magmatism,and seismicity.

Crustal and uppermost mantle structure of SE Tibetan plateau from Rayleigh-wave group-velocity measurements

A shear-wave velocity model of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the SE Tibetan plateau was derived by inverting Rayleigh-wave group-velocity mea- surements of periods between 10 and 70 s. Rayleigh-wave group-velocity dispersions along more than 3,000 inter- station paths were measured based on analysis of telese- ismic wavelbrm data recorded by temporary seismic stations. These observations were then utilized to construct 2D group-velocity maps in the period range of 10-70 s. Tile new group-velocity maps have an enhanced resolution compared with previous global and regional group-velocity models in this region because of the denser and more uniform data coverage. The lateral resolution across the region is about 0.5° for the periods used in this study. Local dispersion curves were then inverted for a 3D shear-wave velocity model of the region by applying a linear inversion scheme. Our 3D shear-wave model confirms the presence of low-velocity zones （LVZs） in the crust beneath the northern part of this region. Our irnaging shows that the upper-middle crustal LVZ beneath the Tengchong region is isolated from these LVZs beneath the eastern and northern part of this region. The upper-middle crustal LVZ may be regarded as evidence of a rnagma chamber in the crust beneath the Tengchong Volcanoes. Our model also reveals a slow lithospheric structure beneath Tengchong and a fast shield-like mantle beneath the stable Yangtze block.

Three-dimensional crustal P-wave velocity structure in the Yangbi and Eryuan earthquake regions, Yunnan, China

A magnitude 5.5 earthquakes occurred in Eryuan County,Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture,Yunnan Province,China,on March 3.And a magnitude 5.0 earthquake occurred in the same place on April 17,2013,i.e.,45 days later.Then,on May 21,2021,multiple earthquakes,one with magnitude 6.4 and several at 5.0 or above,occurred in Yangbi County,Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture,Yunnan Province,China.All of these occurred in the Weixi-QiaohouWeishan fault zone.In this study,1,874 seismic events in Yangbi and Eryuan counties were identified by automatic micro-seismic identification technology and the first arrivals were picked up manually.Following this,a total of 11,968 direct P-wave absolute arrivals and 73,987 high-quality Pwave relative arrivals were collected for joint inversion via the double difference tomography method.This was done to obtain the regional three-dimensional fine crustal P-wave velocity structure.The results show that the travel time residuals before and after inversion decreased from the initial–0.1–0.1 s to–0.06–0.06 s.The upper crust in the study area,which exhibited a low-velocity anomaly,corresponded to the basin region;this indicated that the low-velocity anomaly in the shallow part of the study area was affected by the basin.Results also showed some correlation between the distribution of the earthquakes and velocity structure,as there was a lowvelocity body Lv1 with a wide distribution at depths ranging from 15–20 km in the Yangbi and Eryuan earthquake regions.In addition,earthquakes occurred predominantly in the highlow velocity abnormal transition zone.The low-velocity body in the middle and lower crust may be prone to concentrating upper crustal stress,thus leading to the occurrence of earthquakes.

P-wave tomography and relation between shallow and deep structures beneath the Songliao basin

We selected relative travel-time residuals from teleseismic waveform data using the waveform correction method and imaged the P wave velocity structure beneath Northeast China. In combination with other geophysical data, we discussed the relation between the shallow and deep structures of the area. The results show that there is a primary high-velocity zone with some high- and low-ve- locity distribution characters beneath the Songliao basin. The low-velocity anomalies may extend down to the upper mantle, and may be the result of material upwelling. The low-velocity anomaly beneath the southern part of the Songliao basin is connected to those beneath the Chang- baishan and A＇ershan volcanic areas. It may be an upwelling channel from the mantle beneath the Songliao basin and adjacent area. This finding indicates the Songliao basin was a result of asthenospheric upwelling caused by subduction of the Pacific plate under the Eurasian plate.

青藏高原东部P波速度结构及其对高原隆升的启示

利用青藏高原东部的高密度流动台站数据和位于研究区范围内固定台站的同期数据,采用远震体波走时层析成像的方法,反演获得了青藏高原东部及其周边高分辨的壳幔P波速度异常结构,结果显示:研究区的速度异常主要集中在地壳及上地幔顶部.高原内部强烈变形的区域存在深达200 km左右的低速异常,而高原周边克拉通性质的块体下方存在深达200~300 km的高速异常,高、低速异常和构造块体有较好的对应关系.在400 km以下区域,速度异常的幅值和范围都很小,可认为其速度值与全球平均模型一致,不存在明显的高速俯冲物质和低速地幔上涌物质.青藏高原东部的隆升成因主要由浅部的低强度岩石圈变形所导致,由于同时受到印度板块推挤和周边刚性块体的制约,青藏高原下方低强度岩石圈的水平缩短吸收印度板块的推挤作用,垂直向伸展导致高原隆升.

Mantle transition zone structure beneath the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Over the past decades, there have been hot debates in the geodynamic community regarding to the deep evolution mechanisms of Cenozoic volcanism in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt(CAOB). Of all the constraints available, high resolution structure of upper mantle discontinuities, especially the discontinuities at depths of 410 km(D410) and 660 km(D660), is of the most important, which may provide reliable clues on the magma channel as well as its evolution. In this work, we adopt the common conversion point stacking technique with teleseismic radial P-wave receiver functions to examine the D410 and D660 discontinuities. The primary results exhibit that the major characteristics of the mantle transition zone(MTZ) obtained by different velocity models are largely consistent. Obviously elevated D410 and slightly depressed D660 are observed beneath the Hannuoba Volcano, suggesting possible delamination of the local lithosphere deposited at the D410. This process may induce upwelling of the asthenospheric materials filling the space left by the delaminated lithosphere, and subsequently trigger volcanic eruptions. Strong depressions are observed at both D410 and D660 depths beneath west of the Dariganga Volcano, and the depression of D660 is more pronounced. It leads to the apparently thickened MTZ, indicating the presence of cold material at the D660. This cold material is speculated as a stagnant slab from the subducted Pacific Plate or the remains of a detached island arc system from the collision and formation of the CAOB. Slightly thinner MTZ is found beneath the Hentey Mountains and the Middle Gobi Volcano. Apparently, this thinner MTZ is not significant enough to support the existence of high thermal anomalies,which may rule out the possibility of large-scale hot material upwelling from either the local MTZ or even the lower mantle.