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.

青藏高原东南缘远震S波分裂:对地壳上地幔复杂变形的启示

利用位于青藏高原东南缘云南地区的中国地震科学探测台站（C h in A ra y ）一期3 0 0 多个宽频带流动台站记录到的X K S 波形（包括SKS，S K K S， PKS）进行了 S 波分裂分析.X K S 分裂结果最主要的特征是快波偏振方向（φ） 在26-27°N 附近,从北部的近N -S 向突变为南部的近E-W 向.研究区西部喜马拉雅东构造结附近的结果较好地反映了岩石层左旋剪切变形下发育的各向异性.26°N 以南地区,快波分裂方向以E-W 向为主,与中上地壳最大张应力的方向一致,表明云南地区整个岩石层都可能处于纯剪切变形环境.但是该区岩石层厚度不足80k m ,产生的X K S 分裂快慢波时差（〈0.7s）仅能解释部分观测值（0.9-1.5s） .因此,软流层中的各向异性对于该地区的S 波分裂结果（快波偏振方向为N W -S E 和近E-W 向）可能产生了重要的作用.一方面,N W - S E 向快波偏振方向可能反映了缅甸块体的俯冲及其随后撤退引起的上地幔流动造成的各向异性.另一方面,伴随着高原构造演化发生的从青藏高原向中国东部的软流层物质流动,以及由于绝对板块运动造成的软流层顶部的剪切作用,将产生快波方向为近E-W 向的各向异性.本研究结果为研究青藏高原东南缘不同深度的变形特征及其差异提供了重要的信息,尤其在研究青藏高原的构造抬升及其向东南缘的扩展方面产生了新的认识.

Crustal stress field in Yunnan: implication for crust-mantle coupling

We applied the g CAP algorithm to determine 239 focal mechanism solutions 3：0≤MW≤ 6：0） with records of dense Chin Array stations deployed in Yunnan,and then inverted 686 focal mechanisms（including 447 previous results） for the regional crustal stress field with a damped linear inversion. The results indicate dominantly strike-slip environment in Yunnan as both the maximum（r1） and minimum（r3） principal stress axes are sub-horizontal. We further calculated the horizontal stress orientations（i.e., maximum and minimum horizontal compressive stress axes： S H and S h, respectively） accordingly and found an abrupt change near ＊26°N. To the north, S H aligns NW-SE to nearly E-W while S h aligns nearly N-S. In contrast, to the south, both S H and S h rotate laterally and show dominantly fan-shaped patterns. The minimum horizontal stress（i.e., maximum strain axis） S h rotates from NW-SE to the west of Tengchong volcano gradually to nearly E-W in west Yunnan, and further toNE-SW in the South China block in the east. The crustal strain field is consistent with the upper mantle strain field indicated by shear-wave splitting observations in Yunnan but not in other regions. Therefore, the crust and upper mantle in Yunnan are coupled and suffering vertically coherent pure-shear deformation in the lithosphere.

D″anisotropy inverted from shear wave splitting intensity

The D″layer,located at the bottom of the mantle,is an active thermochemical boundary layer.The upwelling of mantle plumes,as well as possible plate subduction in the D″layer,could lead to large-scale material transformation and mineral deformation,which could result in significant seismic anisotropy.However,owing to limited observations and immense computational cost,the anisotropic structures and geodynamic mechanisms in the D″layer remain poorly understood.In this study,we proposed a new inversion method for the seismic anisotropy in the D″layer quantitatively with shear wave splitting intensities.We first proved the linearity of the splitting intensities under the ray-theory assumption.The synthetic tests showed that,with horizontal axes of symmetry and ray incidences lower than 30°in the D″layer(typical SKS phase),the anisotropy is well resolved.We applied the method to the measured dataset in Africa and Western Europe,and obtained strong D″anisotropy in the margins of the large low shear-wave velocity provinces and subducting slabs.The new method makes it possible to obtain D″anisotropy,which provides essential constraints on the geodynamical processes at the base of the mantle.

通过接收函数和瑞利波联合反演揭示青藏高原东南缘两个壳内低速通道

目前解释青藏高原东缘的生长与扩张有诸多动力学模型,如:刚性块体挤出模型、连续变形和中下地壳流模型。由于受到岩石层结构模型分辨率的限制,青藏高原演化和变形的动力学过程仍不清楚。我们利用最新布设在青藏高原东南缘的地震台阵,通过接收函数和瑞利波联合反演得到了该区高分辨率三维岩石层横波速度模型,更好地揭示了壳内低速带(LVZ)分布特征。我们的速度模型显示研究区壳内存在两个低速通道,这两个低速通道边界与该区主要走滑断裂相对应,且沿着东喜马拉雅构造结顺时针分布,这与该区地壳物质顺时针运动模式比较一致。此外,我们观测到该区域主要大地震分布在这两个低速通道边界区域。据此,我们提出塑性流动和剪切变形在青藏高原的隆升和变形过程中都起了重要作用。

SplitRFLab:A MATLAB GUI toolbox for receiver function analysis based on SplitLab

We add new modules for receiver function （RF） analysis in SplitLab toolbox, which includes the manual RF analysis module, automatic RF analysis and related quality control modules, and H-k stacking module. The updated toolbox （named SplitRFLab toolbox）, espe- cially its automatic RF analysis module, could calculate the RFs quickly and efficiently, which is very useful in RF analysis with huge amount of seismic data. China is now conducting the ChinArray project that plans to deploy thousands of portable stations across Chinese mainland. Our SplitRFLab toolbox may obtain reliable RF results quickly at the first time, which provide essentially new constraint to the crustal and mantle structures.

Remnants and fragments of the subducted paleo-Pacific plate:Constraints from geochemistry and geophysics

The subduction and rollback of the paleo-Pacific plate during Mesozoic time was the key engine for the evolution of the continental margin in eastern China. It led to lateral accretion of continental crust in Northeast China, lithospheric destruction beneath the North China Craton, and the generation of huge volumes of felsic magmatic rocks in South China. This had a profound influence on deep material cycles and the evolution of epigenetic environmental systems along the continental margin of East Asia. To fully understand the transformation of the dynamic mechanism during the subduction and rollback of the paleoPacific plate, we have attempted to trace the remnants and fragments of the subducted paleo-Pacific plate at great depths. Such remnants in both temporal and spatial dimensions can be tracked by using geochemical and geophysical approaches. Studies of the trace elements, Mg-Zn isotopes and Os-Nd-Hf-Pb-O isotopes in continental basalts from eastern China reveal a significant number of the remnants of subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate, and the initial subduction can be traced back to the Early Jurassic. Large-scale geophysical imaging unveils a multitude of high-velocity anomalies in the lower mantle of East Asia.Notably, many high-velocity bodies, aptly referred to as “slab graveyards”, are nestled at the base of the lower mantle. Numerous isolated high-velocity anomalies are also present in the upper part of the lower mantle, creating conduits for the descent of the subducted slabs into the lower mantle. However, a resolution of the remnants for the subducted slabs within the lower mantle are quite low. Consequently, their impact on the lower mantle's dynamics is yet to be thoroughly investigated. Finally, the presently observed big mantle wedge(BMW) in East Asia has developed through subduction of the Pacific plate in the Cenozoic.However, following the rollback of the paleo-Pacific plate(began at ~145 Ma), a Cretaceous BMW system would also form above the mantle transition zone in East Asia. There are significant differences in tectonic-magmatic processes and basinforming and hydrocarbon-accumulation processes among different regions along the East Asian continental margin. Such differences may be controlled by variations in the speed and angle of rollback of the paleo-Pacific plate.