Mantle anisotropy across the southwestern boundary of the Ordos block,North China

Located at the northeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau,the Ordos block is a stable tectonic unit in North China.With its active boundary fault zones,the Ordos block played an important role in the eastward extrusion mechanism of the Tibetan plateau.Peking University deployed a linear array of 15 portable broadband seismometers across the western Weihe graben during September 2005 to August 2006 and later a 2-D seismic array（Southwest Ordos Array） of 14 portable broadband seismometers during 2007-2008 at its southwestern boundary.Analyses of shear wave splitting of SKS and SKKS phases at these stations show that the fast directions trend ～110° with an average delay time of 0.9 s in the southwestern margin of the Ordos block.The agreement between the lithosphere deformation indicated by GPS data and Quaternary fault slip-rate observations and the mantle flow represented by shear wave splitting implies that accordant deformation patterns from lithosphere to asthenosphere in relation to the eastward extrusion of the Tibetan plateau could extend at least to 200 km depth.Spatial distribution of splitting polarization directions indicates that the mantle flow driven by the Tibetan plateau is blocked by the Ordos block and locally restricted in a narrow channel along the Qinling-Dabie fault zones between the Ordos block and Sichuan basin.

Upper mantle anisotropy in the Ordos Block and its margins

Based on the polarization analysis of teleseismic data,SKS (SKKS) fast-wave directions and delay times between fast and slow shear waves were determined for each of the 111 seismic stations from both permanent and temporary broadband seismograph networks deployed in the Ordos Block and its margins.Both the Silver and Chan and stacking analysis methods were used.In this way,an image of upper mantle anisotropy in the Ordos Block and its margins was acquired.In the western and northern margins of the Ordos Block,the fast-wave directions are consistently NW-SE.The fast-wave directions are mainly NWW-SEE and EW in the southern margin of the Ordos Block.In the eastern margin of the Ordos Block,the fast-wave directions are generally EW,although some run NEE-SWW or NWW-SEE.In the Ordos Block,the fast-wave directions trend near N-S in the north,but switch to near EW in the south.The delay time between fast and slow waves falls into the interval 0.48-1.50 s,and the average delay time at the stations in the Ordos Block is less than that in its margins.We suggest that the anisotropy of the stable Ordos Block is mainly caused by "fossil" anisotropy frozen in the ancient North China Craton.The NE-trending push of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau has caused NW-SE-trending lithospheric extension in the western and northern margins of the Ordos Block,and made the upper mantle flow southeastwards.This in turn has resulted in the alignment of the upper mantle peridotite lattice with the direction of material deformation.In the southern margin of the Ordos Block,the collision between the North China and Yangtze blocks resulted in the fast-wave direction running parallel to the collision boundary and the Qinling Orogen.Combining this with the APM and velocity structure of the Qinling Orogen,we propose that eastward-directed asthenospheric-mantle channel flow may have occurred beneath the Qinling Orogen.In the eastern margin of the Ordos Block,the complex anisotropic characteristics of the Fenhe Graben and Taihang Orogen may be caused by the interaction of western Pacific Plate subduction,regional extensional tectonics,and the orogeny.For station YCI,the apparent splitting parameters (the fast-wave directions range from 45° to 106° and the delay times range from 0.6 to 1.5 s) exhibit systematic variations as a function of incoming polarization with a periodicity of π/2.This variation can be best explained by a two-layer anisotropic model (φlower=132°,δtlower=0.8 s,φupper=83°,δtupper=0.5 s).The upper layer anisotropy beneath station YCI can again be attributed to "fossil" anisotropy frozen in the ancient North China Craton.The lower layer anisotropy is affected by the tectonic activity of the western Ordos Block.The NW-SE trending extension caused by the NE trending push of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau affected the deformation of the lower anisotropic layer beneath station YCI.By comparing the fast-wave directions with GPS velocity directions,we see that the crust and upper mantle possibly have vertically coherent deformation in the margins of the Ordos Block,whereas the internal deformation characteristics of the Ordos Block are complex and require further study.

Upper mantle anisotropy and crust-mantle deformation pattern beneath the Chinese mainland

Over the past 10 years, the number of broadband seismic stations in China has increased significantly. The broadband seismic records contain information about shear-wave splitting which plays an important role in revealing the upper mantle anisotropy in the Chinese mainland. Based on teleseismic SKS and SKKS phases recorded in the seismic stations, we used the analytical method of minimum transverse energy to determine the fast wave polarization direction and delay time of shear-wave splitting. We also collected results of shear-wave splitting in China and the surrounding regions from previously published papers. From the combined dataset we formed a shear-wave splitting dataset containing 1020 parameter pairs. These splitting parameters re- veal the complexity of the upper mantle anisotropy image. Our statistical analysis indicates stronger upper mantle anisotropy in the Chinese mainland, with an average shear-wave time delay of 0,95 s; the anisotropy in the western region is slightly larger （1.01 s） than in the eastern region （0.92 s）. On a larger scale, the SKS splitting and surface deformation data in the Tibetan Plateau and the Tianshan region jointly support the lithospheric deformation mode, i.e. the crust-lithospheric mantle coherent deformation. In eastern China, the average fast-wave direction is approximately parallel to the direction of the absolute plate motion; thus, the upper mantle anisotropy can be attributed to the asthenospheric flow. The area from the Ordos block to the Sichuan Basin in central China is the transition zone of deformation modes between the east and the west regions, where the anisotropy images are more complicated, exhibiting ＂fossil＂ anisotropy and/or two-layer anis^3trc^py. The c^llisi（3n between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate is the main factor of upper mantle anisotropy in the western region of the Chinese mainland, while the upper mantle anisotropy in the eastern region is related to the subduction of the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate.

Anisotropy of the upper mantle in Chinese mainland and its vicinity

In order to deepen the understanding of the spatial change images of upper mantle media for strain strength and polarization direction, anisotropy and shear wave splitting, anisotropy and strain, strain and the tectonic process, based on the theory on the characteristics of shear wave splitting parameters in the presence of two weak azimuthal anisotropic layers and observations concerned, and using signal identification methods with high precision, the results for 136 earthquakes are obtained. The pictures of anisotropy strength and polarization direction beneath twenty stations are got. Combining the results existed previously, the characteristics and origin of the upper mantle anisotropy are discussed.

Upper mantle seismic anisotropy beneath a convergent boundary:SKS waveform modeling in central Tibet

This study used SKS waveforms from the International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalayas(INDEPTH) III dataset and a new 2D method for modeling seismic waves in anisotropic media to construct an image of anisotropic structures beneath central Tibet.A preferred model revealed three-segment anisotropic structures in the upper mantle beneath the study region.Waveform modeling demonstrated that the anisotropy was mainly generated by the lithosphere but not the asthenosphere,and that an anisotropic model with a flatter axis of symmetry provides a more consistent interpretation of the observations than models having steeply dipping symmetry axes.A relatively low velocity zone may underlie or intermingle with the anisotropic structures in the northern portion of the region.Synthetic tests also indicate that variations in the elastic constants and depth extent of the anisotropy assumed by the calculations do not affect the general conclusions,although trade-offs exist among certain model parameters.The modeling results suggest that the complex seismic structures in central Tibet were associated with underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere beneath the Asian lithosphere;the inferred flat symmetry axis of the anisotropy was likely generated during this collision process.If this were not the case,the inherited anisotropy would exhibit a steeply dipping axis of symmetry,parallel to the direction of underthrusting.

Stony Brook’s Collaborations with Czech Scientists

For the past half-century, I have been fortunate in maintaining collaborations with Czech scientists in the Czech Republic [formerly Czechoslovakia] from the Geofyzikální ústav-GFU [Institute of Geophysics] of the ?eskoslovenská Akademie Věd-?SAV [Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences]. These collaborations have included exchange visits by me to Prague [Praha] and convening international workshops in 1976, 1986 and 1996 in castles used by the ?SAV as well as visits by Czech colleagues to Stony Brook University. The objective of this report is to relate this history. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Vladislav Babu?ka.

My Research Collaborations with Chinese Scientists over the Past Three Decades

For more than three decades, I have been fortunate in working with Chinese graduate students and postdoctoral research scientists in our High-Pressure Laboratory at Stony Brook University. These colleagues have conducted a wide variety of experiments at high pressures and temperatures in collaboration with our other students and researchers. These studies utilized transmission electron microscopy, ultrasonic interferometry, X-ray powder diffraction and synchrotron X-radiation to investigate phase transitions, thermal equations of state, sound velocities, atomic diffusion, dislocation dissociation and deviatoric stress in high-pressure apparatus. During this period, I have also visited high-pressure laboratories in the mainland of China and Taiwan on several occasions. The objective of this paper is to relate this history.