Multiple Uplift and Exhumation of the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau:Evidence from Low-Temperature Thermochronology

Since the Cenozoic,the Tibetan Plateau has experienced large-scale uplift and outgrowth due to the India-Asia collision.However,the mechanism and timing of these tectonic processes still remain debated.Here,using apatite fission track dating and inverse thermal modeling,we explore the mechanism of different phases of rapid cooling for different batholiths and intrusions in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.In contrast to previous views,we find that the coeval granitic batholith exposed in the same tectonic zone experienced differential fast uplift in different sites,indicating that the present Tibetan Plateau was the result of differential uplift rather than the entire lithosphere uplift related to lithospheric collapse during Cenozoic times.In addition,we also suggest that the 5-2 Ma mantle-related magmatism should be regarded as the critical trigger for the widely coeval cooling event in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau,because it led to the increase in atmospheric CO_(2)level and a hotter upper crust than before,which are efficient for suddenly fast rock weathering and erosion.Finally,we propose that the current landform of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau was the combined influences of tectonic and climate.

Quantifying Contribution of Recycled Moisture to Precipitation in Temperate Glacier Region,Southeastern Tibetan Plateau,China

Recycled moisture is an important indicator of the renewal capacity of regional water resources.Due to the existence of Yulong Snow Mountain,Lijiang in Yunnan Province,southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China,is the closest ocean glacier area to the equator in Eurasia.Daily precipitation samples were collected from 2017 to 2018 in Lijiang to quantify the effect of sub-cloud evaporation and recycled moisture on precipitation combined with the d-excess model during monsoon and non-monsoon periods.The results indicated that the d-excess values of precipitation fluctuated between–35.6‰and 16.0‰,with an arithmetic mean of 3.5‰.The local meteoric water line(LMWL)wasδD=7.91δ^(18)O+2.50,with a slope slightly lower than the global meteoric water line(GMWL).Subcloud evaporation was higher during the non-monsoon season than during the monsoon season.It tended to peak in March and was primarily influenced by the relative humidity.The source of the water vapour affected the proportion of recycled moisture.According to the results of the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory(HYSPLIT)model,the main sources of water vapour in Lijiang area during the monsoon period were the southwest and southeast monsoons.During the non-monsoon period,water vapour was transported by a southwesterly flow.The recycled moisture in Lijiang area between March and October 2017 was 10.62%.Large variations were observed between the monsoon and non-monsoon seasons,with values of 5.48%and 25.65%,respectively.These differences were primarily attributed to variations in the advection of water vapour.The recycled moisture has played a supplementary role in the precipitation of Lijiang area.

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.

Crustal strain rates of southeastern Tibetan Plateau derived from GPS measurements and implications to lithospheric deformation of the Shan-Thai terrane

The link between the crustal deformation and mantle kinematics in the Tibetan Plateau has been well known thanks to dense GPS measurements and the relatively detailed anisotropy structure of the lithospheric mantle.However, whether the crust deforms coherently with the upper mantle in the Shan-Thai terrane(also known as the Shan-Thai block) remains unclear.In this study, we investigate the deformation patterns through strain rate tensors in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau derived from the latest GPS measurements and find that in the Shan-Thai terrane the upper crust may be coupled with the lower crust and the upper mantle.The GPS-derived strain rate tensors are in agreement with the slipping patterns and rates of major strike-slip faults in the region.The most prominent shear zone, whose shear strain rates are larger than 100×10^(–9) a^(–1), is about 1000-km-long in the west, trending northward along Sagaing fault to the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis in the north, with maximum rate of compressive strain up to –240×10^(–9) a^(–1).A secondary shear zone along the Anninghe-Xiaojiang Fault in the east shows segmented shear zones near several conjunctions.While the strain rate along RRF is relatively low due to the low slip rate and low seismicity there, in Lijiang and Tengchong several local shear zones are present under an extensional dominated stress regime that is related to normal faulting earthquakes and volcanism, respectively.Furthermore, by comparing GPS-derived strain rate tensors with earthquake focal mechanisms, we find that 75.8%(100 out of 132) of the earthquake T-axes are consistent with the GPS-derived strain rates.Moreover, we find that the Fast Velocity Direction(FVDs) at three depths beneath the Shan-Thai terrane are consistent with extensional strain rate with gradually increasing angular differences, which are likely resulting from the basal shear forces induced by asthenospheric flow associated with the oblique subduction of the India plate beneath the Shan-Thai terrane.Therefore, in this region the upper crust deformation may be coherent with that of the lower crust and the lithospheric mantle.

Eocene Basins on the SE Tibetan Plateau: Markers of Minor Offset along the Xuelongshan–Diancangshan–Ailaoshan Structural System

The offset of geological bodies provides robust evidence of displacement along a fault or ductile shear zone. The amount of displacement along the Xuelongshan–Diancangshan–Ailaoshan structural system, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, is uncertain because of the lack of offset geological markers. This NNW–SSE-trending system is developed in three isolated metamorphic complexes and interjacent nonmetamorphosed rocks. They are expected to record similar post-Eocene strain, although their structural patterns should be distinct. Geological mapping in the area between the Xuelongshan and Diancangshan metamorphic complexes has revealed a small Eocene basin, the Madeng Basin, located to the west of the structural system. The sedimentary and volcanic successions of the Madeng Basin are comparable to those of the Jianchuan Basin, which is located to the east of the structural system. Zircon U–Pb geochronological and bulk geochemical data demonstrate that the volcanic rocks of both basins formed during 37–34 Ma and share the same geochemical features. These data suggest that the Madeng and Jianchuan basins previously constituted a single basin, with the distribution of high-K volcanic rocks in the basins defining an ENE–WSW-trending volcanic belt that shows a limited dextral offset of ≤20 km across the Xuelongshan–Diancangshan–Ailaoshan structural system. Therefore, the northern segment of the structural system records no evidence of large-scale lateral movement/displacement. The results suggest that the Indochina block, which is bounded by the Xuelongshan–Diancangshan–Ailaoshan structural system to the east and the Sagaing Fault to the west, has not extruded southward as a whole but rather has been deformed by pervasive crustal shortening.

Crustal Structure of the Chuan-Dian Block Revealed by Deep Seismic Sounding and its Implications for the Outward Expansion of the East Tibetan Plateau

The Chuan-Dian Block(CDB)is located in the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau,with a complex geological structure and active regional faults.The present tectonic condition with strong crustal deformation is closely related to the ongoing collision of the India and Eurasia plates since 65 Ma.The study of the crustal structure of this area is key to revealing the evolution and deep geodynamics of the lateral collision zone of the Tibetan Plateau.Deep seismic sounding is the most efficient method with which to unravel the velocity structure of the whole crust.Since the 1980s,19 deep seismic sounding profiles have been captured within the CDB area.In this study,we systematically integrate the research results of the 19 profiles in this area,then image the 3D crustal velocity,by sampling with a 5 km spacing and 2D/3D Kriging interpolation.The results show the following.(1)The Moho depth in the study area deepens from 30 km in the south to 66 km in the north,whereas there is no apparent variation from west to east.The Pn wave velocity is higher in stable tectonic units,such as 7.95 km/s in the Lanping-Simao block and 7.94 km/s in the western margin of the Yangtze block,than in active or mobile tectonic units,such as 7.81 km/s in the Baoshan block,7.72 km/s in the Tengchong block and 7.82 km/s in the Zhongdian block.(2)The crustal nature of the Tengchong block,the northern Lanping-Simao block and the Zhongdian block reflects a type of orogenic belt,having relatively strong tectonic activities,whereas the crustal nature of the central Lanping-Simao block and the western margin of the Yangtze block represents a type of platform.The different features of the upper-middle crust velocity,Moho depth and Pn wave velocity to both sides of the Red River fault zone and the Xianshuihe fault zone,reflect that they are clearly ultra-crustal.(3)Based on the distribution of the low velocity zones in the crust,the crustal material of the Tibetan Plateau is flowing in a NW–SE direction to the north of 26°N and to the west of 101°E,then diverting to flowing eastwards to the east of 101°E.

3D v_P and v_S models of southeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau from joint inversion of body-wave arrival times and surface-wave dispersion data

A new 3D velocity model of the crust and upper mantle in the southeastern （SE） margin of the Tibetan plateau was obtained by joint inversion of body- and sur- face-wave data. For the body-wave data, we used 7190 events recorded by 102 stations in the SE margin of the Tibetan plateau. The surface-wave data consist of Rayleigh wave phase velocity dispersion curves obtained from ambient noise cross-correlation analysis recorded by a dense array in the SE margin of the Tibetan plateau. The joint inversion clearly improves the Vs model because it is constrained by both data types. The results show that at around 10 km depth there are two low-velocity anomalies embedded within three high-velocity bodies along the Longmenshan fault system. These high-velocity bodies correspond well with the Precambrian massifs, and the two located to the northeast of 2013 Ms 7.0 Lushan earthquake are associated with high fault slip areas during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The aftershock gap between 2013 Lushan earthquake and 2008 Wenchuan earthquake is associated with low-velocity anomalies, which also acts as a barrier zone for ruptures of two earthquakes. Generally large earthquakes （M 〉 5） in the region occurring from 2008 to 2015 are located around the high-velocity zones, indicating that they may act as asperities for these large earthquakes. Joint inversion results also clearly show that there exist low-velocity or weak zones in the mid-lower crust, which are not evenly distributed beneath the SE margin of Tibetan plateau.

Provenance and Paleogeography of the Late Cretaceous Mengyejing Formation,Simao Basin,Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

The Mengyejing potash salt deposit(MPSD)is the only pre-Quaternary potash salt deposit in China.The MPSD is located in the southern Simao Basin,southeastern Tibetan Plateau.The MPSD,along with rock salts and clastic rocks,

Late Cretaceous Adakitic Granites of the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau: Garnet Fractional Crystallization of Arc-Like Magmas at the Thickened Neo-Tethyan Continental Margin

The tectonic setting of Cretaceous granitoids in the southeastern Tibet Plateau,east of the Eastern Himalaya Syntax,is debated.Exploration and mining of the Laba Mo–Cu porphyry-type deposit in the area has revealed Late Cretaceous granites.New and previously published zircon U–Pb dating indicate that the Laba granite crystallized at 89–85 Ma.Bulk-rock geochemistry,Sr–Nd isotopic data and in situ zircon Hf isotopic data indicate that the granite is adakitic and was formed by partial melting of thickened lower crust.The Ca,Fe,and Al contents decrease with increasing SiO2 content.These and other geochemical characteristics indicate that fractional crystallization of garnet under high-pressure conditions resulted in the adakitic nature of the Laba granite.Cretaceous granitoids are widespread throughout the Tibetan Plateau including its southeastern area,forming an intact curved belt along the southern margin of Eurasia.This belt is curved due to indenting by the Indian continent during Cenozoic,but strikes parallel to both the Indus–Yarlung suture zone and the Main Frontal Thrust belt.It is therefore likely that Cretaceous granitoids in both the Gangdese and southeastern Tibetan Plateau areas resulted from subduction of Neo-Tethyan lithosphere.

S-wave velocity structure in the SE Tibetan plateau

We use observations recorded by 23 permanent and 99 temporary stations in the SE Tibetan plateau to obtain the S-wave velocity structure along two profiles by applying joint inversion with receiver functions and surface waves. The two profiles cross West Yunnan block （WYB）, the Central Yunnan sub-block （CYB）, South China block （SCB）, and Nanpanjiang basin （NPB）. The profile at -25°N shows that the Moho interface in the CYB is deeper than those in the WYB and the NPB, and the topography and Moho depth have clear correspondence. Beneath the Xiaojiang fault zone （XJF）, there exists a crustal low-velocity zone （LYZ）, crossing the XJF and expanding eastward into the SCB. The NPB is shown to be of relatively high velocity. We speculate that the eastward extrusion of the Tibetan plateau may pass through the XJF and affect its eastern region, and is resisted by the rigid NPB, which has high velocity. This may be the main cause of the crustal thickening and uplift of the topography. In the Tengchong volcanic area, the crust is shown to have alternate high- and low-velocity layers, and the upper mantle is shown to be of low velocity. We consider that the magma which exists in the crust is from the upper mantle and that the complex crustal velocity structure is related to magmatic differentiation. Between the Tengchong volcanic area and the XJF, the crustal velocity is relatively high. Combining these observations with other geophysical evi- dence, it is indicated that rock strength is high and defor- mation is weak in this area, which is why the level of seismicity is quite low. The profile at ~ 23~N shows that the variation of the Moho depth is small from the eastern rigid block to the western active block with a wide range of LVZs. We consider that deformation to the south of the SE Tibetan Plateau is weak.

New Discovery of Holocene Activity along the Weixi-Qiaohou Fault in Southeastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its Neotectonic Significance

Objective The lateral extrusion eastward of the Tibetan Plateau leads to the formation of the Sichuan–Yunnan block, which is the most representative active block in the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, characterized by strong and frequent seismicity(Li Ping et al., 1975; Zhang Peizhen et al., 2003; Li Yong et al., 2017). Its eastern boundary is composed of sinistral faults including the Xianshuihe, Xiaojiang faults, etc., and the western

New insights of the Cenozoic Rotational Deformation of Crustal Blocks on the Southeastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its Tectonic Implications

Objective The lateral extrusion of southeastern edge of the crustal materials around the Tibetan Plateau since the Oligocene is believed to be one of the main inducements of-1300 km latitudinal crustal convergence in the Tibetan Plateau, since the collision of India and Eurasia in the Paleogene. Two end-member models were used to describe the process of lateral extrusion of crustal material on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The ＂tectonic escape＂ model suggests the Indochina Block, Chuandian Fragment and Shan-Thai Block have experienced lateral extrusion along strike-slip fault systems, and the ＂crustal flow＂ model suggests that the upper crust has undergone southeastward escape in the form of ductile deformation, driven by viscous lower crustal flow channels. In addition, the GPS observations surrounding the Tibetan Plateau indicate that crustal materials currently experience clockwise rotation around the Eastern Himalaya syntaxis. This work conducted paleomagnetic studies in the Cretaceous and Paleogene red-beds along the southeastern margin of Tibetan Plateau,

CENOZOIC FAULTING ALONG THE SOUTHEASTERN EDGE OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAU IN THE YANYUAN AREA AND ITS TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS

The southeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau is marked by several thrust sheets trending roughly in E\|W direction. The Yanyuan thrust sheet is bounded by three arcuate thrust belts, marked by high mountain ranges with the Jinhe belt on the north, the Qianhe belt on the south and the Ninglang belt on the west. Within the Yanyuan thrust belt are sedimentary cover rocks of the Yangtze platform, with ages ranging from Sinian to Triassic. In the north, the thrust sheet is overlain by the Muli thrust sheet along the Jinhe belt, while in the south, it is underlain by the Kangdian paleoland along the Qianhe belt. The youngest rocks on the foot wall are late Eocene to Oligocene in age, indicating that the thrusting occurred in the late Tertiary. The top of the Yanyuan thrust belt is truncated by a flat erosion surface similar to that on the plateau to the north. Along a north\|dipping normal fault bordering the Yanyuan basin on the south, the erosion surface is tilted to the south against Triassic rocks. The basin is filled with coal\|bearing clastic sediments of Pliocene and early Pleistocene age, which gives the timing of the normal faulting. Based on the faulting pattern, we propose that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau underwent a large amount of N\|S shortening and uplift along the Yanyuan thrust sheet in the late Tertiary, while the subsequent normal faulting that had occurred along the Yanyuan basin during the Pliocene and Pliocene can be interpreted to have accommodated gravitational collapse of the crust.

Two thin middle-crust low-velocity zones imaged in the Chuan-Dian region of southeastern Tibetan Plateau and their tectonic implications

Intracrustal low-velocity zones(LVZs)indicate a mechanically weak crust and are widely observed in the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau.However,their spatial distributions and formation mechanisms remain controversial.To investigate their distribution and detailed morphology of the LVZs in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau,here we used teleseismic events and continuous waveform data recorded by 40 broadband seismic stations newly deployed in the Sichuan-Yunnan region from December 2018 to October 2020.A total of 12,924 high-quality P-wave receiver functions and 5–40 s fundamental Rayleigh surface wave phase velocity dispersion curves from ambient noise cross-correlation functions were obtained.The Swave velocity model at a depth interval of 0–100 km in the study area was inverted by using the trans-dimensional Markov chain Monte Carlo strategy to jointly invert the complementary data of the receiver function waveform and Rayleigh surface wave phase velocity dispersion.Our results show that there are two separate LVZs(~3.5 km/s)surrounding the rigid Daliangshan subblock at crustal depths of approximately 30–40 km,providing new constraints on the geometry of the LVZs in our study region.The two LVZs obtained in this study may represent the middle crustal flow channels,through which the material in the center of the Tibetan Plateau extrudes to its southeast margin.Blocked by the rigid Sichuan Basin and the spindle-like Daliangshan subblock,the material continues to flow southward through the mechanically weak middle crustal channels surrounding the Daliangshan subblock.In addition,the existence of thin LVZs in the middle crust plays an important role in understanding the decoupling between the upper and lower crust in the study area.It also provides new constraint on the complex tectonic deformation process of the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau caused by the collision and compression of the Indian and the Eurasian plates.

Petrogenesis of the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene Yao'an Shoshonitic Complex,Southeastern Tibet:Partial Melting of an Ancient Continental Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Yangtze Block

Cenozoic potassic-ultrapotassic igneous rocks are widespread in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.Their petrogenesis and magmatic processes remain subject to debate in spite of numerous publications.Almost all of the Cenozoic extrusive and intrusive rocks in the Yao’an area,western Yunnan Province,SW China,are geochemically shoshonitic,collectively termed here the Yao’an Shoshonitic Complex(YSC).The YSC is located in the(south)easternmost part of the ENE-WSW-trending,~550 km-long and~250 km-wide Cenozoic magmatic zone;the latter separates the orthogonal and oblique collision belts of the India-Eurasia collision orogen.Previously published geochronological and thermochronological data revealed that the rocks of the YSC were emplaced over a short timespan of 34-32 Ma.This and our new data suggest that the primary magma of the YSC likely was formed by partial melting of ancient continental lithospheric mantle beneath the Yangtze Block.This part of the continental lithospheric mantle had likely not been modified by any oceanic subduction.Fractionation crystallization of an Mg-and Ca-bearing mineral and TiFe oxides during the magmatic evolution probably account for the variable lithologies of the YSC.

藏东南墨脱地区降水特征分析

墨脱位于藏东南雅鲁藏布大峡谷水汽通道入口处,是青藏高原年降水量最多的地区。本研究使用墨脱云降水综合观测试验以来三年(2019—2021年)的自动雨量计数据,分析了墨脱降水的月变化和日变化特征。然后基于同址的降水天气现象仪和X波段双偏振相控阵雷达观测数据,探究墨脱两次强降水过程的发展演变特征。结果表明:从统计结果来看,墨脱降水天数超过全年的70%,以降水率<5 mm·h^(-1)的弱降雨为主,日降水量<10 mm的小雨的发生率最高,但10 mm≤日降水量<25 mm的中雨产生的降水量最大。墨脱降水存在明显的月变化和日变化特征,受印度洋季风影响,降水主要发生在6—9月。受山谷风影响,降水主要发生在夜间。对于降水过程而言,由高原涡和南支槽影响下的系统性暴雨,范围大、持续时间长,降水主要由直径小于2 mm的雨滴产生,雷达反射率因子普遍不超过35 dBz。而由地形强迫引起的局地短时强对流降水过程,雨滴谱分布更宽,雨滴浓度更高,直径大于2 mm的雨滴对降水量的贡献最大,雷达反射率因子超过45 dBz,风暴的后向传播形成“列车效应”。

青藏高原东南缘三维S波速度和径向各向异性及泸定M_(S)6.8和芦山M_(S)7.0地震孕震环境探讨

利用青藏高原东南缘布设的684个流动地震台和150个固定地震台的连续背景噪声波形数据,提取了周期5~50 s的Rayleigh波和Love波相速度频散,并反演获得了该区域下方0~70 km三维S波速度和径向各向异性结构.结果表明:(1)受川滇地块南部高速体的阻挡,东南缘中下地壳内存在两条空间分布独立的低速带.西侧(L1)从川滇地块北部向南延伸至滇西南地块,其中下地壳平均V_(S)小于3.4 km·s^(-1)并表现为正径向各向异性结构,反映了高原中下地壳可能存在部分熔融和韧性变形;东侧低速带(L2)沿着小江断层南北分布,受到红河断层的阻挡,弱物质不太可能进入滇西南地块,该区域下地壳和上地幔顶部均显示较强的正各向异性,推测其更可能是沿小江断层相互驱动的块体在横向挤压过程中引起的地壳部分熔融而导致.(2)芦山M_(S)7.0地震位于龙门山逆冲断层南段,泸定M_(S)6.8地震位于鲜水河走滑断层东南段,两者都发生在地壳浅层高低速异常过渡带上,但其深部孕震环境有所不同.芦山震区西北部中下地壳低速体为负各向异性,推测韧性物质沿着龙门山下方陡倾断层向上运移,上地壳积累应力并通过薄弱区域释放导致了芦山地震的发生;泸定震区为正各向异性的中下地壳韧性变形促进了川滇地块SE向的水平运动,受刚性的四川盆地阻挡,加剧了上地壳发震断层的滑动变形和应力积累,脆性上地壳突然破裂导致了泸定地震的发生.

Accelerated glacier mass loss in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau since the 1970s

The southeastern Tibetan Plateau(SETP)is a region in High Mountain Asia with the most serious glacier mass loss.However,long-term and large regional-scale studies that estimate glacier mass balance in this area remain limited.In this study,we generated a KH-9 Digital Elevation Model(DEM)(covering 87.6%of the glacier area)for the 1970s from KH-9 Hexagon imagery and quantified geodetic glacier mass over the SETP from the 1970s to 2020 using KH-9 DEM,NASADEM and ICESat-2 ATL06 data.The results show that the SETP was in a state of serious mass loss(at a rate of−0.35±0.03 m w.e.per year)from the 1970s to 2020,and the rate of mass loss accelerated from−0.15±0.05 to−0.56±0.10 m w.e.per year between the 1970s–2000 and 2000–2020.Within the SETP,the glacier mass balance revealed a remarkable spatial heterogeneity.The maximum mean glacier mass loss rate was observed in the Hengduan Shan.Nyainqentanglha exhibited the highest acceleration in the mass loss rate since the 1970s.The warming of air temperature and decreasing snowfall can partly explain the accelerated glacier mass loss in the SETP.The study provides a new long-term glacier mass balance estimation covering almost the entire SETP that suggests the acceleration in glacier mass loss observed in the SETP since the 1970s is a regional tendency,which is crucial for understanding the relationship between glaciers and climate changes.

Rayleigh wave phase velocity tomography and strong earthquake activity on the southeastern front of the Tibetan Plateau

To investigate the relationship between velocity structure and earthquake activity on the southeastern front of the Tibetan Plat- eau, we make use of continuous observations of seismic ambient noise data obtained at 55 broadband stations from the regional Yunnan Seismic Network. These data are used to compute Rayleigh wave Green＇s Functions by cross-correlating between two stations, extracting phase velocity dispersion curves, and finally inverting to image Rayleigh wave phase velocity with periods between 5 and 34 s by ambient noise tomography. The results tie structures in the studied region. Phase velocity anomalies show significant lateral variations in crustal and uppermost man- at short periods （5-12 s） are closely related to regional tectonic features such as sediment thickness and the depth of the crystalline basement. The Sichuan-Yunnan rhombic block, enclosed by the Honghe, Xiaojiang and Jianchuan faults, emerges as a large range of low-velocity anomalies at periods of 16-26 s, that in- verts to high-velocity anomalies at periods of 30-34 s. The phase velocity variation in the vicinity of the Sichuan-Yunnan rhombic block suggests that the low-velocity anomaly area in the middle-lower crust may correspond to lower crustal channel- ized flow of the Tibetan Plateau. The spatial distribution of strong earthquakes since 1970 reveals that the Yunnan region is inhomogeneous and shows prominent characteristics of block motion. However, earthquakes mostly occur in the upper crust, with the exception of the middle-Yunnan block where earthquakes occur at the interface zone between high and low velocity as well as in the low-velocity zones, with magnitudes being generally less than 7. There are few earthquakes of magnitude 5 at the depths of 15-30 km, where gather earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher ones which mainly occur in the interface zone between high and low velocities with others extending to the high-velocity abnormal zone.

Surface Rupture of the 1515 Yongsheng Earthquake in Northwest Yunnan, and Its Seismogeological Implications

The 1515 M7/4 Yongsheng earthquake is the strongest earthquake historically in northwest Yunnan. However, its time, magnitude and the seismogenic fault have long been a topic of dispute. In order to accurately define those problems, a 1：50000 active tectonic mapping was carried out along the northern segment of the Chenghai-Binchuan fault zone. The result shows that there is an at least 25 km- long surface rupture and a series of seismic landslides distributed along the Jinguan fault and the Chenghai fault. Radiocarbon dating of the 14C samples indicates that the surface rupture should be a part of the deformation zone caused by the Yongsheng earthquake in the year 1515. The distribution characteristics of this surface rupture indicate that the macroscopic epicenter of the 1515 Yongsheng earthquake may be located near Hongshiya, and the seismogenic fault of this earthquake is the Jinguan- Chenghai fault, the northern part of the Chenghai-Binchuan fault zone. Striations on the surface rupture show that the latest motion of the fault is normal faulting. The maximum co-seismic vertical displacement can be 3.8 m, according to the empirical formula for the fault displacement and moment magnitude relationship, the moment magnitude of the Yongsheng earthquake was Mw 7.3-7.4. Furthermore, combining published age data with the 14C data in this paper reveals that at least four large earthquakes of similar size to the 1515 Yongsheng earthquake, have taken place across the northern segment of the Chenghai-Binchuan fault zone since 17190~50 yr. BP. The in-situ recurrence interval of Mw 7.3-7.4 characteristic earthquakes in Yongsheng along this fault zone is possibly on the order of 6 ka.