ALBERT

Description: Closely-spaced receiver-function profiles in the east-central India–Tibet collision zone reveal drastic west–east changes of the crustal and upper mantle structure. West of ∼91.5°E, we show the Indian crust-mantle boundary (Moho) extending subhorizontally from ∼50 km depth below sea level under the High Himalaya to ∼90 km under the central Lhasa terrane. Further north, this boundary transitions to become the top of the Indian lithospheric mantle and, becoming faint but still observable, it can be tracked continuously to ∼135 km depth near ∼31.5°N. The top of the Indian lithospheric mantle is clearly beneath the Tibetan Moho that is also a conspicuous boundary, undulatory at 60–75 km depth from the central Lhasa terrane to the north end of our profile at ∼34°N. This geometry is consistent with underthrusting of Indian lower crust and underplating of the Indian plate directly beneath southern Tibet. In contrast, east of ∼91.5°E, the Indian Moho is only seen under the southernmost margin of the Tibetan plateau, and eludes imaging from ∼50 km south of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture to the north. The Indian lower crust thins greatly and in places lacks a clear Moho. This is in contrast to our observation west of ∼91.5°E, that the Indian lower crust thickens northwards. A clear depression of the top of the Indian lower crust is also observed along west–east oriented profiles, centered above the region where the Indian Moho is not imaged. Our observations suggest that roll-back of the Indian lithospheric mantle has occurred east of ∼91.5°E, likely due to delamination associated with density instabilities in eclogitized Indian lower crust, with the center of foundering beneath the southern Lhasa terrane slightly east of 91.5°E.

Description: Using active and passive seismology data we derive a shear (S) wave velocity model and a Poisson's ratio (σ) model across the Chilean convergent margin along a profile at 38°15′S, where the Mw 9.5 Valdivia earthquake occurred in 1960. The derived S-wave velocity model was constructed using three independently obtained velocity models that were merged together. In the upper part of the profile (0–2 km depth), controlled source data from explosions were used to obtain an S-wave traveltime tomogram. For the middle part (2–20 km depth), data from a temporary seismology array were used to carry out a dispersion analysis. The resulting dispersion curves were used to obtain a 3-D S-wave velocity model. In the lower part (20–75 km depth, depending on the longitude), an already existent local earthquake tomographic image was merged with the other two sections. This final S-wave velocity model and already existent compressional (P) wave velocity models along the same transect allowed us to obtain a Poisson's ratio model. The results of this study show that the velocities and Poisson's ratios in the continental crust of this part of the Chilean convergent margin are in agreement with geological features inferred from other studies and can be explained in terms of normal rock types. There is no requirement to call on the existence of measurable amounts of present-day fluids, in terms of seismic velocities, above the plate interface in the continental crust of the Coastal Cordillera and the Central Valley in this part of the Chilean convergent margin. This is in agreement with a recent model of water being transported down and released from the subduction zone.

Description: Subduction of buoyant continental lithosphere is one of the least understood plate-tectonic processes. Yet under the Pamir–Hindu Kush, at the northwestern margin of the India–Asia collision zone, unusual deep earthquakes and seismic velocity anomalies suggest subduction of Asian and Indian lithosphere. Here, we report new precise earthquake hypocenters, detailed tomographic images and earthquake source mechanisms, which allow distinguishing a narrow sliver of Indian lithosphere beneath the deepest Hindu Kush earthquakes and a broad, arcuate slab of Asian lithosphere beneath the Pamir. We suggest that this double subduction zone arises by contrasting modes of convergence under the Pamir and Hindu Kush, imposed by the different mechanical properties of the three types of lithosphere involved. While the buoyant northwestern salient of Cratonic India bulldozes into Cratonic Asia, forcing delamination and rollback of its lithosphere, India's thinned western continental margin separates from Cratonic India and subducts beneath Asia. This torn-off narrow plate sliver forms a prominent high-velocity anomaly down to the mantle transition zone. Our images show that its uppermost section is thinned or already severed and that intermediate depth earthquakes cluster at the neck connecting it to the deeper slab, providing a rare glimpse at the ephemeral process of slab break-off.

Description: Raw-, SEG-Y and other supplementary data of the amphibious wide-angle seismic experiment carried out in South Turkey, Cyprus and south of Cyprus are presented. The aim of this project was to reveal the crustal structure of the Anatolian plateau, Cyprus and the Eratosthenes Seamount (ESM), south of Cyprus. Simultaneous data acquisition offshore with ocean bottom seismometers and airguns and onshore with seismic land stations and two land shots in South Turkey lead to a 650 km long amphibian seismic profile.

Description: We studied the crustal structure and tectonics in the north Tibetan Plateau from the Songpan-Ganzi terrane to the Qaidam Basin using teleseismic receiver-function imaging, across a major lithospheric boundary, the Kunlun- Qaidam boundary, where previous studies suggest a ~15–20-km change in crustal thickness from thicker crust in the Kunlun Mountains to thinner crust in the Qaidam Basin. We report P receiver functions for 70 stations, largely the International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya (INDEPTH), phase IV, experiment. Our most dense station coverage is located along the roughly north-south INDEPTH-IV active-source seismic profile at approximately 95° E longitude. Azimuthal and geographical changes in the receiver functions reveal significant changes in crustal structure and Vp/Vs from across the study area. Receiver functions show strong converters that we interpret as the Moho at ~70 km depth beneath the Qiangtang, Songpan-Ganzi terranes and Kunlun Mountains and at ~50 km depth beneath the central Qaidam Basin. This large change in crustal thickness occurs〉 50 km north of the North Kunlun strike-slip fault, on which the 2001 M8.1 Kunlun earthquake occurred. Receiver functions for some of the stations north of the thickness change at the Kunlun-Qaidam boundary also show a deeper ~70-km bright converter in addition to the 50-km converter. The two converters appear to overlap by up to ~30 km in some locations along the south Qaidam Basin. We combine previous results with these new results to discuss implications for mechanisms for crustal thickening in the north Tibetan Plateau including crustal flow and crustal injection. At depths imaged here, shallower than ~100 km, we see no evidence of southward subduction of Eurasian lithosphere.