A new crustal shear-velocity model in Southwest China from joint seismological inversion and its implications for regional crustal dynamics

Abstract

SUMMARY Southwest (SW) China is located in a transition site from the active Tibetan Plateau to the stable Yangtze craton, which has complicated tectonic deformation and severe seismic hazards. We combine data from ambient noise, teleseismic body and surface waves, and petroleum wells to better constrain the crustal shear-velocity structure in SW China. We jointly invert the Rayleigh wave dispersion (5–40 s period), Rayleigh wave ZH ratio (20–60 s period), and P-wave receiver function for 114 permanent stations with a stepwise linearized joint inversion method. Compared to previous tomography results, we observe higher shear velocity in the sedimentary rocks within the Sichuan Basin, which is consistent with sonic logging measurements. Our model reveals widespread low-velocity zones in the mid-lower crust, and their boundaries correlate well with major fault systems. Between two main mid-crustal low-velocity channels, a prominent high-velocity region surrounded by earthquakes is observed in the inner zone of the Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP) and around the Anninghe-Zemuhe fault zone. These observations are comparable to regional tomography results using very dense arrays. Based on the results, we suggest that mid-lower crustal ductile flow and upper-crustal rigid fault movement play equally important roles in controlling the regional deformation styles and earthquake distribution in SW China. Our results also resolve thick crust-mantle transition zones beneath the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the inner zone of the ELIP due to ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ crust-mantle interactions, respectively. Our new model can serve as a reference crustal model of future high resolution model construction in SW China.