Anisotropic zoning in the upper crust of the Tianshan Tectonic Belt

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The Tianshan Tectonic Belt is an intracontinental orogenic belt formed by continental convergence that has undergone long-term tectonic evolution. The reactivation that began during the Cenozoic Period has led to complex structural changes. The goals of this study are to review the seismic observational data obtained during 2009–2019 in the Xinjiang regional seismic network and analyze the anisotropy of the upper crust in the Tianshan area. Therefore, a shear-wave splitting system was adopted to collect and analyze shear-wave splitting parameters of 33 stations in the study area. The anisotropy of the upper crust of the Tianshan is spatially diverse, and the dominant polarization directions of fast shear-wave reflect the spatial variations of regional tectonic stress. In addition, the time delays of slow waves are proportional to the intensities of anisotropy in the upper crustal medium. The dominant polarization direction of the fast waves in the western segment of the North Tianshan Mountain, northwestern corner of the Tarim Basin, and northeastern edge of Pamir is consistent with the tectonic stress fields in the area. In the northern part of the Keping Block, the dominant polarization directions of the fast waves are consistent with the fault trends; however, they are at a high angle to the dominant directions of the regional tectonic stress field indicating that the anisotropy is affected by the faults in the area. The anisotropy of the eastern segment of the South Tianshan Mountains and the surrounding area of Urumqi are affected by the local stress field and fault structure. The polarization directions at some of the stations are sub-parallel to the directions of the regional principal stress. However, for other stations, the polarization directions are aligned with the neighboring faults. The polarization directions of the fast waves in most of the study area are consistent with the local tectonic stress fields. Thus, stress compression phenomena such as the Tarim Basin being thrusted and subducted between the Tianshan crust and the upper mantle due to the far field effects of the convergence between the Indian and Siberian plates are evident. Furthermore, the zoning of the time delays is distinct, and the time delays share an increasing trend from east to west in the North Tianshan and South Tianshan Mountain ranges. These results are consistent with the north-south convergence deformations across the Tianshan Mountains, where the deformation rate increased from east to west. The average values of time delays in northeastern Pamir are significantly higher than that in the other areas due to the occurrence of the most intensive tectonic movements suggesting that the anisotropy of the zone is significantly stronger than that of the other zones in the Tianshan Tectonic Belt. We successfully deciphered the seismic anisotropy in the upper crust and provided a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the dynamic mechanisms of the Tianshan Tectonic Belt.