Azimuthal anisotropy of Rayleigh waves beneath the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas

Abstract

The crustal and upper mantle azimuthal anisotropy of the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas was studied by Rayleigh wave tomography. We collected sufficient broadband digital seismograms traversing the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas from available stations, including especially some data from the temporary stations newly deployed in Yunnan, eastern Tibet, and western Sichuan. They made an adequate path coverage in most regions to achieve a reasonable resolution for the inversion. The model resolution tests show that the anisotropic features of scope greater than 400 km and strength greater than 2% are reliable. The azimuthal anisotropy pattern inside the Tibetan Plateau was similar to the characteristic of tectonic partition. The crustal anisotropy strength is greater than 2% in most regions of East Tibet, and the anisotropy shows clockwise rotation surrounding the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. Vertically, the anisotropy direction indicates a coherent pattern within the upper crust, lower crust, and lithosphere mantle of the Tibetan Plateau, which also is consistent with GPS velocity field and SKS fast polarization directions. The result supports that the crust-mantle deformation beneath the Tibetan Plateau is vertically coherent. The anisotropy strength of crust and lithospheric upper mantle in Yunnan outside the Tibetan Plateau is lower than 2%, so SKS splitting from core-mantle boundary to station should largely be attributed to the anisotropy of asthenosphere.