Indication from finite-frequency tomography beneath the North China Craton: The heterogeneity of craton destruction

Abstract

We picked new traveltime residual datasets in three frequency bands (0.02–0.1, 0.1–0.8, and 0.8–2.0 Hz) for P-waves from 793 teleseismic events and two frequency bands (0.02–0.1 and 0.1–0.8 Hz) for S-waves from 310 teleseismic events, recorded by 389 permanent stations of the China National Seismic Network and 832 broadband stations of 10 temporary arrays deployed in the North China Craton (NCC) region. The final datasets are composed of 65628 P-arrivals and 47050 S-arrivals. Based on previous research and our team’s 2012 tomographic work, we constructed new three-dimensional P-velocity and S-velocity models of the NCC through some improvements, such as augmenting a much denser station coverage in the western NCC, considering the incident angle effect in crustal correction and using a multi-frequency joint inversion tomographic technique. The new velocity models provide several salient features, from which we draw possible inferences on regional dynamic processes. We observed high-velocity anomalies in the mantle transition zone (MTZ). Obvious morphological heterogeneities suggest buckling and/or fragmentation of the subducted Pacific slab, and some of the slab materials are visible below 660-km discontinuities. The velocity structure of the eastern NCC is dominated by small-scale lateral heterogeneities. At shallow depths, high-velocity anomalies beneath the southern part of the eastern NCC and the Yanshan region likely represent a remnant of cratonic lithosphere, which may suggest that the NCC destruction is spatially non-uniform. We also detected a high-velocity anomaly in the Sulu Orogen extending downward to ~300 km, which is seemingly controlled by the Tan-Lu Fault. The northern boundary of this anomaly spatially coincides with the Yantai-Qingdao-Wulian Fault, and is likely a remnant of the Yangtze cratonic lithosphere subducting northwestward. Significant low-velocity anomalies imaged beneath the central NCC show a spatial discordance between their northern and southern parts. The northern low-velocity anomaly extends downward to the top of MTZ with a lateral NW-SE strike, whereas the southern one tapers off at ~200–300 km. Low-velocity anomalies are present beneath the Phanerozoic orogenic belts surrounding the NCC, the Paleoproterozoic Trans-North China Orogen, and the Tan-Lu Fault. This feature not only shows excellent spatial correlation with the orogens at the surface, it also exhibits a consistent vertical continuity in a depth range of 60–250 km. This intriguing feature suggests that the collisional orogenic belts and Tan-Lu Fault are inherited weak zones, which may play a key role in craton destruction. By combining multidisciplinary results in this area, we suggest that the spatial heterogeneities associated with the NCC destruction most likely result from the combined effects of a spatially non-uniform distribution of wet upwellings triggered by the subducted Pacific slab and pre-existing weak zones in the cratonic lithosphere.