Moho topography in the central Andes and its geodynamic implications

Abstract

P-to-S converted waves at the continental Moho together with waves multiply reflected between the Earth’s surface and the Moho have been used to estimate the Moho depth and average crustal Vp/Vs variations in the central Andes. Our analysis confirms and significantly complements the Moho depth estimates previously obtained from wide-angle seismic studies and receiver functions. The resulting crustal thickness varies from about 35 km in the forearc region to more than 70 km beneath the plateau and thins (30 km) further to the east in the Chaco plains. Beneath the Andean plateau, the Moho is deeper in the north (Altiplano) and shallower in the south (Puna), where the plateau attains its maximum elevation. A non-linear relation exists between crustal thickness and elevation (and Bouguer gravity), suggesting that the crust shallower than 50–55 km is predominately felsic in contrast to a predominately mafic crust below. Such a relation also implies a 100 km thick thermal lithosphere beneath the Altiplano and with a lithospheric thinning of a few tens of kilometers beneath the Puna. Absence of expected increase in lithospheric thickness in regions of almost doubled crust strongly suggests partial removal of the mantle lithosphere beneath the entire plateau. In the Subandean ranges at 19–20°S, the relation between altitude and crustal thickness indicates a thick lithosphere (up to 130–150 km) and lithospheric flexure. Beneath a relative topographic low at the Salar de Atacama, a thick crust (67 km) suggests that the lithosphere in this region is abnormally cold and dynamically subsided, possibly due to coupling with the subducting plate. This may be related to the strongest (Ms=8.0) known intra-slab earthquake in the central Andes that happened very close to this region in 1950. The average crustal Vp/Vs ratio is about 1.77 for the Altiplano–Puna and it reaches the highest values (1.80–1.85) beneath the volcanic arc, indicating high ambient crustal temperatures and wide-spread intra-crustal melting.