Shear-wave splitting observations: Implications toward the variable anisotropic structure of the upper mantle below the Kachchh rift zone, Gujarat, India

Abstract

The shear-wave splitting parameters (i.e. fast axis orientation (ψ) and delay time (δt)) are measured at twelve broadband stations in the Kachchh rift zone (KRZ), Gujarat, India, using SKS/SKKS core phases. The average splitting parameters (ψ, δt) vary from (49.41 ± 5.88, 1.63 ± 0.28) at Bhachau (i.e., 4 km SE of the 2001 Bhuj mainshock location) to (103.78 ± 12.82, 1.91 ± 0.35) at Mandvi near the coast. The present study reveals a mean ψ of (76.91o ± 4.57o) with a mean δt of 1.84 ± 0.30 s, for the KRZ. The observed large mean delay 1.84 ± 0.30 s for the region suggests a combined anisotropic contribution from both the lithospheric frozen anisotropy as well as the asthenospheric flow induced anisotropy. Inferred thicknesses of the anisotropic layers from the estimated δt vary from 160 km (in the central KRZ) to 269 km (in the surrounding unrifted zones (SURZ)). The measured deviation of ψ from the absolute plate motion (APM) direction of the Indian plate varies from 8.4o (in the central KRZ) to 62.8° (in the SURZ). The large δt and large deviation of ψ from the APM (>35°) are found to be associated with those stations (e.g. MND, KNM, VGH, NGR, VJP, TPM), which lie near to the geological boundaries in the SURZ. The main finding of the present modeling study depicts a thick highly anisotropic upper mantle underlying the KRZ, where mantle anisotropy parallel to the Kachchh rift axis direction is caused by both frozen lithospheric anisotropy and asthenospheric flow-induced anisotropy. The geographical and azimuthal variations of the measured splitting parameters detect three different anisotropic continental fragments, which might have preserved an ENE-WSW trending fossilized olivine fabric, which was formed before the assemblage of these continental fragments.