Structure of the lithosphere along the deep seismic sounding profile: Tien Shan—Pamirs—Karakorum—Himalayas

Abstract

During 1973–1977, as part of the International Geodynamic Project, some seismic investigations of the Earth's crust have been carried out by geotraverses of the Tien Shan—Pamirs—Karakorum—Himalayas. The seismic data obtained together with other geophysical information, allow the construction and interpretation of the lithospheric section through the Pamirs-Himalayas structure. This section includes thick crust with complex layering, supra-asthenospheric and asthenospheric layers of the upper mantle. The thickness of the Earth's crust increases from 50–55 km in the north, in the Ferghana depression (Tien Shan), to 70–75 km in the south, near the Karakul Lake (Northern Pamir). It varies within 60–65 km for the Central and Southern Pamir, Karakorum and the Inner Himalayas. Its thickness is least (35–37 km) in the south, under the outer margin of the Himalayan foredeep. Extreme gravity minima and depressions on the geoid surface correspond to the regions with maximum thickness of the Earth's crust. The centers of the disturbing masses on the geoid surface are located in the vicinity of the asthenosphere's upper layer; this determines the effect of the whole lithospheric layer, including its asthenospheric layer, at intense changes of gravity anomalies. The asthenospheric upper layer is recorded at a depth of about 120 km, its base at a depth of 200 km, in the northern and southern regions, and 300 km in its central part (Southern Pamir, Karakorum). In the middle asthenospheric layer, wave velocities decrease to 7.5 km/sec, under the base they increase to 8.4 km/sec and reach 9.4 km/sec at a depth of about 400 km. In the supra-asthenospheric layer of the upper mantle, longitudinal and shear wave-velocities slightly increase (by less than 0.1 km/sec) towards its base.