International Deep Profiling Of Tibet And The Himalaya Research Articles

Receiver-function imaging of the lithosphere at the Kunlun-Qaidam boundary, Northeast Tibet

We studied the crustal structure and tectonics in the north Tibetan Plateau from the Songpan-Ganzi terrane to the Qaidam Basin using teleseismic receiver-function imaging, across a major lithospheric boundary, the Kunlun-Qaidam boundary, where previous studies suggest a ~15–20-km change in crustal thickness from thicker crust in the Kunlun Mountains to thinner crust in the Qaidam Basin. We report P receiver functions for 70 stations, largely the International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya (INDEPTH), phase IV, experiment. Our most dense station coverage is located along the roughly north-south INDEPTH-IV active-source seismic profile at approximately 95° E longitude. Azimuthal and geographical changes in the receiver functions reveal significant changes in crustal structure and Vp/Vs from across the study area. Receiver functions show strong converters that we interpret as the Moho at ~70 km depth beneath the Qiangtang, Songpan-Ganzi terranes and Kunlun Mountains and at ~50 km depth beneath the central Qaidam Basin. This large change in crustal thickness occurs >50 km north of the North Kunlun strike-slip fault, on which the 2001 M8.1 Kunlun earthquake occurred. Receiver functions for some of the stations north of the thickness change at the Kunlun-Qaidam boundary also show a deeper ~70-km bright converter in addition to the 50-km converter. The two converters appear to overlap by up to ~30 km in some locations along the south Qaidam Basin. We combine previous results with these new results to discuss implications for mechanisms for crustal thickening in the north Tibetan Plateau including crustal flow and crustal injection. At depths imaged here, shallower than ~100 km, we see no evidence of southward subduction of Eurasian lithosphere.

Lithospheric Electrical Structure across the Eastern Segment of the Altyn Tagh Fault on the Northern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

AbstractProject INDEPTH (InterNational DEep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya) is an interdisciplinary program designed to develop a better understanding of deep structures and mechanics of the Tibetan Plateau. As a component of magnetotelluric (MT) work in the 4th phase of the project, MT data were collected along a profile that crosses the eastern segment of the Altyn Tagh fault on the northern margin of the plateau. Time series data processing used robust algorithms to give high quality responses. Dimensionality analysis showed that 2D approach is only valid for the northern section of the profile. Consequently, 2D inversions were only conducted for the northern section, and 3D inversions were conducted on MT data from the whole profile. From the 2D inversion model, the eastern segment of the Altyn Tagh fault only appears as a crustal structure, which suggests accommodation of strike slip motion along the Altyn Tagh fault by thrusting within the Qilian block. A large‐scale off‐profile conductor within the mid‐lower crust of the Qilian block was revealed from the 3D inversion model, which is probably correlated with the North Qaidam thrust belt. Furthermore, the unconnected conductors from the 3D inversion model indicate that deformations in the study area are generally localized.

Examining Three‐Dimensional Crustal Heterogeneity in Finland

The marriage of several high‐quality seismic experiments in Finland over the past 30 years has shown that the saying “something old, something new, something borrowed” can result in the cost‐efficient analysis of large‐scale, three‐dimensional (3‐D) seismic structures. Standing alone, each data set gives a partial view of complex 3‐D structures. When combined, they reveal a 3‐D block structure embedded in a layered crust and enable the analysis of dynamics involved in forming stable cratonic crust.Efforts to collect large 3‐D data sets around the globe include EarthScope (funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)), the European Science Foundations (ESF) 4‐D Topography Evolution in Europe: Uplift, Subsidence and Sea Level Change (TOPO‐EUROPE), and the European Space Agency's Gravity Field and Steady‐State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE). Such endeavors are fundamental to modern crustal research. Huge emphasis is placed on collecting and archiving these data, but often only a fraction of data are used in initial studies. Fortunately, new data sets can be complemented with vintage ones (e.g., the NSF‐funded Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP) and ESFs European GeoTraverse (EGT), as well as continent‐wide science programs on continental evolution in Canada (LITHOPROBE), Europe (ESF‐funded EUROPROBE), and the Himalayas (NSF‐funded International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya (INDEPTH)). Because fieldwork and archiving have already been completed for these vintage projects, new information can be extracted by new methods, with considerably less effort and funding.

Structure of the crust in the vicinity of the Banggong‐Nujiang suture in central Tibet from INDEPTH magnetotelluric data

Magnetotelluric data from a 150‐km‐long profile crossing the Banggong‐Nujiang suture (BNS), central Tibet, acquired as part of the International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya (INDEPTH) project, have been examined for crustal and upper mantle structure. Strike and dimensionality analyses demonstrate that regional‐scale electrical structures are two‐dimensional and oriented approximately parallel to surface geological strike. As seen elsewhere in Tibet, the double thickness crust is generally characterized by resistive upper crust (hundreds to thousands of ohm meters) overlying conductive middle and lower crust (tens to hundreds of ohm meters), but in detail, there are lateral variations at all levels. Regionally, a northward transition from thick (∼45 km) to thin (∼15 km) resistive upper crust coincides with (1) the surface trace of the BNS, (2) a prominent strand of the Karakorum‐Jiali fault system, (3) northward decrease in upper mantle seismic velocities and increase in attenuation, and (4) pronounced northward onset of seismic polarization anisotropy. The latter two seismological features have been taken to mark the northern limit of Indian mantle lithosphere thrust beneath southern Tibet. On the basis of our electrical model, we speculate that (1) the resistive upper crustal root beneath the Neogene Lunpola and Duba basins was produced by crustal shortening localized along the northern edge of the Lhasa terrane; (2) the low midcrustal resistivity beneath the BNS reflects enhanced Neogene melting and/or metamorphic dewatering of relatively fertile subduction zone complex rocks; (3) observed steep upper crustal low‐resistivity anomalies are produced by hydrothermal fluids within active faults localized within and adjacent to the BNS; and (4) these strike‐slip and extensional fault arrays are surface manifestations of lithosphere‐penetrating shear localized along the northern edge of the underthrust Indian plate.

Crustal and upper mantle structure of northern Tibet imaged with magnetotelluric data

Magnetotelluric (MT) data were collected in northern Tibet along the Amdo to Golmud highway during the 1995 and 1999 Project INDEPTH (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya) surveys. Broadband and long period MT data were collected and the TE‐mode, TM‐mode and vertical magnetic field data were inverted to yield a minimum structure, two‐dimensional resistivity model. The model obtained from inverting all responses simultaneously shows that a pervasive midcrustal conductor extends from the Kunlun Shan to the Bangong‐Nuijiang suture. The vertically integrated conductivity (conductance) of this crustal layer is greatest in the northern Qiangtang terrane at latitude 34°N. The electrical resistivity of the upper mantle is constrained by the MT data to be in the range of 10–30 Ωm across the Songpan‐Ganze and Qiangtang terranes. This is lower than would be expected if Asian lithosphere underthrusts northern Tibet as far as the Qiangtang terrane. The MT responses are more consistent with a model in which Asian lithosphere extends as far south as the Kunlun Shan, and the upper mantle beneath the Songpan‐Ganze and Qiangtang terranes is sufficiently hot to contain a small fraction of interconnected partial melt.

INDEPTH III seismic data: From surface observations to deep crustal processes in Tibet

During the summer of 1998, active‐source seismic data were collected along a transect running 400 km NNW‐SSE across the central Tibetan Plateau as the third phase of project INDEPTH (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya). The transect extends northward from the central Lhasa block, across the Jurassic Bangong‐Nujiang Suture (BNS) at 89.5°E, to the central Qiangtang block. A seismic velocity model for the transect to ∼25 km depth produced by inversion of P wave first arrivals on ∼3000 traces shows (1) a ∼50‐km‐wide region of low velocity (at least 5% less than surrounding velocities) extending to the base of the model at the BNS; (2) sedimentary cover for the southern Qiangtang block that is ∼3.5 km thick; (3) a distinct interface between sedimentary cover and Qiangtang basement or underplated Jurassic melange in the central Qiangtang block; and (4) evidence that the Bangoin granite extends to a depth of at least 15 km. The BNS has little geophysical signature, and appears unrelated to the ∼5 km northward shallowing of the Moho which is associated with the BNS in central Tibet. Geophysical data along the main INDEPTH III transect show little evidence for widespread crustal fluids, in contrast to the seismic “bright spots” found in southern Tibet and to magnetotelluric evidence of fluid accumulations in eastern Tibet. A comparison between the global average and Tibetan velocity‐depth functions offers constraints for models of plateau uplift and crustal thickening. Taken together with the weak geophysical signature of the BNS, these velocity‐depth functions suggest that convergence has been accommodated largely through pure‐shear thickening accompanied by removal of lower crustal material by lateral escape, likely via ductile flow. Although we cannot resolve the details, we believe lateral lower crustal flow has overprinted or destroyed evidence in the deep crust for the earlier assembly of Tibet as a series of accreted terranes.

INDEPTH (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya) multichannel seismic reflection data: Description and availability

Project INDEPTH (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya) has collected over 300 km of multichannel, deep seismic reflection data using explosive sources as part of a multidisciplinary effort to image the structure of the crust and uppermost mantle of the Tibetan plateau. The reflection profiles lie within the Yadong‐Gulu rift and were acquired in the summers of 1992 and 1994. Data processing utilized typical industry tools, and a new method was used to migrate the data. Both unmigrated and migrated sections are presented here in large format to facilitate further interpretations.

Crustal structure of the Himalayan orogen at ∼90° east longitude from Project INDEPTH deep reflection profiles

International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya (INDEPTH) deep seismic reflection profiles show that the Indian lithosphere is underthrusting the central Himalaya along a gently north dipping decollement that is traceable northward beneath the Tethyan belt to ∼28.6°N and to a depth of about 45 km. The decollement carries in its hanging wall a near‐crustal‐thickness slice of internally deformed Indian continental basement and cover represented in outcrop by the Greater Himalayan belt and structurally overlying Tethyan belt. Geometric relationships suggest that the decollement probably ramps downward beneath the northern Tethyan belt to near the base of the crust and that the hanging wall crustal slice was detached from Indian mantle lithosphere that presently underlies southern Tibet to the north. The North Himalayan anticlinorium (Kangmar dome) appears to be a large duplex ramp anticline in the hanging wall of the decollement. The South Tibetan Detachment appears to have been imaged in two areas. In the Wagye La area it appears to follow the Tethyan belt/Greater Himalayan belt contact northward in the subsurface and to have been folded over the Kangmar dome. In the Zherger La area it appears to have been active relatively recently as a ∼30° north dipping normal fault that cuts deeply into the Greater Himalayan belt allochthon. Palinspastic reconstruction indicates a minimum of about 326 km of shortening of the Indian basement across the Himalaya since the initiation of the Main Central Thrust. Hence Indian continental lithosphere, largely stripped of its overlying crust, can extend northward beneath the Tibetan plateau to at least 32°N, where earthquake seismological observations show that the properties of the upper mantle change markedly [e.g., McNamara et al., 1995]. Taken together, the seismic reflection and earthquake seismological observations lend support for the view that the Indian mantle lid mechanically underplates roughly the southern half of the Tibetan plateau. The INDEPTH reflection data do not show that Indian crust attached to this lithosphere extends north of southernmost Tibet (Kangmar dome), nor do they negate this possibility. Similarly, the reflection data do not yield direct evidence for or against lower‐crustal subduction beneath the Himalaya.

Crustal deformation of the Lhasa terrane, Tibet plateau from Project INDEPTH deep seismic reflection profiles

International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya (INDEPTH) deep reflection data in the Yangbajain‐Damxung graben of southern Tibet yield evidence of magmatism and deformation beneath the southern Lhasa terrane and Yarlung‐Zangbo suture. Shallow reflections and low‐velocity first arrivals indicate a thin, Quaternary graben fill of generally less than a few hundred meters thickness. Underlying stratified reflections, extending to a maximum of about 11.5 km depth, likely originate from deformed Paleozoic‐Cenozoic supracrustal strata of the Lhasa terrane. A prominent, undulatory band of reflections within the crystalline basement extends beneath the length of the Yangbajain‐Damxung graben (depth ranges from ∼12 km to ∼18 km). This horizon has been interpreted to mark the top of a midcrustal partial‐melt zone underlying southern Tibet. The undulatory character of this horizon additionally suggests that it may be tectonically deformed. A somewhat deeper, subhorizontal, wide‐angle reflection extends southward beneath the outcrop of the Yarlung‐Zangbo suture, indicating that the suture is cut off or superposed by a younger structure at depth. Three gently north dipping reflections at 19 km, 24 km, and 27 km depth beneath the Gangdese batholith are suggestive of a midcrustal duplex and may mark the northward (downdip) extension of the late Oligocene‐early Miocene Gangdese thrust system. A prominent ∼40° north dipping reflection imaged in the deep crust beneath the Gangdese batholith, between 40 and 60 km depth, might mark the downdip expression of the Yarlung‐Zangbo suture or, alternatively, a younger reverse fault in the lower crust (or both). Viewed in aggregate, the reflection data are suggestive of moderate, postcollisional shortening of the upper crust of the Lhasa terrane, accompanied by melting of the middle crust. Although the data are permissive of wholesale underthrusting or fluid injection of Indian continental crust beneath the Lhasa terrane, they show no direct evidence for this having occurred.

Shallow structure of the Yadong‐Gulu rift, southern Tibet, from refraction analysis of Project INDEPTH common midpoint data

Refracted arrivals on International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya (INDEPTH) common midpoint (CMP) data provide insight into the shallow structure of the Yadong‐Gulu rift in southern Tibet. This is the first such information available for the Neogene‐Quaternary rifts on the Tibetan Plateau. Geologic cross sections across three separate valleys within the rift have been constructed from these data and available surface geological information. In each case, the valleys are floored by asymmetric, low‐velocity sedimentary fills ranging from ∼100 m to ∼1.5 km in thickness. Beneath all three, the basement appears to dip gently to the east (∼ 5°). Seismic reflection data from one of these valleys (Nyinzhong) show a ∼30° east dipping reflector within the basement beneath the valley that projects upward to the normal‐sense Nyainqentanglha detachment exposed in the range immediately to the west. Field investigations by INDEPTH personnel have additionally shown the existence of previously unrecognized normal‐sense shear zones bordering the other two valleys. The newly discovered shear zones are 200 to >500 m thick and in both instances are characterized by moderately to steeply west dipping mylonites with top‐to‐west shear sense. Metamorphic minerals within the shear zones indicate at least amphibolite grade metamorphism with increasing metamorphic grade down section. The seismic data, coupled with the new geologic information and geomorphologic data from Landsat imagery, suggest that the structure of the northern Yadong‐Gulu rift is comparable to other well‐documented rift systems in which steep range‐front normal faults terminate at, or sole into, moderately dipping normal‐sense detachments at depth that have undergone substantial footwall uplift and rotation during extension. This geometry implies that the extension of the Tibetan Plateau crust has been accommodated at depth by lateral flow within the middle crust. It also suggests that E‐W extension of the plateau may have been substantially greater than has generally been presumed.

A simple method for migrating narrow aperture, noisy seismic reflection data and application to Project INDEPTH (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya) deep seismic profiles

Migration of deep seismic data is often hindered by a narrow recording aperture (line length by record length) and a low signal‐to‐noise ratio. The severity of typical migration artifacts (e.g., lateral smearing of discontinuous reflections into synforms, “smiles”) increases with travel time such that interpreters of deep seismic data have often substituted migrated line drawings for the actual sections. As part of Project INDEPTH (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya), a new migration method was developed to address both the noise and migration issues. The method works in the time‐space domain and uses the simple, constant velocity, straight ray path to perform the migration. First, only amplitudes within a given range are retained for migration, thus avoiding high‐amplitude noise bursts and low‐amplitude background noise. Then, the local dip of a reflection is found by automatically fitting a straight line to the highest amplitudes within a small window (several time samples by several traces) and calculating the dip of the line using a constant velocity. Finally, using this dip, the method migrates a selected amplitude value. The dips, lateral positions, and depths of the migrated events compare very well with output from more conventional algorithms (e.g.,fk‐Stolt, finite difference, etc.). The advantages of the new method include fewer artifacts, fast computer run times, low memory use and the ability to migrate long profiles and travel times (e.g., 50 s). The output of the method is a grid of migrated amplitudes (not wavelets) or dip values which is particularly effective for making small figures, such as those needed for publication. The principal disadvantage is the use of a constant migration velocity.

Northeast Tibetan Crustal Structure from INDEPTH IV Controlled- Source Seismic Data

DOI = 10.3126/hjs.v5i7.1274 Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.5(7) (Special Issue) 2008 p.76-77