Receiver function image of the mantle transition zone beneath western China: Fragmented subduction and counterflow upwelling

Abstract

A uniform image of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) beneath western China and neighboring regions is produced through Variable Bin Radius Stacking of receiver functions. We utilized a large data set of 218,050 receiver functions from 1,991 broadband seismic stations. Our results, after 3-D velocity corrections, show significant lateral variations in topography of the 410- and 660-km discontinuity and thickness of the MTZ. The observed lateral variations of the MTZ correlate with seismic-velocity anomalies identified in independent tomographic studies, which are interpreted as cold and hot thermal anomalies from lithospheric downwellings and mantle upwellings, respectively. In the southern Tibetan Plateau, the MTZ topography reveals four segmented zones of up to ∼20 km thicker-than-average MTZ from west to east interfingered with regions of thin-to-normal MTZ. These segmented MTZ thickenings likely originate from a series of cold lithospheric fingers associated with the fragmented subduction of the Indian lithosphere, while the thin-to-normal MTZ may result from an absence of the subducting Indian slab. These observations provide novel evidence for the proposed fragmentation of the Indian subduction. Moreover, we observe regions of thickened MTZ under the Tien Shan orogen and the Qaidam block, which likely result from the foundering of cold delaminated/broken-off lithospheric blocks triggered by the underthrusting of the Junggar and Tarim blocks. Regions of thinned MTZ beneath the Tien Shan region are additionally observed, which could be attributed to counterflow upwellings.