Magnetotelluric Evidence for Lithospheric Hydration and Thinning Beneath the Youjiang Basin in Southwestern China

Abstract

Determining the water content in the lithospheric mantle is crucial for understanding its dynamic evolution. Because the electrical conductivity of mantle minerals is particularly sensitive to water, the magnetotelluric (MT) method becomes a vital tool to determine the water content in the lithospheric mantle. Here we used broadband and long-period MT data collected along a 600-km-long, NS-trending profile to obtain the electrical resistivity structure of the lithosphere across the southwestern South China Block. By combining the results of laboratory electrical conductivity measurements of mantle minerals, xenolith-derived composition, and geotherm information, we further estimated the water content of the lithospheric mantle. The results show that the Youjiang Basin has a relatively thin lithosphere segmented by zones of low-resistivity that spatially coincide with major faults. The relatively conductive mantle lithosphere could be explained by the combined effects of water in nominally anhydrous minerals, sulfide and phlogopite. Combined with regional tectonic context, we proposed that H₂O-rich fluids derived from the previously subducted slabs and related metasomatic processes lead to lithospheric hydration and thinning within the Youjiang Basin. Additionally, such processes, together with magmatic-hydrothermal activities, likely contribute to the formation of gold deposits within the basin. By contrast, the lithosphere beneath the Yangtze Craton is characterized by high resistivity extending to a depth of ∼200 km, representing a typical cratonic lithosphere that has not undergone significant tectonic modification and contains no or very little water.