3-D Tomography for the S-Wave Quality Factor of the Crust and Upper Mantle Beneath the Chinese Mainland

Shear-wave seismic data recorded along four profiles during the SNoRE 97 (1997 Slave Northern Cordillera Refraction Experiment) refraction wide-angle reflection experiment in northwestern Canada are analyzed to provide S-wave velocity (Vs) models. These are combined with previous P-wave velocity (Vp) models to produce cross sections of the ratio Vp/Vs for the crust and upper mantle. The Vp/Vs values are related to rock types through comparisons with published laboratory data. The Slave craton has low Vp/Vs values of 1.681.72, indicating a predominantly silicic crustal composition. Higher values (1.78) for the Great Bear and eastern Hottah domains of the Wopmay orogen imply a more mafic than average crustal composition. In the western Hottah and Fort Simpson arc, values of Vp/Vs drop to ∼1.69. These low values continue westward for 700 km into the Foreland and Omineca belts of the Cordillera, providing support for the interpretation from coincident seismic reflection studies that much of the crust from east of the Cordilleran deformation front to the Stikinia terrane of the Intermontane Belt consists of quartzose metasedimentary rocks. Stikinia shows values of 1.781.73, consistent with its derivation as a volcanic arc terrane. Upper mantle velocity and ratio values beneath the Slave craton indicate an ultramafic peridotitic composition. In the Wopmay orogen, the presence of low Vp/Vs ratios beneath the Hottah Fort Simpson transition indicates the presence of pyroxenite in the upper mantle. Across the northern Cordillera, low Vp values and a moderate-to-high ratio in the uppermost mantle are consistent with the region's high heat flow and the possible presence of partial melt.

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Quaternary sodic and potassic intraplate volcanism in northeast China controlled by the underlying heterogeneous lithospheric structures

Geology ◽

10.1130/g48932.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xingli Fan ◽

Qi-Fu Chen ◽

Yinshuang Ai ◽

Ling Chen ◽

Mingming Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Mantle ◽

Lithospheric Mantle ◽

Northeast China ◽

Velocity Structure ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle ◽

Seismic Velocities ◽

S Wave ◽

Crust And Upper Mantle ◽

Potassic Volcanism

The origin and mantle dynamics of the Quaternary intraplate sodic and potassic volcanism in northeast China have long been intensely debated. We present a high-resolution, three-dimensional (3-D) crust and upper-mantle S-wave velocity (Vs) model of northeast China by combining ambient noise and earthquake two-plane wave tomography based on unprecedented regional dense seismic arrays. Our seismic images highlight a strong correlation between the basalt geochemistry and upper-mantle seismic velocity structure: Sodic volcanoes are all characterized by prominent low seismic velocities in the uppermost mantle, while potassic volcanoes still possess a normal but thin upper-mantle “lid” depicted by high seismic velocities. Combined with previous petrological and geochemical research findings, we propose that the rarely erupted Quaternary potassic volcanism in northeast China results from the interaction between asthenospheric low-degree melts and the overlying subcontinental lithospheric mantle. In contrast, the more widespread Quaternary sodic volcanism in this region is predominantly sourced from the upwelling asthenosphere without significant overprinting from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle.

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Structure of the crust and upper mantle of the Great Slave Lake shear zone, northwestern Canada, from teleseismic analysis and gravity modelling

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e03-038 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 40 (9) ◽

pp. 1203-1218 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

David W Eaton ◽

Jacqueline Hope

Keyword(s):

Shear Zone ◽

Upper Mantle ◽

Receiver Function ◽

Function Analysis ◽

Crustal Material ◽

S Wave ◽

Crust And Upper Mantle ◽

Fast Axis ◽

Great Slave Lake ◽

Basic Features

The Great Slave Lake shear zone (GSLsz) exposes lower crustal rocks analogous to deep-seated segments of modern strike-slip fault zones, such as the San Andreas fault. Extending for 1300 km beneath the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin to the southern margin of the Slave Province, the GSLsz produces one of the most prominent linear magnetic anomalies in Canada. From May to October 1999, 13 three-component portable broadband seismograph stations were deployed in a 150-km profile across a buried segment of the shear zone to investigate its lithospheric structure. Splitting analysis of core-refracted teleseismic shear waves reveals an average fast-polarization direction (N49°E ± 19°) that is approximately parallel to the shear zone. Individual stations near the axis of the shear zone show more northerly splitting directions, which we attribute to interference between regional anisotropy in the upper mantle (fast axis ~N60°E) and crustal anisotropy within the shear zone (fast axis ~N30°E). At the location of our profile, the shear zone is characterized by a 10-mGal axial gravity high with a wavelength of 30 km, superimposed on a longer wavelength 12-mGal low. This gravity signature is consistent with the basic features of the crustal model derived from receiver-function analysis: a Moho that dips inward toward the shear-zone axis and a mid-crustal zone with high S-wave velocity (ΔVs = 0.6 ± 0.2 km/s). The axial gravity high may be related to uplift of deeper crustal material within the shear zone, or protolith-dependent compositional differences between the shear zone and surrounding wall rocks.

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