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P-wave tomographic images beneath southeastern Tibet: Investigating the mechanism of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

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Abstract

We used 71670 P-wave arrival times from 3594 earthquakes recorded by the Sichuan and Yunnan seismic networks to determine the three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure in the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Our results show that prominent low P-wave velocity (low-Vp) anomalies exist in the mid- to lower crust of the Songpan-Ganze and Sichuan-Yunnan blocks. In contrast, a high P-wave velocity (high-Vp) anomaly is resolved in the middle and lower crust beneath the Sichuan Basin. Our tomographic results provide seismic evidence for a dynamic model of lower crustal flow. Ongoing lower crustal flow beneath the central and eastern Tibetan Plateau abuts against the mechanically strong Sichuan Basin resulting in accumulated strain in the Longmen Shan region. When a critical accumulation of strain energy was reached, its sudden release led to the occurrence of 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Pronounced low-Vp anomalies are observed in the uppermost mantle in the region south of ∼26°N. Combining these results with shear-wave splitting investigations, we suggest that the flow of asthenospheric material has impacted the velocity structure of the uppermost mantle and caused the thinning of the southwestern Yangtze Craton.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Computational Geodynamics, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Wei Wei & YaoLin Shi

  2. Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    RuoMei Sun

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  1. Wei Wei
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  2. RuoMei Sun
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Correspondence to Wei Wei.

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Wei, W., Sun, R. & Shi, Y. P-wave tomographic images beneath southeastern Tibet: Investigating the mechanism of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Sci. China Earth Sci. 53, 1252–1259 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4037-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4037-5

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