Active construction of southernmost Tibet revealed by deep seismic imaging

Zhanwu Lu, Xiaoyu Guo (), Rui Gao, Michael Andrew Murphy (), Xingfu Huang (), Xiao Xu, Sanzhong Li, Wenhui Li, Junmeng Zhao, Chunsen Li and Bo Xiang
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Zhanwu Lu: Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences
Xiaoyu Guo: Sun Yat-sen University
Rui Gao: Sun Yat-sen University
Michael Andrew Murphy: University of Houston
Xingfu Huang: Guilin University of Technology
Xiao Xu: Sun Yat-sen University
Sanzhong Li: Ocean University of China
Wenhui Li: Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences
Junmeng Zhao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chunsen Li: Sun Yat-sen University
Bo Xiang: Sun Yat-sen University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Southernmost Tibet exhibits an anomalously twice the normal thickness of average continental crust. There is no available theory to explain and the driving mechanism remains uncertain. Here, we interpret a north-striking, 180 km-long deep seismic reflection profile traversing the southern Lhasa terrane (SLT) to the central Lhasa terrane (CLT). In addition to reflections showing subducting Indian crust, our results reveal lateral heterogeneity between the SLT and CLT, where north-dipping reflections beneath the CLT outline a tilted crystalline basement, while the non-reflective domain beneath the SLT represents homogeneous juvenile crust. Our integrated analysis leads to models calling upon episodic magmatism onto the southern margin of the basement to result in progressive construction of the SLT. We hypothesize that this crustal thickening via crustal-scale magma accretion contributed to surface uplift of the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau and leading to the development of the vast internal drainage system of Tibet.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30887-3

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