Three-component Seismic Observations Within the INDEPTH IV Transect: NE Tibetan Plateau to Qaidam Basin

As part of the INDEPTH IV controlled-source experiment in June 2007, 20 broadband and 29 short-period three- component seismographs at 5-6 km station spacing recorded 5 large shots (1000-2000 kg) and 100 small shots (80 kg) along a 270 km long profile across the Kunlun mountains in northeast Tibet. Following the controlled-source experiment, 50 broadband seismographs (35 from GIPP, Germany and 15 from SEIS-UK) were deployed for a period of one year along two profiles across the Kunlun mountains and the Jinsha river suture in northeast Tibet. The aims of the project are to determine the crust and upper mantle structure beneath northeast Tibet, detect the sharpness of any steps in major crustal boundaries (e.g. Moho) and detect how deep major faults penetrate in order to examine the viability of the crustal flow hypothesis. A description of the field experiment and data examples from both the controlled-source and passive-source components of the project will be presented.