Deformation of Tibetan Crust and Mantle and the Uplift of the Plateau: Insights from Broadband Surface Waves

Seismic deployments over the last two decades have produced dense broadband data coverage across the Tibetan Plateau. Yet, the lithospheric dynamics of Tibet is still debated, with very different end-member models advocated to this day. Uncertainties over the anomalies in seismic tomography models contribute to the uncertainty of their interpretations, ranging from the subduction of India as far as northern Tibet to subduction of Asia there and to extreme viscous thickening of the entire Tibetan lithosphere. Within the lithosphere itself, a low-viscosity layer in the mid-lower crust is evidenced by many observations. It is still unclear, however, whether this layer accommodates a large-scale channel flow (which may have uplifted northern and eastern Tibet, according to one model) or if, instead, deformation within it is similar to that observed at the surface (which implies different uplift mechanisms). Broad-band surface waves provide resolving power from the upper crust down to the asthenosphere, for both isotropic-average shear-wave speeds (proxies for composition and temperature) and the radial and azimuthal shear-wave anisotropy (indicative of the patterns of deformation and flow). We measured highly accurate Love- and Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity curves in broad period ranges (up to 5-200 s) for a few tens of pairs and groups of stations across Tibet, combining, in each case, hundreds to thousands of inter-station measurements, made with cross-correlation and waveform-inversion methods. Robust shear-velocity profiles were then determined by series of non-linear inversions, yielding depth-dependent ranges of shear speeds and radial anisotropy consistent with the data. Temperature anomalies in the upper mantle were estimated from shear-velocity ones using accurate petro-physical relationships. Azimuthal anisotropy in the crust and upper mantle was determined by surface-wave tomography and, also, by sub-array analysis targeting the anisotropy amplitude. Our results show that the prominent high-velocity anomalies in the upper mantle are most consistent with the presence of subducted Indian lithosphere beneath large portions of Tibet. Estimated thermal anomalies within the high-velocity features match those expected for subducted India. The morphology of India's subduction beneath Tibet is complex and shows pronounced west-east variations. Beneath eastern and northeastern Tibet, in particular, the subducted Indian lithosphere appears to have subducted, at a shallow angle, hundreds of km NNE-wards. Azimuthal anisotropy beneath Tibet is distributed in multiple layers with different fast-propagations directions, which accounts for the complexity of published shear-wave splitting observations. The fast directions within the mid-lower crust are parallel to the extensional components of the current strain rate field at the surface, consistent with similar deformation through the entire crust, rather than channel flow. Anisotropy within the asthenosphere beneath northeastern Tibet (sandwiched between the Tibetan lithosphere above and the subducted Indian lithosphere below) indicates SSW-NNE flow, parallel to the direction of motion of the Indian Plate, including its subducted leading edge.