Structure of the mantle transition zone in the central and western parts of the North China Craton using the receiver function 3D Kirchhoff migration method

Abstract

Using data from the regional broadband dense temporary array deployed by the ChinArray project, we applied the three-dimensional (3D) Kirchhoff migration method of the teleseismic P-wave receiver function to investigate discontinuity structures of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) in the central and western parts of the North China Craton (NCC) using a high-resolution 3D velocity model of the East Asian region. The results show that the 410-km discontinuity beneath the Datong Volcano is depressed by ∼10 km, indicating the presence of a high-temperature anomaly near the depth of 410 km, which is likely related to small-scale mantle upwelling caused by the dehydration of the stagnant Pacific Plate in the MTZ. The upwelling of hot material provides a heat source for surface magmatic activity. Beneath the Bohai Bay Basin, significant subsidence of the 660-km discontinuity is observed, and the transition zone here is extensively thickened. It’s suggested that the anomalies in this region are related to the stagnation of the Pacific slab in the MTZ. Although the thickness of the transition zone west of the North-South Gravity Lineament appears normal, we propose that the subducting front of the Pacific slab did not cross the gravity lineament in the NCC. In comparison, the small-scale subsidence of the 660-km discontinuity and the thickening of the MTZ observed north of the Hannuoba Volcano likely indicate that the slab crossed the gravity lineament at its turning point and remained in the MTZ. Furthermore, a local thickening of the MTZ is observed in the Dabie orogenic belt of the Qinling Mountains. This is believed to be a combined effect of lithospheric delamination into the transition zone in the lower Yangtze region and the stagnation of the Pacific Plate.