Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Wang, C.-Y. Articles by Chan, W. W. GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Evidence for mechanically coupled lithosphere in central Asia and resulting implications

¹ Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China
² Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
³ Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA
⁴ Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China
⁵ Multimax Corporation, 1441 McCormick Drive, Landover, Maryland 20774, USA

The recent dramatic increase in seismic anisotropy and surface global positioning system (GPS) data for central Asia permits a comprehensive examination of the mantle's role in mountain building. A joint analysis of 178 shear-wave-splitting and ~2000 GPS observations using a new technique reveals that the crust and lithospheric mantle deform coherently, arguing for crust-mantle mechanical coupling during deformation. The observed spatial variations in anisotropy reflect the large-scale pattern of lithospheric deformation, as well as a change in deformational style from simple shear on the Tibetan Plateau transitioning to pure shear in surrounding regions.

Key Words: anisotropy • lithospheric deformation • global positioning system • central Asia