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Abstract This study represents the first campaign‐style teleseismic shear wave splitting (SWS) investigation of central Myanmar, an area that is tectonically controlled by the oblique subduction of the Indian Plate underneath the Eurasian Plate. The resulting 678 well‐defined and 247 null SWS measurements obtained from recently deployed 71 broadband seismic stations show that the Indo‐Burma Ranges (IBR) possess mostly N‐S fast orientations that are parallel to the trend of the depth contours of the subducted slab. Relative to the global average of 1.0 s, extremely large splitting times with station‐averaged values ranging from 1.28 to 2.79 s and an area‐averaged value of 2.09 ± 0.55 s are observed in the IBR. In contrast, the Central Basin (CB) and the Shan Plateau (SP) are characterized by slightly larger than normal splitting times. The fast orientations observed in the CB are mostly NE‐SW in the northern part of the study area, N‐S in the central part, and NW‐SE in the southern part. The fast orientations change from nearly N‐S along the N‐S oriented Sagaing Fault, to NW‐SE in the central and eastern portions of the SP. These observations, together with SWS measurements using local S events, crustal anisotropy measurements using P‐to‐S receiver functions, and the estimated depth of the source of anisotropy using the spatial coherency of the splitting parameters, suggest the presence of a trench‐parallel sub‐slab flow system driven by slab rollback, a trench‐perpendicular corner flow, and a trench‐parallel flow possibly entering the mantle wedge through a slab window or gap.
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This content will become publicly available on October 1, 2025
Mantle deformation in the highly oblique indo-burma subduction system inferred from shear wave splitting measurements
We utilized shear wave splitting analysis of teleseismic SKS, SKKS, and PKS phases to infer upper mantle deformational fabrics across a substantial area of Southeast Asia, where splitting measurements were previously limited. We used newly available permanent and temporary broadband seismic networks deployed across the Indo-Burma subduction zone and the eastern Indochina peninsula. The resulting 492 well-constrained splitting and 654 null measurements from 185 stations reveal clear large-scale patterns in the mantle deformational fabrics in response to the highly oblique active subduction and a large transform plate boundary. We identified two distinct domains of mantle deformation fabrics in the western Burma microplate and the eastern Indochina peninsula. In the former, trench parallel N-S fast polarization directions with an average lag time (δt) of 1.9 s are observed beneath the Indo-Burman Ranges. We suggest the observed splitting is partly due to anisotropy in the sub-slab region and relates to shear induced by the north moving Indian plate. The lithospheric fabric within the Indo-Burman Ranges and underlying subducting slab fabric contribute to produce the observed average δt of 1.9 s. The δt value decreases to an average of 1.0 s towards the back-arc until we reach the dextral Sagaing fault. In the second domain, starting approximately 100 km east of the Sagaing fault, we observe a consistent E-W fast direction with an average δt of 1.10 s in the eastern Shan-Thai and Indochina blocks. We interpret the E-W fabric as due to the deformation associated with the westward spreading of the Hainan mantle plume, possibly driven by overriding plate motion. Low velocities in the shallow mantle and late Cenozoic intraplate volcanism in this region support the plume-driven asthenospheric flow model in the Indochina peninsula. The sudden transition of the fast polarization direction from N-S to E-W along the eastern edge of the Burma microplate indicates the Sagaing fault acts as a mantle flow boundary between the subduction dominated trench parallel flow to the west and plume induced asthenospheric flow to the east. We also observed no net splitting beneath the Bengal basin which is most likely due to the presence of frozen vertical fabric resulting from the Kerguelen plume activity during Early Cretaceous.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1714892
- PAR ID:
- 10536304
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Earth and Planetary Science Letters
- Edition / Version:
- 1
- Volume:
- 643
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0012-821X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 118895
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Shear wave splitting, Mantle deformational fabric, Trench parallel mantle flow, Oblique subduction, Hainan Plume
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: 15.5MB Other: pdf
- Size(s):
- 15.5MB
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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