Lithospheric structures beneath the western Mongolian Plateau: Insight from S wave receiver function

• Published in: Journal of Asian earth sciences Vol. 212; p. 104733
• Main Authors: Zhao, Haixiang, Wang, Pan, Huang, Zhouchuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2021
• Subjects: Delamination; LAB; MLD; Mongolian Plateau; S wave receiver function; MLD; LAB; Mongolian Plateau; Delamination; S wave receiver function
• ISSN: 1367-9120; 1878-5786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2021.104733

[Display omitted] •S wave receiver functions reveals lithospheric structures in western Mongolia.•Two velocity discontinuities (i.e., LAB and MLD) are notable in the upper mantle.•Lower part of the lithosphere beneath the Hangay Dome has been delaminated. The Mongolian Plateau is located in the western segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. In the Cenozoic, the western plateau was affected by the India-Asian collision; the Hangay Dome of a low-relief plateau has been formed. However, the mechanism of the uplift of the plateau and particularly the Hangay Dome is debated. In this study, we image the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) with S wave receiver functions. The LAB is much shallower beneath the western Mongolian Plateau (~80–90 km) than beneath the North China Craton (~150 km) and Siberian Craton (~180 km). We also found another possible deep LAB at 200–250 km depths beneath the Hangay Dome, indicating a lithospheric delamination beneath western Mongolia. Thus we conclude that the consequential asthenospheric upwelling caused the tectonic uplift of the Hangay Dome.