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Moho Depths (moho + depth)
Selected AbstractsA preliminary study of crustal structure in Taiwan region using receiver function analysisGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2004Kwang-Hee Kim SUMMARY Selected teleseismic data observed at temporary and permanent broad-band stations have been analysed using the receiver function method in order to investigate the very complex crustal structure in Taiwan region. Very significant azimuthal variations of radial and transverse receiver function responses from broad-band stations could be attributed to, among other things, the sampling of incoming seismic waves across the nearby subduction zone, a subsurface dipping interface, or a localized anisotropic region. A mid-crust discontinuity, interpreted as the Conrad discontinuity, can be identified at 18,20 km depth beneath TATO and TPUB stations in the Western Foothills, but is absent beneath the two nearby stations SSLB and TDCB in the Central Mountain Range. The separation of upper and lower crust beneath the Western Foothills and the steady increase in crustal velocity as a function of depth across the entire thicker crust beneath the Central Mountain Range suggest that the tectonic evolution of the crust may be significantly different for these two adjacent regions. Although a ,thin-skinned' model may be associated with the tectonic evolution of the upper crust of the Western Foothills and Western Coastal Plain, a ,thick-skinned' or ,lithospheric deformation' model can probably be applied to explain the crustal evolution of the Central Mountain Range. A trend of crustal thinning from east (50,52 km) to west (28,32 km) is in very good agreement with the results from two east,west-trending deep seismic profiles obtained using airgun sources. The thinner crust (20,30 km) beneath TWB1 station in northeastern Taiwan can be associated with the high-heat-flow backarc opening at the western terminus of the Okinawa trough behind the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate. The relatively simple crustal structure beneath KMNB station, offshore southeastern China, depicts typical continental crust, with the Moho depth at 28,32 km. An apparent offset of the thickest Moho beneath NACB station from the topographic high in the central Central Mountain Range suggests that the Taiwan orogeny has probably not reached its isostatic status. [source] Tectonic Framework and Deep Structure of South China and Their Constraint to Oil-Gas Field DistributionACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 1 2009Qingchen WANG Abstract: South China could be divided into one stable craton, the Yangtze Craton (YzC), and several orogenic belts in the surrounding region, that is the Triassic Qinling-Dabie Orogenic Belt (QDOB) in the north, the Songpan-Garzę Orogenic Belt (SGOB) in the northwest, the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Three-river Orogenic Belt (TOB) in the west, the Youjiang Orogenic Belt (YOB) in the southwest, the Middle Paleozoic Huanan Orogenic Belt (HOB) in the southeast, and the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Maritime Orogenic Belt (MOB) along the coast. Seismic tomographic images reveal that the Moho depth is deeper than 40 km and the lithosphere is about 210 km thick beneath the YzC. The SGOB is characterized by thick crust (>40 km) and thin lithosphere (<150 km). The HOB, YOB and MOB have a thin crust (<40 km) and thin lithosphere (<150 km). Terrestrial heat flow survey revealed a distribution pattern with a low heat flow region in the eastern YzC and western HOB and two high heat flow regions in the TOB and MOB respectively. Such a "high-low-high" heat flow distribution pattern could have resulted from Cenozoic asthenosphere upwelling. All oil-gas fields are concentrated in the central part of the YzC. Remnant oil pools have been discovered along the southern margin of the YzC and its adjacent orogenic belts. From a viewpoint of geological and geophysical structure, regions in South China with thick lithosphere and low heat flow value, as well as weak deformation, might be the ideal region for further petroleum exploration. [source] Crustal structure of the Newfoundland rifted continental margin from constrained 3-D gravity inversionGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2007J. Kim Welford ABSTRACT The rifting history of the Atlantic continental margin of Newfoundland is very complex and so far has been investigated at the crustal scale primarily with the use of 2-D seismic surveys. While informative, the results generated from these surveys cannot easily be interpreted in a regional sense due to their sparse sampling of the margin. A 3-D gravity inversion of the free air data over the Newfoundland margin allows us to generate a 3-D density anomaly model that can be compared with the seismic results and used to gain insight into regions lacking seismic coverage. Results of the gravity inversion show good correspondence with Moho depths from seismic results. A shallowing of the Moho to 12 km depth is resolved on the shelf at the northern edge of the Grand Banks, in a region poorly sampled by other methods. Comparisons between sediment thickness and crustal thickness show deviations from local isostatic compensation in locations which correlate with faults and rifting trends. Such insights must act as constraints for future palaeoreconstructions of North Atlantic rifting. [source] Crustal structure of central Tibet as derived from project INDEPTH wide-angle seismic dataGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2001W. Zhao Summary In the summer of 1998, project INDEPTH recorded a 400 km long NNW,SSE wide-angle seismic profile in central Tibet, from the Lhasa terrane across the Banggong-Nujiang suture (BNS) at about 89.5°E and into the Qiangtang terrane. Analysis of the P- wave data reveals that (1) the crustal thickness is 65 ± 5 km beneath the line; (2) there is no 20 km step in the Moho in the vicinity of the BNS, as has been suggested to exist along-strike to the east based on prior fan profiling; (3) a thick high-velocity lower crustal layer is evident along the length of the profile (20,35 km thick, 6.5,7.3 km s,1); and (4) in contrast to the southern Lhasa terrane, there is no obvious evidence of a mid-crustal low-velocity layer in the P- wave data, although the data do not negate the possibility of such a layer of modest proportions. Combining the results from the INDEPTH III wide-angle profile with other seismic results allows a cross-section of Moho depths to be constructed across Tibet. This cross-section shows that crustal thickness tends to decrease from south to north, with values of 70,80 km south of the middle of the Lhasa terrane, 60,70 km in the northern part of the Lhasa terrane and the Qiangtang terrane, and less than 60 km in the Qaidam basin. The overall northward thinning of the crust evident in the combined seismic observations, coupled with the essentially uniform surface elevation of the plateau south of the Qaidam basin, is supportive of the inference that northern Tibet until the Qaidam basin is underlain by somewhat thinner crust, which is isostatically supported by relatively low-density, hot upper mantle with respect to southern Tibet. [source] Why are the continents just so,?JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 6 2010M. SANDIFORD Abstract Variations in gravitational potential energy contribute to the intraplate stress field thereby providing the means by which lithospheric density structure is communicated at the plate scale. In this light, the near equivalence in the gravitational potential energy of typical continental lithosphere with the mid-ocean ridges is particularly intriguing. Assuming this equivalence is not simply a chance outcome of continental growth, it then probably involves long-term modulation of the density configuration of the continents via stress regimes that are able to induce significant strains over geological time. Following this notion, this work explores the possibility that the emergence of a chemically, thermally and mechanically structured continental lithosphere reflects a set of thermally sensitive feedback mechanisms in response to Wilson cycle oscillatory forcing about an ambient stress state set by the mid-ocean ridge system. Such a hypothesis requires the continents are weak enough to sustain long-term (108 years) strain rates of the order of ,10,17 s,1 as suggested by observations that continental lithosphere is almost everywhere critically stressed, by estimates of seismogenic strain rates in stable continental interiors such as Australia and by the low-temperature thermochronological record of the continents that requires significant relief generation on the 108 year time-scale. Furthermore, this notion provides a mechanism that helps explain interpretations of recently published heat flow data that imply the distribution of heat-producing elements within the continents may be tuned to produce a characteristic thermal regime at Moho depths. [source] | ||||||||||