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To detect the thinning, modification, and replacement of the basement of the lithosphere is a key step in understanding the destruction mechanism of the North China lithosphere. The difference of the basement of the lithosphere is mainly displayed by the variation of the peridotite composition and its physical state. Vp/Vs ratio (hereafter referred to as velocity ratio) is more sensitive to this change than Vp or Vs alone. By means of the strong dependence of the travel-time of the wave converted at the 410-km discontinuity (P410s) observed in the receiver function (RF) on the velocity ratio in the upper mantle, we developed a new mapping method to constrain the velocity ratio between the Moho and 410-km discontinuity. Using the RFs extracted from 246 broadband stations beneath the North China Craton (NCC), we obtained a high-resolution velocity ratio image of the upper mantle. The abnormal velocity ratio indicates a strong lateral variation of the mineral composition in the upper mantle beneath North China. Two low-velocity-ratio patches are imaged at the top of the upper mantle and the 410 km depth, respectively. The former may be related to the orthopyroxene enrichment in the lithospheric mantle, and the latter may reflect the stagnant Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone (MTZ). A prominent high-velocity-ratio anomaly is also imaged in the upper mantle beneath the Shaanxi–Shanxi rift system in the central NCC, with the highest anomaly reaching 10%. We speculate that the high velocity ratio of upper mantle is related to convective flow due to slab dehydration in the MTZ. The dehydration of the retained slab in the MTZ results in partial melting and upwelling of upper mantle materials. Such convective flow and their melting are closely related to the Cenozoic basalt eruption in the northern section of the Shaanxi–Shanxi rift system.

A mass of lithospheric shortening occurred beneath the Tibetan Plateau due to the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. The extrusion of the upper crust beneath the Tibetan Plateau has been widely accepted, but whether the lithospheric mantle escapes laterally by creep deformation or rigid-block extrusion remains unclear. Based on the Pn travel time data, the velocity structure of the uppermost mantle in eastern and southeastern Tibetan Plateau was obtained by using the interstation travel-time difference method. The results show an obviously high Pn velocity beneath the Sichuan Basin and Qaidam Basin, indicating that the areas are stable blocks. The high Pn velocity beneath the eastern Lhasa terrane may be related to the underplating of the Indian lithospheric plate to the north. The Qilian block located in the north of the Kunlun fault appears as a normal Pn velocity, which indicates a mean lithospheric mantle thickness. A significantly low Pn velocity with an average of ~7.8 km/s in eastern and southeastern Tibetan Plateau, including the eastern Songpan–Ganzi terrane, the Chuan–Dian Diamond Block, and the northern part of Yunnan Province, indicates that the lithospheric mantle is relatively thin in these regions. Combined with other geologic and geophysical results, we propose that the lithospheric mantle of the plateau did not escape to eastern and southeastern Tibetan Plateau where the crust has been thickened by adding crustal material from the interior of the plateau.

Detailed information on deep structural features can improve current understanding of lithospheric thinning and destruction of the North China Craton. In this study, we analyzed receiver functions (RFs) from teleseismic P waveforms recorded by 246 seismic stations beneath the North China Craton (NCC) to determine the topography of the mantle transition zone (MTZ). The results reveal specific features in the 410 and 660 km discontinuities and outlined MTZ thickness beneath the study area. The MTZ structure shows two anomalously thickened regions beneath the NCC (up to 30–40 km thicker than the global average), which are mainly concentrated in the eastern and western sections of the eastern NCC (ENCC). The thickened regions are discontinuous and separated by a distance of about 400 km. Double 660 km discontinuities also appear in the southeastern ENCC. Combining these results with previous findings, we propose a model in which MTZ thickening is caused by discrete remnants of the subducted western Pacific slab. Discontinuities resulting from the stagnant slabs may retain evidence of changes in the rate of Pacific plate subduction as well as the phase transition of the subducted slabs within the MTZ.

A passive seismic experiment across the Longmenshan (LMS) fault belt had been conducted between August 2006 and July 2007 for the understanding of geodynamic process between the Eastern Tibet and Sichuan basin. We herein collected 3677 first P arrival times with high precision from seismograms of 288 teleseismic events so as to reconstruct the upper mantle velocity structure. Our results show that the depth of the Lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) changes from 70 km beneath Eastern Tibet to about 110 km beneath Longquanshan, Sichuan Basin, which is consistent with the receiver function imaging results. The very thin mantle part of the lithosphere beneath Eastern Tibet may suggest the lithosphere delamination due to strong interaction between the Tibetan eastward escaping flow and the rigid resisting Sichuan basin, which can be further supported by the existences of two high-velocity anomalies beneath LAB in our imaging result. We also find there are two related low-velocity anomalies beneath the LMS fault belt, which may indicate magmatic upwelling from lithosphere delamination and account for the origin of tremendous energy needed by the devastating Wenchuan earthquake.