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In order to investigate the small-scale scattering heterogeneities underneath the northern Tien Shan, we analyze the P wavefield from teleseismic events. By using the teleseismic fluctuation method, we separate the total wavefield into coherent and fluctuating parts in the frequency band of 0.1–8.0 Hz. Subsequently, we investigate the scattering characteristics by analyzing the frequency-dependent intensities of the coherent and fluctuating wavefield between 0.3 and 2.5 Hz. We further constrain the velocity perturbations and correlation lengths by modeling the P-wave coda envelope with the Monte Carlo simulation. Strong scattering heterogeneities are revealed beneath the northern Tien Shan. The preferred scattering model can be described as a ~ 55- to 130-km-thick randomly heterogeneous layer with velocity perturbations of 6–9% and correlation lengths on the order of 0.4 km. We attribute these small-scale scatterers to isolated melt pockets from the upwelling hot mantle materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]