Geodynamic processes of the continental deep subduction: Constraints from the fine crustal structure beneath the Pamir plateau.

The Pamir plateau, located north of the western syntaxis of the India-Eurasia collision system, is regarded as one of the most possible places of the ongoing continental deep subduction. Based on a N-S trending linear seismic array across the Pamir plateau, we use the methods of the harmonic analysis of receiver functions and the cubic spline interpolation of surface wave dispersions to coordinate their resolutions, and perform a joint inversion of these datasets to construct a 2-D S-wave velocity model of the crust and uppermost mantle there. A spatial configuration among the intermediate-depth seismicity, Moho topography, and low-velocity anomalies within the crust and upper mantle is revealed, which provides new seismological constraints on the geodynamic processes of the continental subduction. These results not only further confirm the deep subduction of the Asian continental lower crust beneath the Pamir plateau, but also indicate the importance of the metamorphic dehydration of the subducting continental crustal material in the genesis of the intermediate-depth seismicity and the crustal deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]