Direct structural evidence of Indian continental subduction beneath Myanmar.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32327668.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-15746-3 and PMC identifier 7181713.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Indian continental subduction can explain Cenozoic crustal deformation, magmatic activity and uplift of the Tibetan Plateau following the India-Asia collision. In the western Himalayan syntaxis and central Himalaya, subduction or underthrusting of the Indian Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate is well known from seismological studies. However, because information on the deep structure of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis is lacking, the nature of the Indian subduction slab beneath Myanmar and the related tectonic regime remain unclear. Here, we use receiver function common conversion point imaging from a densely spaced seismic array to detect direct structural evidence of present-day Indian continental subduction beneath Asia. The entire subducting Indian crust has an average crustal thickness of ~30 km, dips at an angle of ~19°, and extends to a depth of 100 km under central Myanmar. These results reveal a unique continental subduction regime as a result of Indian-Eurasian continental collision and lateral extrusion.