Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The 12 May 2008 the Sichuan earthquake was one of the worst natural disasters in China. Here, we present a detailed picture of the epicentral area inferred geophysical data. Based on the analysis of teleseismic data acquired by a dense seismic network, we highlight an abrupt 20 km Moho offset between the Sichuan Basin and the Tibetan plateau and a horizontal discontinuity at similar to 15 km depth, which may connect with the ruptured zone of the 2008 event. We obtain low mean crustal velocity ratios, which suggest the absence of a thick and extensive zone of partial melt within the crust beneath the eastern part of the Songpan-Garze Terrane. All our data support the idea that the Longmen Shan range mark a zone of active strain localization due to the rigid Yangtze craton resisting eastward displacement of the Tibetan Plateau.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00534471
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00534471
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2009.11.010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Lambert Academic Publishing
Résumé : The Himalaya-Tibet system is considered as the classical case of continental collision. Nonetheless, some fundamental questions concerning its structure, as well as physical processes influencing its evolution are still pending. This book presents several advances in the subject matter. Based on new high-resolution geophysical data from the field, combined with robust imaging techniques, the structure of the collision is revealed in detail: the underplating of India beneath half of Tibet, as well as the geometry of the surface along which this happens. Various numerical modelling techniques allow to discuss physical processes at work in the collision zone, such as the rheology of the India plate whose strong mantle supports the Himalayas, or the metamorphic reactions at depth emphasizing the role of water. We recommend this book to Earth Scientists in a broader sense. While specialists in seismology or modelling can thumb technical details, all Readers can get an interdisciplinary overview of mountain building in the Himalayas, with a retrospective outlook on early day explorers and the dawn of some classical geological principles.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854592

ISBN : 978-3838323534
hal-00854592
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854592

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : During the 2003 summer monsoon, the Hi-CLIMB seismological stations deployed across the Himalayan Range detected bursts of high-frequency seismic noise that lasted several hours to days. On the basis of the cross correlation of seismic envelopes recorded at 11 stations, we show that the largest transient event on 15 August was located nearby a village partially destroyed on that day by a devastating debris flow. This consistency in both space and time suggests that high-frequency seismic noise analysis can be used to monitor debris flow generation as well as the evacuation of the sediment. A systematic study of one year of seismic noise, focusing on the detection of similar events, provides information on the spatial and temporal occurrence of mass movements at the front of the Himalayas. With a 50% probability of occurrence of a daily event, a total of 46 debris flows are seismically detected. Most of them were generated in regions of steep slopes, large gullies, and loose soils during the 2003 summer monsoon storms. These events are compared to local meteorological data to determine rainfall thresholds for slope failures, including the cumulative rainfall needed to bring the soil moisture content to failure capacity. The inferred thresholds are consistent with previous estimates deduced from soil studies as well as sediment supply investigations in the area. These results point out the potential of using seismic noise as a dedicated tool for monitoring the spatiotemporal occurrence of landslides and debris flows on a regional scale.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00464177
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00464177
DOI : 10.1029/2008JF001198

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Longmen Shan (Sichuan, China) is characterised by an unusual morphology which results from a Triassic prism tectonics and a more recent Neogene thick-skin thrusting. Among its specific features is the high elevation of the internal zones in continuity with the Songpan Garze fold-and-thrust belt (SG), which is associated with an abrupt 20 km Moho offset between the Sichuan Basin and the Tibetan plateau as revealed by the analysis of teleseismic data acquired by a dense seismic network. The jump in crustal thickness is located at the apex of the Wenchuan shear zone (WSZ) and marks the western boundary of the metamorphosed units of SG characterized by temperatures varying from 590 degrees C down to 300 degrees C as commonly observed in mature accretionary wedges. Both the structural style marked by intense shortening in tight kink folds and geophysical data suggest the presence of an horizontal discontinuity at similar to 15 km depth over a thick crust (similar to 63 km).;The Longmen Shan east of the WSZ is characterized by thick-skin detachment which thrusts the internal sedimentary units and the Proterozoic basement over the series of the Sichuan Basin deposited on a thinner crust of similar to 44 km thick. The major front is the Beichuan Fault Zone (BFZ) which brought the internal zones onto Triassic and Jurassic series with lower temperatures (less than 400 degrees C). Locally, temperatures of similar to 425 degrees C are found just below the klippes.;These results are in agreement with an original contact of the SG zone represented by an accretionary wedge of sediments thrusted over the margin of the continental crust of the Yangtze craton in the early stage (Indosinian) of the evolution. The present-day slow E-W component of the convergence, added to the difference in crustal thickness caused the Yangtze crust to indent the Songpan Tibetan crust which was softened by a high thermal regime. As a response the edge of the Tibet crust was inflated to the bottom (up to 70 km), whereas to the top, the crystalline massif were exhumed and pushed the deformation eastward as emerging and blind thrusts. This configuration reflects a moderate shortening of the crust which behaves as a soft thick material abutting the resistant and cold Yangtze crust.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00534849
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00534849
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2010.03.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Himalayan Association Advance Science
Résumé : The Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau are considered as the classical case of continental collision.
ISSN: 1727-5210

hal-00854401
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854401
DOI : 10.3126/hjs.v5i7.1267

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Our knowledge and understanding of the 3-D lithospheric structure of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau is still challenging although numerous geophysical studies have been performed in the region. The GOCE satellite mission has the ambitious goal of mapping Earth's gravity field with unprecedented precision (i.e. an accuracy of 1-2 mGal for a spatial resolution of 100 km) to observe the lithosphere and upper-mantle structure. Consequently, it gives new insights in the lithospheric structure beneath the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Indeed, the GOCE gravity data now allow us to develop a new strategy for joint gravimetry-seismology inversion. Combined with teleseismic data over a large region in a joint inversion scheme, they will lead to lithospheric velocity-density models constrained in two complementary ways. We apply this joint inversion scheme to the Hi-CLIMB (Himalayan-Tibetan Continental Lithosphere during Mountain Building) seismological network which was deployed in South Tibet and the Himalayas for a 3-yr period. The large size of the network, the high quality of the seismological data and the new GOCE gravity data set allow us to image the entire lithosphere of this active area in an innovative way. We image 3-D low velocity and density structures in the middle crust that fit the location of discontinuous low S-velocity zones revealed by receiver functions in previous geophysical studies. In the deeper parts of our velocity model we image a positive anomaly interpreted to be the heterogenous Indian lithosphere vertically descending beneath the centre of the Tibetan Plateau.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00858024
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00858024
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggs110

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : International audience
Low-velocity zones ('bright spots') imaged by the INDEPTH seismic experiment in southern Tibet are extensively interpreted as widespread partial melt within the crust, which has given a strong support for the channel flow model. These suggest that a continuous seismic low-velocity zone underlies Tibet on the large scale. Here we take advantage of the Hi-CLIMB seismic experiment which includes a dense south-north profile and a lateral 2D seismic network to assess the vertical and the horizontal extension of low-velocity zones in southern Tibet. Several approaches including migration, amplitude analysis and waveform inversion of receiver functions are performed to detect crustal low-velocity zones using this new seismological dataset. Our results reveal localized and discontinuous low-velocity zones in Tibet. They indicate that the vertical extension of the low-velocity zones is about 10 km, and their maximum horizontal length appears to be c. 50 km. Our study suggests a partial correlation between the location of these low-velocity zones and the spatial distribution of Tibetan grabens. These results, especially the non-continuity of low-velocity zones, together with the observed regular value of mean crustal VP/VS ratio, question the existence of widespread partial melt of the southern Tibetan crust and, therefore, the viability of the channel flow model.
Growth and Collapse of the Tibetan Plateau

hal-00853971
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853971
DOI : 10.1144/SP353.6

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Analysis of continuous seismic data recorded by a dense passive seismological network (Hi-CLIMB) installed across the Himalayas reveals strong spatial and temporal variations in the ambient seismic energy produced at high frequencies (>1 Hz). From June to September 2003, the high-frequency seismic noise is observed to increase up to 20 dB (relative to (m/s)(2)/Hz) for all the stations located along a steep 30-km-long narrow and deeply incised channel of the Trisuli River, a major trans-Himalayan river. The early summer increase in high-frequency energy is modulated by a 24-h periodicity where the minimum of seismic noise level is reached around noon and the maximum is reached late in the evening. A detailed study of seismic noise amplitude reveals a clear correlation with both regional meteorological and hydrological data along the Trisuli River. Seasonal increase in ambient noise coincides with the strong monsoon rainfall and a period of rapid melting of snow and ice in the high elevations. The observed 24-h cyclicity is consistent with the daily fluctuation of the precipitation and river discharge in the region. River-induced seismic noise is partly generated by stream turbulence, but this mechanism fails to explain the observed clockwise hysteresis of seismic noise amplitude versus water level. This pattern is better explained if a significant part of the observed seismic noise is caused by ground vibrations generated by bed load transport. This points out the potential of using background seismic noise to quantify in continuous river bed load and monitor its spatial variations, which remain difficult with classical approaches.
ISSN: 2169-9313

hal-00412170
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412170
DOI : 10.1029/2007JB005034