Lower-crust S-wave velocity beneath western Yunnan Province from waveform inversion of dense seismic observations

We use teleseismic body waveforms to explore S-wave layered velocity structures beneath 30 portable digital seismic stations deployed around western Yunnan Province. Results show that the Moho depth in this region is similar to 40 km and decreases in general from north to south, consistent with previous geophysical studies. Associated with this lateral variation of the Moho depth, the lower crust above the Moho discontinuity has a 15-25 km thick zone with an S-wave velocity lower than that of the upper crust. This lower velocity zone might be interpreted as a lower crust weak channel, which may mechanically partially decouple the upper-crust deformation from the underlying mantle. Thus, the inverted S-wave velocity structure could provide new evidence for the lateral flow of lower crust in the build-up of the south-eastern Tibetan plateau.