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Science 2 October 1998:
Vol. 282. no. 5386, pp. 74 - 76
DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5386.74
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Reports

Tomographic Evidence for Localized Lithospheric Shear Along the Altyn Tagh Fault

Gérard Wittlinger, Paul Tapponnier, Georges Poupinet, Jiang Mei, Shi Danian, Georges Herquel, Frédéric Masson

Seismic tomography across the Altyn Tagh fault, at the north edge of the Tibetan Plateau, reveals a low P-wave velocity anomaly below the fault down to 140 kilometers. This anomaly probably reflects strike-slip shear in the lithosphere. Slip-partitioning may also induce a wedge of crust from the Tarim Basin to plunge into the mantle.

G. Wittlinger, G. Herquel, F. Masson, Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Louis Pasteur, 5 rue R. Descartes 67084 Strasbourg, France. P. Tapponnier, Laboratoire de Tectonique, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 4 Place Jussieu, 75205 Paris, France. G. Poupinet, Laboratoire de Géophysique Interne et Tectonophysique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Joseph Fourier, Boite Postale 53, 38041 Grenoble, France. J. Mei and S. Danian, Institute of Mineral Deposits, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhuang Road, 100037 Beijing, China.

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