PRESENT-DAY KINEMATICS OF THE ORDOS BLOCK AND ITS SURROUNDING AREAS FROM GPS OBSERVATIONS |
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| Authors: | LI Zhang-jun CHAI Xu-chao GAN Wei-jun HAO Ming WANG Qing-liang ZHUANG Wen-quan YANG Fan |
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| Institution: | 1)Second Monitoring and Application Center, China Earthquake Administration, Xi'an 710054, China;2)Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100029, China |
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| Abstract: | Located among the South China block, Tibetan plateau, Alxa block and Yinshan orogenic belt, the Ordos block is famous for its significant kinematic features with stable tectonics of its interior but frequent large earthquakes surrounding it. After the destruction of the North China Craton, the integrity, rotation movement and kinematic relations with its margins are hotly debated. With the accumulation of active tectonics data, and paleomagnetic and GPS observations, some kinematic models have emerged to describe rotation movement of the Ordos block since the 1970's, including clockwise rotation, anticlockwise rotation, clockwise-anticlockwise-alternate rotation, and sub-block rotation, etc. All of these models are not enough to reflect the whole movement of the Ordos block, because the data used are limited to local areas.
In this study, based on denser geophysical observations, such as GPS and SKS splitting data, we analyzed present-day crustal and mantle deformation characteristics in the Ordos block and its surrounding areas. GPS baselines, strain rates, and strain time series are calculated to describe the intrablock deformation and kinematic relationship between Ordos block and its margins. SKS observations are used to study the kinematic relationship between crust and deeper mantle and their dynamic mechanisms, combined with the absolute plate motion(APM)and kinematic vorticity parameters. Our results show that the Ordos block behaves rigidly and rotates anticlockwise relative to the stable Eurasia plate(Euler pole: (50.942±1.935)°N, (115.692±0.303)°E, (0.195±0.006)°/Ma). The block interior sees a weak deformation of~5 nano/a and a velocity difference of smaller than 2mm/a, which can be totally covered by the uncertainties of GPS data. Therefore, the Ordos block is moving as a whole without clear differential movement under the effective range of resolution of the available GPS datasets. Its western and eastern margins are characterized by two strong right-lateral shearing belts, where 0.2°~0.4°/Ma of rotation is measured by the GPS baseline pairs. However, its northern and southern margins are weakly deformed with left-lateral shearing, where only 0.1°/Ma of rotation is measured. Kinematics in the northeastern Tibetan plateau and western margin of the Ordos block can be described with vertical coherence model with strong coupling between the crust and deeper mantle induced by the strong extrusion of the Tibetan plateau. The consistency between SKS fast wave direction and absolute plate motion suggests the existence of mantle flow along the Qinling orogenic belt, which may extend to the interior of the Ordos block. SKS fast wave directions are consistent with the direction of the asthenosphere flow in Shanxi Rift and Taihang Mountains, indicating that the crustal deformation of these areas is controlled by subduction of the Pacific plate to North China. The week anisotropy on SKS in the interior of Ordos block is from fossil anisotropy in the craton interior. After comparing with the absolute plate motion direction and deformation model, we deem that anisotropy in the interior of Ordos block comes from anisotropy of fossils frozen in the lithosphere. In conclusion, the Ordos block is rotating anticlockwise relative to its margins, which may comes from positive movement of its margins driven by lithospheric extrusion or mantle flow beneath, and its self-rotation is slight. This study can provide useful information for discussion of kinematics between the Ordos block and its surrounding tectonic units. |
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| Keywords: | Ordos block micro-dynamic block movement strain time series SKS shear wave splitting |
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