The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart
Abstract The first-order configuration of the Himalayan orogen is defined by northward motion of the Indian plate, whether directly underplating Tibetan crust or subducting beneath a mantle wedge. Here we used 3D S-wave receiver-functions from 462 seismic stations across southern Tibet and show orog...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02601-w |
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| author | Lin Liu Danian Shi Simon L. Klemperer |
| author_facet | Lin Liu Danian Shi Simon L. Klemperer |
| author_sort | Lin Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The first-order configuration of the Himalayan orogen is defined by northward motion of the Indian plate, whether directly underplating Tibetan crust or subducting beneath a mantle wedge. Here we used 3D S-wave receiver-functions from 462 seismic stations across southern Tibet and show orogen-perpendicular tearing of the Indian plate. West of 90°E, the southern limit of the Tibetan lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is at the Indian crustal front, ~100-km north of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture, implying underplating of intact Indian lithosphere beneath Tibet. Further east, Indian lithospheric mantle delaminates from Indian crust, likely by gravitationally-induced rollback, separated from Indian crust by a wedge of asthenosphere between Indian crust and Indian mantle lithosphere. Nascent Tibetan lithosphere and its subjacent thin asthenosphere continue to ~100 km south of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture. This contrast in lithospheric structures at 90–92°E (across the Yadong-Gulu and Cona-Sangri rifts), in agreement with helium isotopes and intermediate-depth earthquakes, suggests the subducting Indian plate is torn along the convergence direction. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-90d6576a1e2f4b18a102f6e84d8a5da1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-90d6576a1e2f4b18a102f6e84d8a5da12025-08-20T03:43:34ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-08-016111010.1038/s43247-025-02601-wThe Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apartLin Liu0Danian Shi1Simon L. Klemperer2Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Lab of Submarine Geosciences and Prospecting Techniques, MOE and College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of ChinaChinese Academy of Geological SciencesDepartment of Geophysics, Stanford UniversityAbstract The first-order configuration of the Himalayan orogen is defined by northward motion of the Indian plate, whether directly underplating Tibetan crust or subducting beneath a mantle wedge. Here we used 3D S-wave receiver-functions from 462 seismic stations across southern Tibet and show orogen-perpendicular tearing of the Indian plate. West of 90°E, the southern limit of the Tibetan lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is at the Indian crustal front, ~100-km north of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture, implying underplating of intact Indian lithosphere beneath Tibet. Further east, Indian lithospheric mantle delaminates from Indian crust, likely by gravitationally-induced rollback, separated from Indian crust by a wedge of asthenosphere between Indian crust and Indian mantle lithosphere. Nascent Tibetan lithosphere and its subjacent thin asthenosphere continue to ~100 km south of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture. This contrast in lithospheric structures at 90–92°E (across the Yadong-Gulu and Cona-Sangri rifts), in agreement with helium isotopes and intermediate-depth earthquakes, suggests the subducting Indian plate is torn along the convergence direction.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02601-w |
| spellingShingle | Lin Liu Danian Shi Simon L. Klemperer The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart |
| title_full | The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart |
| title_fullStr | The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart |
| title_short | The Indian Plate subducting below the Tibet Plateau is tearing apart |
| title_sort | indian plate subducting below the tibet plateau is tearing apart |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02601-w |
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