A multiscale magma system beneath the Tengchong volcano in western Yunnan revealed by ambient noise tomography

Abstract

SUMMARY The western Yunnan is located in the SE Tibetan Plateau, and is characterized by the active Tengchong volcano (TCV), complex crust–mantle coupling and intense earthquakes. To elucidate tectonism in the western Yunnan, we construct a 3-D S-wave velocity model to 80 km depth via ambient noise tomography using dense seismic stations. Our model shows significant low-velocity anomalies at different depths in the crust and uppermost mantle. Compared with the results of previous regional tomography, we image low-velocity anomalies consistent with a large-scale source of partial melts in the uppermost mantle beneath the Tengchong and Baoshan blocks, rather than just below the Tengchong block. Our results also reveal a magma chamber extending from the shallow subsurface to the lower crust beneath the TCV, which is fed by the mantle source. Based on these findings, we propose that the mantle source and crustal magma chamber form a multiscale magma system. Moreover, the mantle source is potentially resulted from asthenospheric upwelling, which is related to the subduction of the Indian slab. In addition, our model shows that the 1976 M7.4 and M7.3 Longling earthquakes occurred near a magma chamber. Thus, fluids from the magma chamber likely reduced the frictional coefficient on the seismogenic fault and caused the Longling earthquakes.