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Partial melting zones in the crust in southern Tibet from magnetotelluric results

Nature volume 319, pages 310–314 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

Magnetotelluric studies in southern Tibet along a north–south traverse, 200 km long, crossing the Yarlung–Zangbo suture zone near Lhasa, have enabled us to construct a two-dimensional model in which layers of anomalously high conductivity exist at depths shallower than 33 km. The electrical properties of these layers are different on the two sides of the suture zone. We show here that the most plausible explanation of the high conductivity is the existence of partial melting zones in the upper part rather than the lower part of a crust ˜70 km thick. This represents a powerful constraint for thermo-mechanical models of continental collisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Géophysique Appliquée et Structurale (LA 235), Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie, BP 40, 54501, Vandoeuvre Cedex, France

    Van Ngoc Pham, Danièle Boyer & Pierre Therme

  2. Bureau of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration, Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, Xi Si, Beijing, China

    Xue Cheng Yuan, Li Li & Guo Yuan Jin

Authors
  1. Van Ngoc Pham
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  2. Danièle Boyer
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  3. Pierre Therme
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  4. Xue Cheng Yuan
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  5. Li Li
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  6. Guo Yuan Jin
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Pham, V., Boyer, D., Therme, P. et al. Partial melting zones in the crust in southern Tibet from magnetotelluric results. Nature 319, 310–314 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/319310a0

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