Seismic Imaging of the Downwelling Indian Lithosphere Beneath Central Tibet

A tomographic image of the upper mantle beneath central Tibet from INDEPTH data has revealed a subvertical high-velocity zone from ∼100- to ∼400-kilometers depth, located approximately south of the Bangong-Nujiang Suture. We interpret this zone to be downwelling Indian mantle lithosphere. This additional lithosphere would account for the total amount of shortening in the Himalayas and Tibet. A consequence of this downwelling would be a deficit of asthenosphere, which should be balanced by an upwelling counterflow, and thus could explain the presence of warm mantle beneath north-central Tibet.