Uppermantle shear-wave splitting measurements in Mainland China: A review

Abstract Seismic anisotropy, as a ubiquitous feature in the Earth’s interior, could record the past lithospheric deformation and map directly mantle flow within our planet, and thus becomes a bridge to understand the interaction between the crust and subcrustal mantle or between different tectonic blocks. Plenty of high quality shear-wave splitting (SWS) measurements have been performed in Mainland China. In this paper, we compile these measurements, and then analyze their characteristics, estimate the contribution from the crust, lithospheric mantle and asthenosphere, and explore their mechanisms and tectonic/geodynamic implications.