Seismically imaged lithospheric delamination and its controls on the Mesozoic Magmatic Province in South China.

Abstract in brief

• The study uses a new seismic imaging method to identify high-velocity anomalies in the asthenosphere beneath South China, which are interpreted as remnants of partially detached and destabilized lower lithosphere that originally delaminated around 180-170 million years ago.
• These anomalies are weakly connected to the stable Yangtze lithosphere and have likely relaminated after warming in the mantle, suggesting a dynamic process of lithospheric modification rather than complete removal.
• The research concludes that lithospheric delamination played a key role in creating the Mesozoic Magmatic Province in South China by causing mantle upwelling, crustal extension, and extensive melting, which led to the region’s volcanic activity and basin formation.]