VARIATIONS IN THE LgQ SEISMIC ATTENUATION IN TARIM BASIN,

TIBET AND BENGAL BASIN

Subhadeep Roy, Kajaljyoti Borah
Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute Of Science Education And Research- Kolkata, India

ABSTRACT DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS

Several studies have been made with respect to the structural and
physical characteristics of the upper mantle under the Tibet
region. The Indian crust collides with the Tarim basin at about
80°E and reaches the Bangong Nujiang Suture (BNS) belt
around 88°E. Currently, the collision between the Indian and
Eurasian plates to the southwest results in the upliftment of the
Tibetan plateau. The areas of active tectonics are known to have
LgQ values relatively higher than the areas of passive tectonics or
where there is a presence of craton. At the Bengal basin, previous
research based on the depth of Moho discontinuity shows us that
the crust is more likely to be continental in nature in the western
and middle parts of the basin and is significantly thinned in the
ST40
eastern and south-eastern parts. The variation of LgQ has been
studied for the central and southern Tibet, Bengal basin and the
area around Tarim basin. By using the standard Two-Station
method, we have studied all available good quality
events keeping epicentral distance within 20°, maximum depth
of 100 km, Mb greater than 4.5 and Lg group wave velocity
between 2.5 km/s to 3.6 km/s, we calculate the interstation Q0 (1 ST01
Hz LgQ) and values, generate contour plots and perform LgQ
attenuation tomography to study the variations in the LgQ. Based
on the overall results obtained from these calculations, the Q0
values are observed to be lower in the Tarim basin and Bengal
basin but relatively higher (but low) near the central and southern
Tibet areas. The underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere and METHODOLOGY
presence of fluid-like materials in the upper crust might be one of
the causes of a relatively higher Lg attenuation being seen in Two-Station Method
these regions. The trend seen in the Bengal basin is that the LgQ R(f) = (Δi1/2 / Δj1/2) [Ai(f) / Aj(f)]
values increase as we move from northeast to southwest. Further, P(f) = (VLg / πΔi,j) ln(R(f)) = (f(1 – η) / Q0)
studies based on the LgQ attenuation tomography tells us about
the possible crustal type in the Bengal basin. The results obtained ln[(VLg / πΔi,j) ln(R(f))] = (1 – η) ln(f) - ln(Q0)
are found to be comparable with other parts of our areas of study. REFERENCES
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Figure showing (a)
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5, pp. 2561–2567, October 2011, doi:
LgQ Tomography 10.1785/0120100239

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are thankful to the Department of Earth Science, IISER-

Kolkata & DST INSPIRE for giving us the platform to showcase
our work. Also, very thankful to Dr. Kajaljyoti Borah for his
constant support, guidance and patience to help us through. Would
also like to acknowledge our lab mates for their constant support.