Crustal structure of Hubei Province of China from teleseismic receiver functions: Evidence for lower crust delamination

Western Hubei Province is at the southern end of the 3000-km-long north-south-oriented Xing'anling–Taihangshan–Wulingshan topographic step in China, which separates high-rising plateaus and mountain ranges in the west from low-elevation plains in the east. We calculated teleseismic P receiver functions of 32 permanent broadband seismic stations in Hubei Province and estimated crustal thicknesses under them using the H-κ method. We also obtained detailed crustal structural images along three profiles using the CCP stacking method. The results show an east-west crustal thickness increase in the study area from 30–35km to 45–50km in less than 20km of horizontal distance, most likely in a step-wise fashion. The thin crust beneath the Nanxiang and Jianghan basins in eastern Hubei extends into the interior of the Wuling Uplift and the Huangling Massif in western Hubei. The lack of mirror symmetry between the Moho and surface topography suggests that part of the mountain ranges in western Hubei is either compensated by non-Airy-type isostasy models or is not in isostatic equilibrium but supported by the strength of the lithosphere. The brittle or localized ductile deformation in the lower crust/uppermost mantle as indicated by the abrupt Moho steps seems to be decoupled with brittle deformation in the upper crust. The CCP images also reveal an apparent double Moho beneath the Wudang Mts. which is interpreted to be due to a partially eclogitized lower crust after the original cratonic mantle lithosphere was replaced by warm and hydrated mantle materials in eastern China in the Late Mesozoic. The Moho steps were formed when a segment of eclogitized lower crust became gravitationally unstable and foundered into the mantle. •We estimated crustal thickness variation in Hubei, China using H-κ and CCP methods.•We found step-wise crustal thickness increases from 30–35km to 45–55km in the area.•The thin crust in eastern Hubei extends into the interior of mountains in western Hubei.•A double Moho was found beneath the Wudang Mts.•The results suggest eclogitization and foundering of the lower crust.