Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 69 87

www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto

Crustal structure in Tengchong Volcano-Geothermal Area,

western Yunnan, China
Chun-Yong Wang a,*, Gang Huangfu b
a
Institute of Geophysics, China Seismological Bureau, Beijing 100081, China
b
Seismological Bureau of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650041, China
Received 14 August 2002; accepted 5 December 2003

Abstract

Based upon the deep seismic sounding profiles carried out in the Tengchong Volcano-Geothermal Area (TVGA), western
Yunnan Province of China, a 2-D crustal P velocity structure is obtained by use of finite-difference inversion and forward travel-
time fitting method. The crustal model shows that a low-velocity anomaly zone exists in the upper crust, which is related to
geothermal activity. Two faults, the Longling Ruili Fault and Tengchong Fault, on the profile extend from surface to the lower
crust and the Tengchong Fault likely penetrates the Moho. Moreover, based on teleseismic receiver functions on a temporary
seismic network, S-wave velocity structures beneath the geothermal field show low S-wave velocity in the upper crust. From
results of geophysical survey, the crust of TVGA is characterized by low P-wave and S-wave velocities, low resistivity, high
heat-flow value and low Q. The upper mantle P-wave velocity is also low. This suggests presence of magma in the crust derived
from the upper mantle. The low-velocity anomaly in upper crust may be related to the magma differentiation. The Tengchong
volcanic area is located on the northeast edge of the Indian Eurasian plate collision zone, away from the eastern boundary of
the Indian plate by about 450 km. Based on the results of this paper and related studies, the Tengchong volcanoes can be
classified as plate boundary volcanoes.
D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tengchong Volcanic-Geothermal Area; Crustal structure; Deep seismic sounding; Finite difference travel time inversion, receiver
function

1. Introduction and crustal earthquakes are common. In the last 20

The Tengchong Volcanic-Geothermal Area
(TVGA) in western Yunnan province of China is
located on the northeast edge of the collision zone
between the Indian and Eurasian plates (Fig. 1). In this
area, the Quaternary volcanoes, geothermal activity
* Corresponding author. Fax: +86-10-68415372.
E-mail address: wangcy@cdsn.org.cn (C.-Y. Wang).
years, many geological, geophysical, geochemical,
and geodetic investigations of this volcanic-geother-
mal area have been conducted (e.g. Jiang, 1985; Liu
and Tong, 1986; Mu et al., 1987; Tong and Zhang,
1989; Kan and Zhao, 1994; Bai et al., 1994; Han et
al., 1996). Since 1929, seismic stations have recorded
41 earthquakes with magnitudes >5 occurred in
Tengchong and nearby area (Jiang, 1998). Micro-
shocks observation shows that most micro-shocks
occurred around the geothermal area and the seismic

0040-1951/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2003.12.001
70 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987

Fig. 1. Regional tectonic map of Tengchong and adjacent areas of Burma. (I) India plate; (II) Gandise Nianqing Tanggula fold system; (III)
Burma central lowlands; (IV) Tibet Yunnan fold system; (IV1) Gaoligong fold belt; (V) Indochina fold system; (VI) Yangtze platform; (VII)
Songpan Garze fold system. (F1) Yarlung Zang Bo suture; (F2) Kohima suture; (F3) Naga Hills Aragan Yoma eastern margin fault; (F4) Mali
Hka Mandalay Suture; (F5) Ruili Mandalay fault; (F6) Nujiang Suture; (F7) Jinshanjiang Red River fault; TC, Tengchong AA is the
location of a cross section in Figs. 13 and 14. Recent volcanic rocks in Tengchong and Burma are shown as dark patches. The Tengchong area is
within the box (see Fig. 2).

energy releases by way of clusters (Liu and Tong,
1986). The earthquake foci distribution from ISC
shows that there is an eastward-dipping zone beneath
Burma (Verma et al., 1980; Zhang and Zang, 1986).
Chemical and isotopic data show that the main series
(most voluminous) lavas were derived by partial
melting of a metasomatized and heterogeneous mantle
source, with crustal and possibly seawater compo-
nents probably related to prior subduction beneath
Asia (Zhu et al., 1983). The content of Rb and Sr and
other geochemical data suggest that these volcanic
rocks belong to the high-K calc-alkaline series of
magma formed in the collision zone (Mu et al.,
1987). The Tengchong Cenozoic volcanic activity
shows the geochemical feature of island-arc or active
continental margin (Cong et al., 1994).
Deep seismic sounding (DSS) method is an effi-
cient technique to explore crustal structure. It has been
used to determine crustal structure beneath other
volcanic areas, such as, the Yellowstone area (Benz
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987 71

and Smith, 1984), Mont Dore volcano of France
(Nercessian et al., 1984), and Temez Mountains
volcanic field of the United States (Ankeny et al.,
1986). Although some profiles were conducted in
western Yunnan (e.g. Kan et al., 1986), the crustal
and upper mantle structure of the TVGA is still not
well understood, because these profiles were located
in other geological units east of the Nujiang suture and
away from the Tengchong area by 50 km or more. In
order to understand the deep environment and condi-
tion of the Tengchong volcanic-geothermal activity, a
project including the DSS profiling and temporary
passive seismic observations were carried out in 1999.
In this paper, we present velocity structure of crust
and upper mantle in the TVGA and discuss possible
causes of the hydrothermal activity and associated
volcanic eruptions.
2. Geologic setting of TVGA
Burma and its surrounding regions are located in
the transition zone between the main Himalayan
collision belt and the Indonesia arc, where the Indian

Fig. 2. Local geologic setting in TVGA and location of the DSS profiles, (a) Nujiang suture; (b) Longling Ruili fault; (c) Longchuanjiang fault;
(d) Gudong Tengchong fault (i.e. Tengchong Fault in text); (e) Dayingjiang fault; ZZ, GD, TT, DJ, MY, XC, and ZS mark the shot points listed
in Table 1. The Q values in Tengchong and nearby area are shown in the ellipses.
72 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987

Table 1
Locations of shot points
Shot point Name Latitude N Longitude E Elevation (m) Charge (kg)
ZS Zhongshan 24j05V.2 98j35V.6 590 1500
TT Tuantian 24j42V.0 98j39V.9 1290 1000
GD Gudiong 25j18V.4 98j30V.4 1580 1000
ZZ Zizhi 25j42V.1 98j33V.9 2030 1500
XC Xincheng 24j46V.9 98j05V.4 920 800
DJ Daojie 25j02V.5 98j50V.9 470 1000
MY Mengyang 24j35V.6 98j19V.0 870 1000

plate is subducting under the Asia at present. There
are three major structural units related to the late
Cenozoic tectonics of this area: from west to east,
the Indoburman ranges (Naga Hills, Arakan Yoma),
the Burman central lowlands, and the Tibet Yunnan
fold system (Fig. 1). The lowlands are divided into a
western and an eastern trough by a north south
trending cluster of volcanic rocks. Volcanic activity
in this cluster began with intermittent bursts in the
late Oligocene to early Miocene, apparently peaked
in the Pliocene, and ceased in the Quaternary
(Rodolfo, 1969). The Sagains fault (the southern
segment of Mali Hka Mandalay suture in Fig. 1)
accommodates most of the right-lateral slip of India
past Indochina, but Indias northward movement also
causes internal deformation within Burma, Yunnan
and Indochina (Le Dain et al., 1984). In the south-
west of Tengchong, the volcanic clusters in the
Wuntho Mandalay area are distributed along a
NNE trend.
The TVGA is located at the Gaoligong fold belt of
the Tibet Yunnan fold system. In this area and its
surrounding region, there are several fault zones, such
as the Nujiang suture zone, Longling Ruili fault zone
and Mali Hka Mandalay suture zone (Figs. 1 and 2).
The NS-trending Nujiang suture zone shows an over-
thrusting behavior. The mylonite distributed along the
fault zone indicates that the fault was a ductile shear
zone at depth, and was then uplifted to the surface by
thrusting. The NE-trending Longling Ruili fault zone
is a right-lateral wrench fault zone. The Mali Hka
Mandalay suture zone is the eastern boundary of
Burma central lowlands.
Acidic intrusive rocks are distributed widely in the
Gaoligong fold belt. The Variscan Indosinian granite
is distributed along the Gaoligong Range and Yan-
shanian and Himalayan granite to the north of Teng-
chong town (TC). From the Miocene to Quaternary,
the strong eruptions of intermediate-basic magma had
occurred around the Tengchong area, where thick lava
and pyroclastics have been accumulated (Yunnan
Geology and Mineral Resources Bureau, 1990).
Based on a geological investigation of 68 Cenozoic
volcanic clusters in the Tengchong area (24j40V
25j30VN, 98j15V 98j40VE), the volcanic clusters
constitute seven volcanic swarms or chains. The
Tengchong volcanoes show multi-phase activity from
the Miocene to Quaternary (Jiang, 1998). In the last
erupting phase (Quaternary), the volcanoes have erup-
ted north and west of TC and 13 volcanic clusters

Fig. 3. Layout of the observation on main line.

 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987 73

have been formed, which are distributed as a NS-
trending string of beads.
3. Previous geophysical results
Two DSS experiments were successively carried
out in western Yunnan in 1982 and 1987. The main
features of the crustal and upper mantle structure are
as follows: (1) Average crustal velocity is low, about
6.25 km/s. (2) The Red River fault zone is a major
boundary of crustal structure. Low-velocity layer with
a thickness of about 10 km exists in the middle crust
of its northeast side. (3) The crust is thin in the
southeast of western Yunnan, but thick in the north-
west. (4) The Pn wave velocity is about 7.70 7.80

Fig. 4. (top) Trace-normalized low-pass-filter (10 Hz) vertical-component record section of shot ZS (with reduced velocity 6.0 km/s). The
dominant phases on the section are (1) Pm (reflection from Moho), and (2) P3 (reflection from the bottom of middle crust), which is weaker at a
distance of about 90 100 km. It may be related to the effect of Longling Ruili fault. The phase refracted just below the Moho (Pn) can be
recognized beyond 140 km, but not very clear. (bottom) Record section of shot TT, Pg is low apparent velocity and P1 is stronger on northern
branch.
74 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987

km/s (Kan et al., 1986; Hu et al., 1986; Lin et al.,
1993).
In the DSS experiments, there is a SW-trending
profile from the Yongbaoqiao (25j26V29U N,
99j20V23UE) to the Mangmian (24j30V57U N,
97j46V42UE), passing through the Tengchong area.
The analysis of the record section suggests that
besides the Nujiang suture, some faults (e.g. the
Tengchong fault) are shown on the profile (Lin et
al., 1993). But it is a one-shot profile. We have to
confirm the view by other profile data.
Based on the coda wave recorded in seismic
stations in Tengchong and nearby area, crustal Q
values were determined (Qin et al., 1998). The Q
value distribution is low in western Yunnan (Fig. 2),
where the lowest is 97 in TVGA.
In the magnetotelluric sounding study, high-con-
ductivity layers are found both in the crust and the

Fig. 5. (top) Record section of shot GD. The arrival time of Pg near shot point is delayed about 0.5 s compared to those of other shots. Pgs
apparent velocity in the southern branch is low. Pm is delayed about 0.5 s compared that of shot ZZ. (bottom) Record section of shot ZZ. Pgs
apparent velocity is quite low (5.60 5.65 km/s). The arrival time of Pm is delayed by about 0.4 s beyond 165 km.
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987 75

Fig. 6. Record sections of shots XC (left) and DJ (right) on auxiliary line.

Fig. 7. Off-line record section of shot MY. The section is recorded along main line. The abscissa is azimuth from shot point (unit: degree).
76 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987

upper mantle in TVGA. The crustal high-conductivity
layer is about 10 km in depth, 6 km thick and 6 to 8 V
m of resistivity. The top of the upper mantles high-
conductivity layer is about 64 km in depth and the
resistivity is 1 to 3 V m (Sun et al., 1989).
The Tengchong geothermal field is located in the
south of TC (Fig. 2). The terrestrial heat flow value is
88.8 to 118.0 mW/m2, and the geothermal gradient is
4.6 jC/100 m (Wu et al., 1988). The hydrothermal
activity is also strong. Geothermal prospecting shows
that 124 hot springs are distributed in Tengchong area,
where 9 hot springs have a temperature above 95 jC,
75 hot springs between 45 and 95 jC, and 43 hot
springs below 45 jC (Tong and Zhang, 1989).
4. Crustal velocity structure beneath the TVGA
4.1. Layout of the DSS profiles
The DSS project in the Tengchong area was con-
ducted in 1999, deploying a NS-trending main line

Fig. 8. (top) 2-D velocity structure of the upper crust along the main N S line derived from finite-difference travel time inversion of Pg arrivals
(Ammon and Vidale, 1993). (middle) Number of rays traveling through each block. (bottom) Checkerboard test using alternate 8  4 km blocks
with shift of F 0.15 km/s relative to the reference model for the top 8 km depth of the crust.
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987 77

and a nearly EW-trending auxiliary line (Fig. 2). The
main line is 179 km long, from Zhongshan, passing
by Luxi, Longling, Tuantian, Tengchong, Gudong,
and then to Zizhi, passing through several volcanic
clusters. It crosses the Tengchong and Dayingjiang
faults in the south and north of TC, respectively. The
auxiliary line is about 85 km long, begins in Xin-
cheng, passes through Tengchong, and ends at Daojie
near Nujiang River.
The DSS profiling included seven explosions (Ta-
ble 1), with four shots (ZZ, ZS, GD and TT) set on the
main line, two shots (XC, DJ) on an auxiliary line.
One shot (MY) is about 40 km west of the main line
(Fig. 2). Seismic energy was generated by underwater
explosion, with the exception of the shots at ZZ and
XC, which were borehole explosions. The explosions
were recorded by a total of 115 three-component
short-period seismographs, which are deployed along
the lines with on-line and off-line observations. The
seismic recorders were spaced about 2 km apart. The
observation system on the main line is characterized
by reverse and overlapped travel times (Fig. 3). The
record sections on the main line are analyzed and a 2-
D crustal velocity model is discussed in this paper.
4.2. General analysis of seismic phases
Seismic phases Pg and Pm (Moho reflection) can
be identified directly on the record sections. Pg is the
first arrival phase, the head wave or diving wave
propagating in the crystalline basement. The observed
distance of the Pg phase is from 20 to 100 km. The
apparent velocity of Pg increases with distance from
the shot point and becomes steady beyond a certain
distance. Pm is a reflected wave from the crust
mantle boundary with a strong amplitude at critical
distance of 80 to 100 km. Refracted wave of upper-
most mantle (Pn) can be identified as the first arrival
phase beyond f 150 km. Because the length of the
main line is about 180 km, Pn is only recorded from
the two end-point shots. Intracrustal reflected phases
shown on the record section of each shot are as
followed: P1reflected wave in the upper crust,
P2reflected wave in the middle crust, P3reflected
wave in the lower crust. In addition, P4 phase can be
traced from certain shots.
On the record section of shot ZS (Fig. 4, top), Pg
has a normal apparent velocity (5.95 6.05 km/s) in a
distance of 20 80 km as the first arrival phase. The
apparent velocity of first arrival phase is 6.10 6.25
km/s in a distance of 100 160 km, corresponding
with several reflected phases in the upper and middle
crust, respectively. P3 is clear and continuous in a
distance of 40 160 km, while its energy is weaker in
a distance of about 90 100 km. The average crustal
velocity calculated with the travel times of Pm is 6.35
km/s. Pn is clear beyond 160 km, with an apparent
velocity of 7.85 km/s. But Pn can only be traced in a

Fig. 9. Final 2-D crustal structure on main line in TVGA (left), and comparison with iasp91 model (right). The velocity of upper crust (0 7 km)
on main line is determined from Pg using the finite difference inversion of Ammon and Vidale (1993). The interfaces were determined by the
arrival times of the reflections P1, P2, P3, P4 and Pm. The TVGA is located between TT and TC. There is a local variation of Moho depth
beneath TC, which is inferred from the record sections of shots ZZ, GD and ZS.
78 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987

short distance, so there is a large uncertainty for its
apparent velocity.
On the record section of shot TT (Fig. 4, bottom),
the apparent velocity of Pg in southern branch is 6.15
km/s and is low (5.80 5.85 km/s) in northern branch
in a distance of 20 80 km. P2 and P3 are clear and
can be continuously traced in distances of 50 110 and
65 115 km, respectively. Pm in northern branch can
be traced from 80 to 117 km. In addition, the
horizontal components of the seismic records from
TT were used to determine the shear wave velocity.
The apparent velocity of Sg in northern branch is
3.40 3.50 km/s (Fig. 11b).
On the record section of shot GD (Fig. 5, top), the
travel time of Pg near the shot point is delayed by
about 0.5 s compared to those of other shots. In the

Fig. 10. Based on 2-D crustal structure shown in Fig. 9, ray tracing (bottom), calculated travel times overlaid on the observed seismograms
(middle) and 2-D synthetic seismograms (top) for shot ZZ on main line. (a) Modeling of shot ZS. (b) Modeling of shot ZZ. The synthetic
amplitudes of some phases are stronger than observed data because seismic attenuation has been neglected.
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987 79

Fig. 10 (continued).

southern branch, Pgs apparent velocity is low (5.75
5.80 km/s) in a distance of 20 80 km and changes
obviously at a distance of 35 40 km. Pgs apparent
velocity in the northern branch is 5.92 km/s. P1, P2,
and P3 are clear on the section and can be continu-
ously traced at distances of 45 90, 70 130, and 90
130 km, respectively. Pm in the southern branch can
be traced from 75 to 130 km.
On the record section of shot ZZ (Fig. 5, bottom), a
low Pg apparent velocity (5.60 5.65 km/s) within a
distance of 100 km may be related to a southward
dipping of the basement. P1s amplitude is larger than
Pg in a distance of 50 80 km, and the energy of P2 is
relatively small. P3 is clear and can be continuously
traced at a distance of 80 160 km. P4 can be traced at
a distance 100 160 km. Pm is continued from 85 to
180 km. Pm at a distance of about 110 km is early by
about 0.5 s compared to that of shot GD (Fig. 4).
Moreover, Pm is delayed beyond 165 km. The aver-
age crustal velocity calculated with Pm is 6.45 km/s.
80 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987
Pn is the first arrival phase beyond 160 km, with an
apparent velocity of about 7.90 km/s.
In addition, the record sections of shots ZS, TT, GD
and ZZ show that the travel time and/or amplitude of
some reflection phases have distinct lateral variations
along the main line. For instance, amplitude of phase
P1 of shot TT (north branch) and of shot GD (south
branch) is stronger than other record sections. The
delay between P2 and P3 on the record section of shot
ZS is nearly same as of shot TT (south), but less than
of shot TT (north), shown in Fig. 4, and of shot ZZ.
The seismic records on the auxiliary line and off-
lines are used for reference in this paper. On the on-
line record section of shot XC (Fig. 6, left), Pg with
low apparent velocity (5.80 5.90 km/s) is continued
to a distance of 80 km. P1 is clear beyond 40 km, and
can be traced continuously, with larger amplitude in a
distance of 50 80 km than Pg. On the on-line record
section of shot DJ (Fig. 6, right), Pg has also a lower
apparent velocity (5.85 5.90 km/s) within the ob-
served scope. P1s amplitude is larger than Pg beyond
70 km. On the off-line record section on the main line
from shot MY (Fig. 7), the first phase (Pg) between
TC and TT is slightly delayed and its amplitude is
decreased because the seismic rays travel through the
geothermal field (Fig. 2).
4.3. Finite-difference travel time inversion
Pg can be interpreted as a turning wave (or diving
wave) in the upper crust. A method of finite-differ-
ence travel time inversion, presented by Vidale (1988)
and developed by Hole (1992), was used to model the
Pg travel-time data. In this paper, we utilize the
algorithm improved by Ammon and Vidale (1993).
We divide the upper crust under the profile into 5
km (horizontal)  2 km(vertical) rectangular block. To
maintain accuracy, a uniform, 1-km spacing grid was
used for the travel-time calculation of the first arrival.
A total of 313 travel times of the first arrival, collected
from four shots, were used in the inversion. The final
velocity model is obtained after five iterations. RMS
of travel time residual decreased from 0.38 to 0.17 s.
The convergence of the inversion is stable, and the
final models derived from several sets of initial
parameters are basically consistent.
Fig. 8 (Top) shows the final 2-D upper crustal
structure. The 2-D structure derived from the inver-
sion reveals that near the shots TT and GD, velocity is
relatively low near the surface, and the velocity
contour is concave. The crystalline basement is slight-
ly uplifted near GD, in agreement with the basement
contour analyzed previously. On the sector of TT
TC, the velocity contour is concave obviously, which
shows a feature of a low-velocity upper crust around
the Tengchong geothermal field. Moreover, it is
inferred from the pattern of velocity contours that
there are two faults located on the south of TC and TT,
respectively.
Fig. 8 (middle) shows the ray-path distribution
along the main line, following Hole (1992) and
Parsons et al. (1996). It is seen that ray penetration
depth reaches 10 km for most part except near the two
ends. Rays reach 13 km on the sector of TT TC.
Every block has more than 10 rays passing through at
these depths. In the meantime, the checkerboard test
was conducted for assessing model resolution on the
main line (Fig. 8, bottom), using alternate 8 km  4
km blocks with shift of F 0.15 km/s relative to a
reference model for the top 8 km depth of the crust.
The reference model is based on a preliminary 1-D
inversion. The results are similar to that of Lutter et al.
(1999), who illustrated the velocity residuals for the
LARSE model, and slightly different from that of Zelt
(1998), who elaborated the resolution from 3-D seis-
mic refraction data for the Faeroe Basin experiment.
In addition, a three-grid approach proposed by Kis-
sling et al. (2001) allows better assessment of solution
quality.
4.4. 2-D velocity structure on the main line
Our interpretation is based on the assumption that
the crust is layered and the velocity generally
increases with depth (Meissner, 1986). Based upon
phase identification and travel time correlations on the
record sections of four shots on the main line, we
determined a 2-D velocity structure of the profile
using the trial-error method. The travel times and
amplitudes of phases are calculated by use of the
ray tracing code SEIS83 (Cerveny and Psencik,
1984). All of the travel times are corrected to a
reference elevation of 1500 m. In the initial 2-D
crustal model built on the basis of phase identifica-
tion, the crust is divided into three parts: upper,
middle and lower crust. The upper crust extends from
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987
the surface to the P1 interface. The lower crust is from
the P3 interface to the Moho. We use the results of the
finite-difference travel time inversion of the Pg wave
in the previous section as the velocity distribution of
the upper crust, and use P1 to determine the thickness
of the upper crust (about 12 km). And then, phases
P2, P3 and Pn are used to determine the depths of
other interfaces and the average velocity of every
layer. Average depth of P2 interface is about 18 km;
P3 is 23 km; P4 (only exists in the sector of TC GD)
is about 28 km. Therefore, the middle crust can be
divided into two layers. In this study, the profile data
were used to determine the lateral variation of crust
and infer the existence of faults across the line.
Fig. 9 shows the final laterally inhomogeneous 2-D
crustal model with velocity contours, which is the
result of interactive forward modeling of seismic
travel times of later arriving phases. Relative ampli-
tudes between Pg and later phases are qualitatively
used to refine the velocity model in this paper.
Between TT and TC, the velocity of basement (5.8
km/s) is rather low compared with southern and
northern sectors of the line, and low-velocity anomaly
is down to depth of 10 km. The amplitude of the upper
crustal reflected phase (P1) is strong, which could be
the effect of the low-velocity anomaly. Beneath the
GD shot point, there exists a thicker sedimentary
layer, which is inferred from the Pgs arrival times
delayed on the record section.
The velocity of second and third layer is 6.15 6.20
and 6.25 6.40 km/s, respectively. The velocity of
upper crust to the south of Longling is higher than
to the north. Interface P3 to the north of Longling is
deeper than to the south in Fig. 9. This appearance is
related to the delay variation between P2 and P3
shown on the record sections of four shots. The
velocity of lower crust is 6.5 7.0 km/s, lower than
the velocity of 7.0 7.4 km/s in platforms and shields
(Holbrook et al., 1992). The average depth of the
Moho discontinuity is about 40 km, and it dips
northward slightly, from 37 km at south end to 41
km at north end, on the main line. The velocity of
uppermost mantle in TVGA is 7.8 7.9 km/s, lower
than the continental value of 8.0 F 0.1 km/s (Mooney
and Brocher, 1987).
Two faults, Longling Ruili fault and Tengchong
fault, were inferred in the model. Reflected phases (P1
and P2) are unclear near Longling on the record
81
section of shot ZS (Fig. 4, top), and the velocity of
upper crust to the north of Longling is different from to
the south. They may imply that the north and south of
Longling are in different tectonic units, and the Long-
ling Ruili fault is the boundary (Fig. 2). TC is located
at a velocity boundary between positive and negative
velocity anomalies in the upper crust. On the record
section of shot GD, Pgs apparent velocity changes
obviously at a distance of 35 40 km, close to TC. The
P4 interface is clear beneath TC GD sector and
unclear beneath TT TC sector. Pm observations on
the record sections GD and ZZ indicate that the Moho
south of TC is deeper than north of TC. All of these
imply that, beneath TC region, there may exist a fault
in upper crust, or even down to Moho, whose location
basically coincides with the Tengchong Fault on the
surface. It is also inferred based on the Yongbaoqiao
Mengmian profile shown in Fig. 2 (Lin et al., 1993).
To compare with the iasp91 earth model (Kennett
and Engdahl, 1991), based on the strong intracrustal
reflection P3 shown on the section of shot ZS, the
TVGA crust is re-divided into two parts: upper crust
and lower crust, and interface P3 is the boundary
between them. The upper crust in TVGA model is
complicated, and its average velocity and thickness
are, respectively, greater than the iasp91 model.
Moreover, the TVGA crust is thicker than iasp91.
The velocity of uppermost mantle in TVGA is less
than iasp91 model (Fig. 9).
The record sections of four shots on the main line
were modeled. Fig. 10a,b shows the modeling results
for the record sections of shots ZS and ZZ, respec-
tively. The calculated travel times are overlaid onto
the observed seismograms. The observed and calcu-
lated travel times are in reasonable agreement. How-
ever, the synthetic amplitudes of some reflected
Table 2
Parameters of teleseismic events
Date Epicenter Mag.
1999-03-20 (51j.74N, 177j.60W) Ms6.8
1999-04-08 (43j.61N, 130j.34E) Ms6.8
1999-05-06 (29j.57N, 51j.93E) Ms6.8
1999-05-08 (45j.54N, 151j.44E) Ms6.0
1999-05-10 (5j.50S, 151j.81E) Ms7.2
1999-05-12 (43j.11N, 143j.78E) Ms6.2
1999-05-14 (3j.10S, 129j.70E) M5.5
1999-05-16 (2j.69S, 138j.51E) Ms6.7
82 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987

Fig. 11. Receiver function and waveform fitting and S-wave velocity structure beneath the three stations, where solid line indicates the
predicted, and dots are the observed. (a) Locations of seismic stations; (b) Record section with Sg wave arrival (radial-component), plotted with
reduced velocity 3.50 km/s of shot TT (northern branch); (c) Reshuitang station; (d) Xiayiluo station; (e) Mazhan station.
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987 83

phases are stronger than observed data because seis-
mic attenuation has been neglected in this paper.
Scattering in the crust may also contribute to the
amplitude misfit between the calculated and observed
intracrustal phases.
5. Lithospheric structures beneath the TVGA
A temporary seismic network was installed in 1999
in the TVGA (Ye et al., 2000) which recorded tens of
teleseismic events. We utilized the receiver function
method (Owens et al., 1984) to obtain S wave velocity
structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath the
seismic stations. The reflectivity method (Kennett,
1993) and a rapid calculating technique (Randall,
1989) were used to calculate theoretical receiver
functions and differential seismograms. The maximal
entropy spectrum deconvolution method (Burg, 1972)
is used to calculate the teleseismic receiver function.
In the inversion, the crust and upper mantle beneath
the network is equally divided into thin layers of 2 km
thick. The empirical relations of P wave velocity a
and media density q with S wave velocity h are
defined by a = 1.73h and q = 0.32a + 0.77. Table 2
lists the events used in this paper.
Utilizing a priori information (apparent velocity of
Sg arrival shown in Fig. 11b and Moho depth in Fig.
9) from the DSS profiles, the inversions were con-
ducted on the digital records in three stations (Reshui-
tang, Xiayiluo and Mazhan) of the network (Fig. 11a).
Fig. 11c,d, and e shows the receiver functions, wave-
form fitting, and S wave velocity structures of crust
and upper mantle beneath the three stations. The
Reshuitang and Xiayiluo stations are located in the
Tengchong geothermal field where the temperature of
hot springs is above 95 jC. Their crustal structures are
similar (Fig. 11c,d). There is a broad low-velocity
layer in the upper crust (less than 20 km deep). The
velocity increases linearly with depth in the lower
crust. The Moho depth is about 40 km and the
velocity in the upper mantle changes only slightly
from the depth of 40 to 70 km, but these are still low-
velocity regions compared with the regional S-wave
velocity of 4.40 km/s (Chen et al., 1992; Teng et al.,
2001). The Mazhan station is located in about 20 km
north of TC. The velocity structure (Fig. 11e) is
certainly different from the Reshuitang and Xiayiluo
stations. Although there is a similar situation (low-
velocity anomaly) in the upper crust, its velocity is
higher than beneath the other two stations. The
velocity below the Moho discontinuity is also similar.
Ammon et al. (1990) discussed the non-uniqueness of
receiver function inversions. Owing to the application
of Sg apparent velocity from shot TT and Moho depth
along the main line, the non-uniqueness of the 1-D
models beneath TVGA was deducted.
Wang et al. (2003) used the seismic travel-time
inversion algorithm presented by Zhao (1991) and
determined a 3-D P-wave crustal and upper mantles
velocity structure in southwestern China, which
shows that, besides the upper crust, the upper mantle
has a low-velocity anomaly (Fig. 12). The crustal and
upper mantles P- and S-wave structures provided
another line of evidence of volcano-geothermal activ-
ity in the Tengchong area.

Fig. 12. Relative P-wave velocity perturbation (in percentage) on the cross section along ZZ ZS main N S line in this paper. The velocity
perturbation is from the 3-D crust and upper mantle structure in southwestern China (Wang et al., 2003), where the node interval in longitude is
0.5j for parameterization. Figure shows that both the upper crust and upper mantle has negative velocity anomaly, while the lower crust has
positive velocity anomaly.
84 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987

6. Discussion and conclusion
The DSS technique has been used to determine
crustal structure beneath other volcanic areas, such as
the Yellowstone area (Benz and Smith, 1984), Mont
Dore volcano of France (Nercessian et al., 1984),
and Temez Mountains volcanic field of the United
States (Ankeny et al., 1986). The common feature is
that the upper crust of an active volcanic and
geothermal area is correlated with low velocity ( P
wave velocity even reduces to 5.20 km/s in some
regions). Our results are similar to the studies in the
United States and elsewhere. Studies of geophysical
data and teleseismic data indicate that the crust in
TVGA is characterized by low P and S velocities,
low resistivity, high heat-flow value and low Q
value. All of these anomaly phenomena can normally
be related to the source of geothermal activity.
Moreover, it is inferred that a low-velocity anomaly
body is probably related to a magma chamber in
upper crust. The anomaly with a negative velocity
gradient in the upper crust can be correlated with
magma differentiation. The Tengchong fault could
possibly be a channel of the mantle magma, which
rises to crust. It is consistent with the studies of Mu
et al. (1987), Tong and Zhang (1989) and Bai et al.
(1994). Tong and Zhang (1989) further inferred that
the magma probably came from mantle at a depth of
about 200 km.
The Tengchong volcanic area is located on the
northeast edge of the Indian Eurasian plate collision
zone, away from the eastern boundary of the Indian
plate by about 450 km, and less than 120 km away
from the Mali Hka Mandalay suture (Fig. 1). There
is an eastward low-angle subduction zone along the
Naga Hills due to the modern suture zone on the
eastern boundary of the Indian plate. The spatial
distribution and focal mechanism of strong earth-
quakes occurring in Burma, Yunnan and Indochina
have been studied (Verma et al., 1980; Le Dain et
al., 1984; Biswas and Gupta, 1986; Zhang and Zang,
1986; Xu et al., 1987; Chen and Molnar, 1990;

Fig. 13. Projections of locations of earthquakes and fault plane solutions within 200 km of the 25jN latitude line onto line AA in Fig. 1 (after
Wang and Long, 1998). The focal locations were collected from ISC catalogue. The focal depth of 21 events is deeper than 70 km, and 8 events
with focal depth deeper than 120 km are all thrusts.
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987 85

Fig. 14. Sketch diagram illustrating the regional tectonics and deep environment of the Tengchong volcanic eruption. The cross section is
located on the line AA in Fig. 1. Based on the regional geological study (Jiang, 1998), the Tengchong block (Tibetan Yunnan fold system)
collided with the Eurasia plate along the Nujiang suture in Jurassic Cretaceous, and then the Burma micro-plate subducted beneath the
Tengchong block in Pliocene Miocene. The India plate has subducted into the Burma micro-plate in the Naga Hills Aragan Yoma suture since
Eocene.

Wang and Long, 1998). Fig. 13 shows the focal
mechanisms of 74 events within 200 km of the 25jN
latitude line. The focal depths of 21 events are
deeper than 70 km, and the largest depth is 180
km (Wang and Long, 1998). Among them, 8 events
with focal depths deeper than 120 km are all thrusts.
There is an eastward-dipping zone of earthquake foci
beneath Burma, but it does not extend as far east as
the Tengchong region. This is probably caused by
the high-temperature upper mantle beneath the Teng-
chong and Wuntho Mandalay areas, which has
melted the subducted slab, and the intermediate
earthquake could not occur under these conditions.
Fig. 14 shows a sketch of the regional tectonics and
deep environment of the Tengchong volcanic erup-
tion. As a consequence, both the Tengchong volca-
noes and Wuntho Mandalay volcanoes can be
classified into the plate-boundary volcanoes (Bullard,
1984).
Acknowledgements
This research is jointly supported by the State
Natural Sciences Foundation of China (49974020 and
40334041), the Climb Program 95-S-05-01 of Na-
tional Scientific and Technological Ministry of China,
and the key project 95-11-02 of China Seismological
Bureau. The fieldwork was conducted with the
assistance of the Geophysical Prospecting Center of
the China Seismological Bureau. The authors wish to
express their sincere thanks to those who helped. We
thank Lupei Zhu and W.D. Mooney for reviewing and
improving the early version of this paper and E.
Kissling and H. Kao for detailed and constructive
reviews of the manuscript.
References
Ammon, C.J., Vidale, J.E., 1993. Tomography without rays. Bull.
Seismol. Soc. Am. 83, 509 528.
Ammon, C.J., Randall, G.E., Zandt, G., 1990. On the non-unique-
ness of receiver function inversions. J. Geophys. Res. 95,
15303 15318.
Ankeny, L.A., Braile, L.W., Olsen, K.H., 1986. Upper crustal struc-
ture beneath the Jemez Mountains volcanic field, New Mexico,
determined by three-dimensional simultaneous inversion of
seismic refraction and earthquake data. J. Geophys. Res. 91,
6188 6198.
Bai, D.H., Liao, Z.J., Zhao, G.Z., 1994. Study on magmatic source
of Rehai-Retian in Tengchong from MT investigating results.
Chin. Sci. Bull. 39 (4), 344 347 (in Chinese).
Benz, H.M., Smith, R.B., 1984. Simultaneous inversion for lateral
velocity variations and hypocenters in the Yellowstone region
using earthquake and refraction data. J. Geophys. Res. 89,
1208 1220.
Biswas, S., Gupta, A.D., 1986. Some observations on the mecha-
86 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987
nism of earthquakes in the Himalaya and Burmese Arc. Tecto-
nophysics 122, 325 343.
Bullard, F.M., 1984. Volcanoes of the Earth University of Texas
Press, Austin. 629 pp.
Burg, J.P., 1972. The relationship between maximum entropy spec-
tra and maximum likelihood spectra. Geophysics 37, 375 376.
Cerveny, V., Psencik, I., 1984. SEIS83-numerical modeling of seis-
mic wavefield in 2-D laterally varying layered structures by the
ray method. In: Engdahl, E.R. (Ed.), Documentation of Earth-
quake Algorithm. World Data Center A for Solid Earth Geo-
physics, NOAA, Boulder, CO, pp. 36 40. Rep. SE-35.
Chen, W.-P., Molnar, P., 1990. Source parameters of earthquakes
and intraplate deformation beneath the Shilong plateau and
the northern Indoburman ranges. J. Geophys. Res. 95,
12527 12552.
Chen, L.H., Song, Z.H., An, C.Q., Chen, G.Y., Zhaung, Z., Fu,
Z.W., Hu, J.F., Lu, Z.L., 1992. 3-D surface-wave structure
and anisotropy of crust and upper mantle in South North
Seismic Zone of China. Acta Geophys. Sin. 35, 574 583
(in Chinese).
Cong, B.L., Chen, Q.Y., Zhang, R.Y., Wu, G.Y., Xu, P., 1994.
Origin of Tengchong Cenozoic volcanic rocks in western
Yunnan, China. Sci. China, Ser. B Chem. Life Sci. Earth Sci.
24, 441 448 (in Chinese).
Han, X.M., Zhou, R.Q., Zhou, Z.H., 1996. Review on the study of
volcanic geology in Tengchong, Yunnan Province. Seismol.
Geomagn. Obs. Res. 17 (6), 20 30 (in Chinese).
Holbrook, W.S., Mooney, W.D., Christensen, N.I., 1992. The seis-
mic velocity of the deep continental crust. In: Fountain, D.M.,
Arculus, R., Kay, R.W. (Eds.), Continental Lower Crust. Else-
vier, New York, pp. 1 34.
Hole, J.A., 1992. Nonlinear high-resolution three-dimensional seis-
mic travel time tomography. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 6553 6562.
Hu, H.X., Lu, H.X., Wang, C.Y., He, Z.Q., 1986. Explosion seismic
study on crustal structure in western Yunnan. Acta Geophys.
Sin. 29 (2), 133 144 (in Chinese).
Jiang, C.S., 1985. Volcanoes and earthquakes in Tengchong Area,
Yunnan Province, China. J. Seismol. Res. 8 (1), 107 120.
Jiang, C.S., 1998. Distribution characteristics of Tengchong volca-
noes in the Cenozoic Era. J. Seismol. Res. 21 (4), 309 319 (in
Chinese).
Kan, R.J., Zhao, J.M., 1994. Crust mantle structure of Tengchong
volcanic area. In: Chen, Y.T., Kan, R.J., Teng, J.W., Wang, C.Y.
(Eds.), Advances in Solid Earth Geophysics in China. Oceanic
Press, Beijing, pp. 23 30 (in Chinese).
Kan, R., Hu, H., Zeng, R., Mooney, W., McEvilly, T., 1986. Crustal
structure of Yunnan Province, Peoples Republic of China, from
seismic refraction profiles. Science 234, 433 437.
Kennett, B.L.N., 1993. Seismic Wave Propagation in Stratified Me-
dia Cambridge Univ. Press, New York. 342 pp.
Kennett, B.L.N., Engdahl, E.R., 1991. Traveltimes for global earth-
quake location and phase identification. Geophys. J. Int. 105,
429 465.
Kissling, E., Husen, S., Haslinger, F., 2001. Model parameterization
in seismic tomography: a choice of consequence for the solution
quality. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 123, 89 101.
Le Dain, A.Y., Tapponnier, P., Molnar, P., 1984. Active faulting and
tectonics of Burma and surrounding regions. J. Geophys. Res.
89, 453 472.
Lin, Z.Y., Hu, H.X., Zhang, W.B., Zhang, H.F., He, Z.Q., Lin, Z.M.,
Qiu, T.X., 1993. Study on velocity structure characteristics of
crust upper mantle. Acta Seismol. Sin. 15, 427 440 (in
Chinese).
Liu, B.C., Tong, W., 1986. Micro-shock observation in Tengchong
volcanic-geothermal area. Acta Geophys. Sin. 29 (6), 547 555
(in Chinese).
Lutter, W.J., Fuis, G.S., Thurber, C.H., Murphy, J., 1999. Tomo-
graphic images of the upper crust from the Los Angles basin to
the Mojave Desert, California: results from the Los Angles Re-
gion Seismic Experiment. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 25543 25565.
Meissner, R., 1986. The Continental Crust: A Geophysical Ap-
proach Academic Press, San Diego, CA. 426 pp.
Mooney, W.D., Brocher, T.M., 1987. Coincident seismic reflection/
refraction studies of the continental lithosphere: a global review.
Rev. Geophys. 25, 723 742.
Mu, Z.G., Tong, W., Curtis, G.H., 1987. Timing of Tengchong
volcanic activities and related magmatic source. Acta Geophys.
Sin. 30 (3), 261 270 (in Chinese).
Nercessian, A., Hirn, A., Tarantola, A., 1984. Three-dimensional
seismic transmission prospecting of Mont Dore Volcano,
France. Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 76, 307 315.
Owens, T.J., Zandt, G., Taylor, S.R., 1984. Seismic evidence for an
ancient rift beneath the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee: a de-
tailed analysis of broadband teleseismic P waveforms. J. Geo-
phys. Res. 89, 7783 7795.
Parsons, T., McCarthy, J., Kohler, W.M., Ammon, C.J., Benz, H.M.,
Hole, J.A., Criley, E.E., 1996. Crustal structure of the Colorado
Plateau, Arizona: application of new long-offset seismic data
analysis techniques. J. Geophys. Res. 101, 11173 11194.
Qin, J.Z., Huangfu, G., Zhang, J.W., 1998. Characteristics of Q
values around Tengchong volcano and adjacent areas. J. Seis-
mol. Res. 21 (4), 358 361 (in Chinese).
Randall, G.E., 1989. Efficient calculation of differential seismo-
grams for lithospheric receiver functions. Geophys. J. Int. 99
(3), 469 481.
Rodolfo, S., 1969. Bathymetry and marine geology of the Andaman
Basin and tectonic implications for Southeast Asia. Geol. Soc.
Amer. Bull. 80, 1203 1230.
Sun, J., Xu, C.F., Jiang, Z., Shi, S.L., Wang, J.J., He, M., 1989. The
electrical structure of the crust and upper mantle in the west part
of Yunnan Province and its relation to tectonics. Seismol. Geol.
11 (1), 35 45 (in Chinese).
Teng, J.W., Zhang, Z.J., Hu, J.F., Wang, G.J., 2001. The Rayleigh
wave dispersion and three dimensional velocity structure in
continent and its margin of southeast China. Acta Geophys.
Sin. 40, 677 685 (in Chinese).
Tong, W., Zhang, M., 1989. Tengchong Geothermics Science Press,
Beijing. 262 pp (in Chinese).
Verma, R.K., Mukhopadhyay, M., Nag, A.K., 1980. Seismicity and
tectonics in South China and Burma. Tectonophysics 64, 85 96.
Vidale, J.E., 1988. Finite-difference traveltime calculation. Bull.
Seismol. Soc. Am. 78, 2062 2076.
Wang, S.J., Long, X.F., 1998. Source mechanism and distribution
characteristics of tectonic stress field in the area of Tengchong
 C.-Y. Wang, G. Huangfu / Tectonophysics 380 (2004) 6987
volcano and nearby. J. Seismol. Res. 21 (4), 349 357 (in
Chinese).
Wang, C.Y., Chan, W.W., Mooney, W.D., 2003. 3-D velocity struc-
ture of crust and upper mantle in southwestern China and its
tectonic implications. J. Geophys. Res. 108 (B9), 2442
(doi:10.1029/2002JB001973).
Wu, Q.F., Zu, J.H., Xie, Y.Z., 1988. Basic geothermal character-
istics in Yunnan Province. Seismol. Geol. 10 (4), 177 183 (in
Chinese).
Xu, Z.H., Wang, S.Y., Huang, Y.R., Gao, A.G., Jin, X.F., Chang,
X.D., 1987. Directions of mean stress axes in southwestern
China deduced from microearthquake data. Acta Geophys.
Sin. 30 (5), 476 486 (in Chinese).
Ye, J.Q., Cai, S.P., Chen, M.G., Cai, M.J., Liu, X.J., 2000. Obser-
vations of microseisms in Tengchong volcano areas. J. Seismol.
Res. 23 (2), 100 107 (in Chinese).
87
Yunnan Geology and Mineral Resources Bureau, 1990. Regional
Geology of Yunnan Province. Geological Publishing House,
Beijing, pp. 542 603 (in Chinese).
Zelt, C.A., 1998. Lateral velocity resolution from three-dimensional
seismic refraction data. Geophys. J. Int. 135, 1101 1112.
Zhang, J., Zang, S., 1986. Characteristics of earthquake distribution
and the mechanism of earthquakes in the boundary area between
Burma, India and China. Acta Seismol. Sin. 8, 240 253 (in
Chinese).
Zhao, D., 1991. A Tomographic Study of Seismic Velocity Structure
in the Japan Islands, PhD thesis, 301 pp., Tohoku University.
Zhu, B.Q., Mao, C.X., Lugmair, G.M., Macdougall, J.D., 1983.
Isotopic and geochemical evidence for the origin of Plio-Pleis-
tocene volcanic rocks near the Indo-Eurasian collisional margin
at Tengchong, China. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 65, 263 275.