Azimuthally Anisotropic Structure in the Crust and Uppermost Mantle in Central East China and Its Significance to Regional Deformation Around the Tan‐Lu Fault Zone

Seismic anisotropy can be linked to different mechanisms, structures, and sources. We constrained the 3-D depth-dependent shear wave speed isotropic and azimuthally anisotropic structures with Rayleigh wave phase velocity from ambient noise in central Eastern China. We compared the results with other models and found that in the upper crust, the maximum horizontal stress direction differs mainly from the anisotropy that coincides with the strikes of major faults and geologic structures. We inferred that the anisotropy within proximity of faults might be related to fault fabrics, including fractures that strike parallel to the fast axes. The Tan-Lu Fault controls the anisotropy in the crust to the uppermost mantle. The direction of fast axes in the fault zone is NNE-SSW to N-S, coinciding with the fault strike and trend that matches the fault shape on the surface. Southeastern North China craton has a weak anisotropy in the crust and uppermost mantle. The sources are possibly connected to the thrusting, tight trending folds, and dipping thrusts observed to be sub-parallel to the Dabie Orogenic Belt (DOB). We propose that the NNE-SSW Zhangbaling uplift group comes from the extension and ductile shearing in the Tan-Lu Fault zone and the dragging of the northeastern South China Craton in the crust and the uppermost mantle. The N-S polarized fast axes in the lower crust and uppermost mantle across the Sulu orogen and Xuzhou thrust-and-fold belt are the products of the resultant effect of subduction and deep Tan-Lu faulting.