Central Asia lies north of the western Himalayan syntaxis on the Asian plate and is part of the India-Asia collision zone (Figure 1). Here crustal deformation is complex and earthquakes are frequent both in the crust, but also deep in the mantle. Deep earthquakes are unusual in the continental interior away from oceanic subduction zones and testify to intense lithospheric deformation.

We have been exploring the tectonics and geodynamics of the Central Asian mountain belts, i.e. the Pamir, Hindu Kush, and Tien Shan in a series of projects and field seasons. Over the years, we have covered the entire region with temporary seismic networks in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan (Figure 2) to study seismicity (Bloch et al., 2022; Feld et al., 2015; Sippl et al., 2013) and the lithospheric structure (Bloch et al., 2021; Kufner et al., 2016, 2021; Mechie et al., 2012, 2019; Schneider et al., 2013, 2019; Xu et al., 2021) of the region. We looked in detail at crustal seismotectonics (Feld et al., 2015; Kufner et al., 2018; Schurr et al., 2014), selected large earthquakes (Bloch et al., 2022; Kulikova et al., 2016; Metzger et al., 2017; Sippl et al., 2014; Teshebaeva et al., 2014) and the Hindu Kush slab break-off (Kufner et al., 2017, 2021). This research is a long-term initiative. If you are interested to cooperate, please contact Bernd Schurr (schurr@gfz-potsdam.de).

PLS: Bernd Schurr (Sektion 4.1) , Dr. Xiaohui Yuan (Sektion 2.4) , Dr. habil. Sabrina Metzger (Sektion 4.1) 

Publications

Bloch, W., Metzger, S., Schurr, B., Yuan, X., Ratschbacher, L., Reuter, S., Xu, Q., Zhao, J., Murodkulov, S., & Oimuhammadzoda, I. (2022). The 2015–2017 Pamir earthquake sequence: foreshocks, main shocks and aftershocks, seismotectonics, fault interaction and fluid processes. Geophysical Journal International, 233(1), 641–662. doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggac473

Metzger, S., Gągała, Ł., Ratschbacher, L., Lazecký, M., Maghsoudi, Y., & Schurr, B. (2021). Tajik Depression and Greater Pamir Neotectonics From InSAR Rate Maps. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126(12), e2021JB022775. doi:10.1029/2021JB022775.

Bloch, W., B. Schurr, X. Yuan, L. Ratschbacher, S. Reuter, S. Kufner, Q. Xu, and J. Zhao (2021), Structure of the deep lithosphere between Pamir and Tarim, Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL095413, doi:10.1029/2021GL095413.

Kufner, S. K. et al. (2021), The Hindu Kush slab break-off as revealed by deep structure and crustal deformation, Nature Communications, 12(1), 1–11, doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21760-w.

Xu, Q., J. Zhao, X. Yuan, H. Liu, C. Ju, B. Schurr, and W. Bloch (2021), Deep Crustal Contact between the Pamir and Tarim Basin Deduced from Receiver Functions, Geophysical Research Letters, 48(9), 1–8, doi:10.1029/2021GL093271.

Gągała, Ł., L. Ratschbacher, J. Ringenbach, S. Kufner, B. Schurr, R. Dedow, S. Abdulhameed, E. Le Garzic, M. Gadoev, and I. Oimahmadov (2020), Tajik Basin and Southwestern Tian Shan, Northwestern India‐Asia Collision Zone: 1. Structure, Kinematics, and Salt Tectonics in the Tajik Fold‐and‐Thrust Belt of the Western Foreland of the Pamir, Tectonics, 39(5), doi:10.1029/2019tc005871.

Abdulhameed, S. et al. (2020), Tajik Basin and Southwestern Tian Shan, Northwestern India‐Asia Collision Zone: 2. Timing of Basin Inversion, Tian Shan Mountain Building, and Relation to Pamir‐Plateau Advance and Deep India‐Asia Indentation, Tectonics, 39(5), 1–26, doi:10.1029/2019tc005873.

Mechie, J. , B. Schurr et al. (2019), Observations of guided waves from the Pamir seismic zone provide additional evidence for the existence of subducted continental lower crust, Tectonophysics, 762(April), 1–16, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2019.04.007.

Schneider, F. M., X. Yuan, B. Schurr et al. (2019), The Crust in the Pamir: Insights from Receiver Functions, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, doi:10.1029/2019JB017765.

Kufner, S.-K., T. Eken, F. Tilmann, B. Schurr, X. Yuan, J. Mechie, C. Sippl, and F. M. Schneider (2018), Seismic Anisotropy Beneath the Pamir and the Hindu Kush: Evidence for Contributions From Crust, Mantle Lithosphere, and Asthenosphere, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2018JB015926, doi:10.1029/2018JB015926.

Kufner, S.-K., B. Schurr, L. Ratschbacher, S. Murodkulov, S. Abdulhameed, A. Ischuk, S. Metzger, and N. Kakar (2018), Seismotectonics of the Tajik Basin and Surrounding Mountain Ranges, Tectonics, 37(8), 2404–2424, doi:10.1029/2017TC004812.

Li, W., Y. Chen, X. Yuan, B. Schurr, J. Mechie, I. Oimahmadov, and B. Fu (2018), Continental lithospheric subduction and intermediate-depth seismicity: Constraints from S-wave velocity structures in the Pamir and Hindu Kush, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 482, 478–489, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.11.031.

Sippl, C., B. Schurr, G. Asch, and J. Kummerow (2018), Seismicity Structure of the Northern Chile Forearc From >100,000 Double-Difference Relocated Hypocenters, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, doi:10.1002/2017JB015384.

Kufner, S.-K., B. Schurr, C. Haberland, Y. Zhang, J. Saul, A. Ischuk, and I. Oimahmadov (2017), Zooming into the Hindu Kush slab break-off: A rare glimpse on the terminal stage of subduction, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 461, 127–140, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2016.12.043.

Metzger, S., B. Schurr, L. Ratschbacher, H. Sudhaus, S.-K. Kufner, T. Schöne, Y. Zhang, M. Perry, and R. Bendick (2017), The 2015 M w 7.2 Sarez Strike-Slip Earthquake in the Pamir Interior: Response to the Underthrusting of India’s Western Promontory, Tectonics, 36(11), 2407–2421, doi:10.1002/2017TC004581.

Kufner, S.-K., B. Schurr et al. (2016), Deep India meets deep Asia: Lithospheric indentation, delamination and break-off under Pamir and Hindu Kush (Central Asia), Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 435, 171–184, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.11.046.

Kulikova, G., B. Schurr, F. Krüger, E. Brzoska, and S. Heimann (2016), Source parameters of the Sarez-Pamir earthquake of 1911 February 18, Geophysical Journal International, 205(2), 1086–1098, doi:10.1093/gji/ggw069.

Feld, C., C. Haberland, B. Schurr, C. Sippl, H.-U. Wetzel, S. Roessner, M. Ickrath, U. Abdybachaev, and S. Orunbaev (2015), Seismotectonic study of the Fergana Region (Southern Kyrgyzstan): distribution and kinematics of local seismicity, Earth, Planets and Space, 67(40), 2–13, doi:10.1186/s40623-015-0195-1.

Schurr, B., L. Ratschbacher, C. Sippl, R. Gloaguen, X. Yuan, and J. Mechie (2014), Seismotectonics of the Pamir, Tectonics, 33(8), 1501–1518, doi:10.1002/2014TC003576.

Sippl, C., L. Ratschbacher, B. Schurr, C. Krumbiegel, H. Rui, L. Pingren, and U. Abdybachaev (2014), The 2008 Nura earthquake sequence at the Pamir-Tian Shan collision zone, southern Kyrgyzstan, Tectonics, 33(12), 2382–2399, doi:10.1002/2014TC003705.

Teshebaeva, K., H. Sudhaus, H. Echtler, B. Schurr, and S. Roessner (2014), Strain partitioning at the eastern Pamir-Alai revealed through SAR data analysis of the 2008 Nura earthquake, Geophysical Journal International, 198(2), 760–774, doi:10.1093/gji/ggu158.

Schneider, F. M., X. Yuan, B. Schurr et al. (2013), Seismic imaging of subducting continental lower crust beneath the Pamir, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 375, 101–112, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.05.015.

Sippl, C., B. Schurr et al. (2013), Geometry of the Pamir-Hindu Kush intermediate-depth earthquake zone from local seismic data, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 118(4), 1438–1457, doi:10.1002/jgrb.50128.

Sippl, C., B. Schurr, J. Tympel, S. Angiboust, J. Mechie, X. Yuan, F. M. Schneider, S. V. V. Sobolev, L. Ratschbacher, and C. Haberland (2013), Deep burial of Asian continental crust beneath the Pamir imaged with local earthquake tomography, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 384, 165–177, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.013.

Mechie, J., X. Yuan, B. Schurr et al. (2012), Crustal and uppermost mantle velocity structure along a profile across the Pamir and southern Tien Shan as derived from project TIPAGE wide-angle seismic data, Geophysical Journal International, 188(2), 385–407, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.05278.x.

Haberland, C., U. Abdybachaev, B. Schurr, H.-U. Wetzel, S. Roessner, A. Sarnagoev, S. Orunbaev, and C. Janssen (2011), Landslides in southern Kyrgyzstan: Understanding tectonic controls, Eos, 92(20), 169–170, doi:10.1029/2011EO200001.