The crust and upper mantle of the Sulu UHPM belt

All results from integrated geophysical investigations in the Sulu region are summarized in this paper, trying to reconstruct the Sulu UHPM processes. New seismic S-wave tomographic results suggest a velocity-abnormal zone occurs beneath the Sulu crust, revealing detailed upper mantle structures that high-velocity lumps within the abnormal zone are sequentially distributed beneath the bottom of the asthenosphere. These high-velocity lumps might represent delaminated eclogites or residuals of the subducted oceanic plate. Based on integrated interpretation of the geophysical data, we propose a working model for tectonic reconstruction of the Sulu UHPM processes, which can explain the crust and upper mantle structures of the area. The involved tectonic processes are related to north-eastward escaping of the Sulu terrane, subduction and delamination cycles of the Dabie–Sulu oceanic plate, and post-orogenic lithospheric thinning and magma underplating. The UHPM rocks are believed to have syn-subduction delaminated down to the bottom of the asthenosphere during 245–180 Ma, and the delamination process seemed smooth and nearly continuous without extensive violence.