3-D isotropic and anisotropic tomography of P-wave travel times from the Anhui airgun experiment in the Yangtze River

The Middle-Lower Yangtze River is a typical transition region between the nearly NW-oriented Tethys and NE-trending Pacific tectonic regimes. Structures of different periods and directions overlap strongly during these processes. The NE-trending Yangtze River compound structural belt and NW-trending Tongling-Hangzhou structural belt both control the magmatic activities and distributions of the metallogenic belts in the area. Here, we obtain 3-D high-resolution isotropic and azimuthally anisotropic velocity structures at depths of 1–10 km using the first arrivals from airgun sources. The velocity maps correspond well with the tectonic structures, with high-velocity anomalies distributed in ore-concentrated districts and low-velocity anomalies distributed along the Yangtze River. The fast directions are generally consistent with the fault strike, indicating that the azimuthal anisotropy is mainly dominated by the fault and fracture trends in the upper crust. The complicated fast directions near the Luzong and Tongling ore deposits reveal complex deformations in the upper crust, which are mainly caused by the intersection of the Yangtze River compound and Tongling-Hangzhou structural belts. The magma intrusion beneath the two ore deposits (Luzong and Tongling) are connected at depths of 5–10 km.