Heat Flow Pattern in the Mainland of China and Its Geodynamic Significance

On the basis of 723 heat flow measurements in the mainland of China and over 2000 data from the global heat flow data set, the authors compiled the heat flow map of the mainland of China and its adjacent areas to exhibit the overall variation of the heat flow pattern in the mainland. The heat flow pattern of the mainland is complex, and can not be simply summarized as "low in the north and west and high in the south and east". Significant difference exists between eastern and western China in the spatial pattern of heat flow. Divided by the 105° E meridian, heat flow values in eastern China show a westward-decreasing trend; and a northward variation is observed in western China. The high-heat flow regions correspond to tectonically active belts such as Cenozoic orogens and extensional basins, where mantle heat flow is high; and the low-heat flow regions correspond to stable units such as the Tarim and Yangtze platforms. This heat flow pattern is controlled by India-Asia collision in the west and Pacific plate subduction in the east. The lateral variation in lithospheric strength corresponds to the heat flow variation, and there is a generally reversely proportional relation between heat flow and lithospheric strength in the mainland of China. The mosaic pattern of present deformation in the mainland results from lateral rheological heterogeneity. The good coincidence between weak strength domains and seismic zones demonstrates the intrinsic relation between the strength heterogeneity and regional seismicity pattern in the mainland of China.