LAUSR

Abstract The Mongolian Plateau is located in the western segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. In the Cenozoic, the western plateau was affected by the India-Asian collision; the Hangay Dome of a low-relief plateau has been formed. However, the mechanism of the uplift of the plateau and particularly the Hangay Dome is debated. In this study, we image the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) with S wave receiver functions. The LAB is much shallower beneath the western Mongolian Plateau (~80–90 km) than beneath the North China Craton (~150 km) and Siberian Craton (~180 km). We also found another possible deep LAB at 200–250 km depths beneath the Hangay Dome, indicating a lithospheric delamination beneath western Mongolia. Thus we conclude that the consequential asthenospheric upwelling caused the tectonic uplift of the Hangay Dome.