This proposal on "Xinjiang Magnetotelluric Transect" between Dr. Stanley H. Ward of the University of Utah and Professor Zhao Jingxiang of the Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration is jointly sponsored by NSF and the Chinese Ministry of Geology. The investigators propose a magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical survey of a portion of China's Xinjiang Province, the first look at the geoelectric structure of the area directly north of the Tibetan Plateau. The survey will explore a north-south 1000 km line of MT stations (transect) running from the Junggar Basin in the north, across the Tien Shan Range, into the Tarim Basin in the south. The MT method is a passive, deep-sounding exploration method used to map variations in the electrical conductivity of the subsurface. The investigators believe MT is ideally suited for largely unexplored areas such as Xinjiang. The completion of this transect will augment other MT surveys that have been conducted in China. These data should be comparable to data on the Sevier orogenic belt of Nevada and Utah and the Laramide deformation of the Colorado Plateau where compressional tectonic forces similar to those at work in Central Asia were at work in the late mezozoic and early cenozoic. Using the results of transects such as these, it is possible not only to examine crustal structure, but also to recognize zones of conductive volatile fluids or partial melting at depth. Recognition of such zones is necessary for a complete understanding of crustal evolution.
