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Upper mantle S wave velocity structure of the East Anatolian‐Caucasus region

Geodynamic processes occurring in the upper mantle such as slab break off and lithosphere delamination often result in high rates of lithospheric deformation and rapid tectonic uplift of large areas. The continent‐continent collision zone between Arabia and Eurasia has been widely studied in this context, but several different viable geodynamic models exist to explain the uplift and deformation of the Anatolian Plateau and the Caucasus Mountains. We have imaged the uppermost mantle shear wave velocity structure of the East Anatolian‐Caucasus region using surface wave tomography to better understand the regional tectonic activity since the onset of the collision between the Arabian and Eurasian Plates. Furthermore, we used our tomographic models to better understand the processes, which are responsible for the formation of the 2 km high plateau and the widespread volcanism in eastern Turkey, as well as reactivation of deformation and deep seismicity in the eastern Greater Caucasus. Our model of regional upper mantle shear wave velocity structure supports subduction of the northern and southern branches of Neo‐Tethys lithosphere between Eurasia and Gondwana and suggests a possible underthrusting of the Kura Basin lithosphere beneath the Greater Caucasus.