Petro‐fabrics and seismic properties of blueschist and eclogite in the North Qilian suture zone, NW China: Implications for the low‐velocity upper layer in subducting slab, trench‐parallel seismic anisotropy, and eclogite detectability in the subduction zone

Abstract The potential seismological contributions of metamorphosed and deformed oceanic crust in a subduction zone environment were studied in a detailed petro‐fabric analysis of blueschist and eclogite in the North Qilian suture zone, NW China. The calculated whole‐rock seismic properties based on the measured lattice preferred orientations of the constituting minerals show increasing P‐wave and S‐wave velocities and decreasing seismic anisotropies from blueschist to eclogite, mainly due to the decreasing volume proportion and deformation extent of glaucophane. The low velocity of the upper layer in the subducting oceanic crust can be explained by the existence of blueschist and foliated eclogite, which induces a 3–12% reduction in velocity compared to that induced by the surrounding mantle rocks. This low‐velocity layer may gradually disappear when blueschist and foliated eclogite are replaced by massive eclogite at a depth in excess of 60–75 km for the paleo North Qilian subduction zone. Trench‐parallel seismic anisotropy with a moderate delay time (0.1–0.3 s) can only effectively contribute to deformed blueschist and eclogite in a high‐angle (>45–60°) subducting slab, regardless of the direction of slab movement. The calculated reflection coefficients (Rc = 0.04–0.20) at the lithologic interfaces between eclogite and blueschist imply that it may be possible to detect eclogite bodies in shallow subduction channels using high‐resolution seismic reflection profiles. However, the imaging of eclogite bodies located in deep subduction zones could be challenging.