We calibrated the magnitude and symmetry of seismic anisotropy for 132 mica‐ or amphibole‐bearing metamorphic rocks to constrain their departures from transverse isotropy (TI) which is usually assumed in the interpretation of seismic data. The average bulk Vp anisotropy at 600 MPa for the chlorite schists, mica schists, phyllites, sillimanite‐mica schists, and amphibole schists examined is 12.0%, 12.8%, 12.8%, 17.0%, and 12.9%, respectively. Most of the schists show Vp anisotropy in the foliation plane which averages 2.4% for phyllites, 3.3% for mica schists, 4.1% for chlorite schists, 6.8% for sillimanite‐mica schists, and 5.2% for amphibole schists. This departure from TI is due to the presence of amphibole, sillimanite, and quartz. Amphibole and sillimanite develop strong crystallographic preferred orientations with the fast c axes parallel to the lineation, forming orthorhombic anisotropy with Vp(X) > Vp(Y) > Vp(Z). Effects of quartz are complicated, depending on its volume fraction and prevailing slip system. Most of the mica‐ or amphibole‐bearing schists and mylonites are approximately transversely isotropic in terms of S wave velocities and splitting although their P wave properties may display orthorhombic symmetry. The results provide insight for the interpretation of seismic data from the southeast Tibetan Plateau. The N‐S to NW‐SE polarized crustal anisotropy in the Sibumasu and Indochina blocks is caused by subvertically foliated mica‐ and amphibole‐bearing rocks deformed by predominantly compressional folding and subordinate strike‐slip shear. These blocks have been rotated clockwise 70–90° around the east Himalayan Syntaxis, without finite eastward or southeastward extrusion, in responding to progressive indentation of India into Asia.

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Peridotites at water depths of 3430 to 5999 m have been discovered using the submersible Shinkai6500 (dives 6K-1397 and 6K-1398) on the southwestern slope of the 139°E Ridge (11°12′N, 139°15′E), a small ridge at the southwesternmost tip of the Mariana forearc near the junction with the Yap Trench and Parece Vela Basin. The peridotites studied consist of 17 residual harzburgites and one dunite and show various textures with respect to their depths. Peridotites with coarse-grained (> 1 mm) textures were sampled from the shallowest part (3705–4042 m) of the dive area, and peridotites with fine-grained (< 0.5 mm) textures were sampled deeper (5996 m). Olivine crystal-fabrics vary with grain size, with (010)[100] A-type patterns for the coarse-grained peridotites, {0kl}[100] D-type patterns for the fine-grained peridotites, and various indistinct patterns in samples of variable grain sizes. Fine-grained peridotites with D-type olivine crystal-fabrics could result from deformation under relatively higher flow stresses, suggesting that a ductile shear zone in the lithospheric mantle could occur in the deepest part of 139°E Ridge. Spinel Cr# range from relatively low (0.36) to moderately high (up to 0.57), and correlate with Ti contents (0.07–0.45 wt.%). The trace element patterns of clinopyroxene similarly exhibit steepening slopes from the middle to the light REEs regardless of textural variations. These mineralogical and geochemical features would result from melt-rock interactions under conditions of relatively shallow lithospheric mantle, which are much more comparable with the Parece Vela Basin peridotites than the Mariana forearc peridotites. Consequently, the Parece Vela Basin mantle is more likely exposed on the inner slope of the westernmost Mariana Trench, presumably due to the collision of the Caroline Ridge.

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