Slip partitioning at convergent plate boundaries of SE Asia

Robert McCaffrey
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 106, 3-18, 1 January 1996, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1996.106.01.02

Abstract

The active tectonics of SE Asia can be characterized by the interactions of large, rigid plates separated by broad zones of deformation. The relative motion of these plates across their boundaries is often partitioned in the sense that the normal and shear components occur on different structures. Earthquake slip vectors and geological and geodetic measurements are used to infer the degree to which oblique convergence, which is ubiquitous in SE Asia, is partitioned. The active tectonics of Sumatra, the Himalayan thrust, the Philippines, the New Guinea fold-and-thrust belt, the Huon-Finisterre collision, and the San Cristobal trench can be understood in terms of upper plate deformation associated with oblique convergence. Western Java may also exhibit partitioning of oblique subduction. Structures accommodating normal and shear components of the motion are often very close. Arc-parallel strain rates are estimated for forearcs of the region. The arc-parallel deformation of forearcs of the SE Asia region demonstrates that plate convergence, whether normal to structure or not, is a three-dimensional process.

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