Intraplate wrench deformation in Iran, Afghanistan and Western Pakistan

Abstract

The pattern of major wrench faults in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan is shown to result from convergence between the Arabia, India and Eurasia plates. A method is introduced of treating fault movement as rotations about fault poles. The rotations are quantified by assuming fault movement to be proportional to active fault length, and these rotations summed by vector addition. The resultant rotation is considered to act at the geometric centre of the area enclosed by the faults. By equating movement here with plate convergence calculated from the usual circuit of plate spreading velocities the individual fault movements may be quantified. An area of west Pakistan and Afghanistan so treated suggests that the Chaman fault was initiated in the Eocene, a conclusion independently indicated by the geology. The method is of general application in non-rigid plate areas and offers explanations for fault curvature and anomalous fault movement.