Structure and thickness of the Earth’s crust in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean

Abstract

A digital database on the seismostratigraphy of the oceanic crust of the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean is compiled. In the first layer of the crust, the interval seismic wave velocities are 3.02 ± 0.16 km/s; in the second layer, they equal to 5.31 ± 0.27 km/s; and, in the third layer, the values are 6.46 ± 0.30 km/s. The bottom of the third seismic layer is represented by mantle rocks with an average velocity of 8.10 ± 0.16 km/s. Schemes of the distribution of the thicknesses of the second and third layers of the oceanic crust, of the total thickness of the crust, of the surface of the basement, and of the Mohorovicic discontinuity for the area considered are presented. The schemes compiled allow one to update and complement the ideas about the configuration of the major tectonic structures of the area.