The crustal dynamics and the tectonic trends in the Bengal Basin

Abstract

Seismological data of the events that took place in the Bengal Basin during 1918 to 1989 have revealed an increased frequency of earthquakes in the last 30 years. The increase in seismic activity is an indication of fresh tectonic activity or propagation of fractures from the adjacent seismic zones. The tectonic trend TT3 as determined from the tectonic flux and from the crustal model is in good coincidence with the NE-SW trending linear zone of gravity high, the zone of Moho upwarping and the location of earthquake events having fault-plane solutions of prominent strike-slip component. It is further observed that most of the earthquakes that occurred in the Bengal Basin in the 20th century follow the tectonic trend TT3. The NE-SW trending tectonic trend TT3 is inferred as one of the most remarkable features in the Bengal Basin. The extension of this trend is well marked by the “Halflong-Disang Thrust” in the NE and by the “Swatch of No-Ground” in the SW. The tectonic flux has also revealed some other striking tectonic trends distributed over broad regions and is not confined to definite geologic or physiographic provinces but instead is transverse to major structural elements of the region, thus forming conjugate sets of active zones. The focal mechanism solutions of 12 earthquake events reveal the nature of faulting which is predominantly strike-slip. The strike-slip fault solutions for most of the events are indicative of a changing pattern from convergence and subduction to strike-slip displacement in the Bengal Basin. The focal mechanism of two events having solutions of strike-slip with a normal fault component located on the tectonic trend TT3, the nature of Moho upwarping and the crustal configuration lend support to a process of crustal extension prevailing in the Bengal Basin. The crustal segment to the east of TT3 is relatively more mobile than that of the crustal segment to the west. The general trend of compression ( P-axis) is N57 °W in the Bengal Basin, while it is N40 °E in the Bay of Bengal. The oblique convergence of the crustal segments situated in the Bengal Basin and in the Bay of Bengal has been inferred.