The plate kinematics of Burmese micro-plate relative to its surroundings

Abstract

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are constituents of Burmese micro-plate (Eurasian plate), surrounded by the Indian and Sunda plates. In order to understand the relative movement of Andaman Islands with its surrounding plates, the rate of change of baseline lengths of the selected GPS stations was estimated with the PBR2 in the Andaman Island as the prime representative. The interpretations of GPS parameters revealed that the Indian peninsula is coming closer to the Andaman Islands and the Sunda block is moving away from it. There is almost no significant movement of Burmese plate with respect to the Eurasian plate. A considerable level of deformation occurs between the Indian plate and Burmese micro-plate that corroborates with the continuous occurrence of earthquakes and volcanic activities in the surroundings of Andaman Islands. The convergence between the Indian peninsula and Andaman Islands is 24~26 mm/year and the corresponding strain rate is −1.4324 × 10−8 and −1.3037 × 10−8, respectively. It is found that if this rate of convergence prevails/continues in the future, then after about ~73 million years, Indian sub-continent will be merged with the Andaman Islands and the Bay of Bengal will disappear. The estimated strain rate can be capable of generating frequent earthquakes releasing stress reflecting the high seismicity of the area.