The discovery of a conjugate system of faults in the Wharton Basin intraplate deformation zone

作者：Singh Satish C; Hananto Nugroho; Qin Yanfang; Leclerc Frederique; Avianto Praditya; Tapponnier Paul E; Carton Helene; Wei Shengji; Nugroho Adam B; Gemilang Wishnu A; Sieh Kerry; Barbot Sylvain

来源：Science Advances, 2017, 3(1): e1601689.

DOI：10.1126/sciadv.1601689

The deformation at well-defined, narrow plate boundaries depends on the relative plate motion, but how the deformation takes place within a distributed plate boundary zone remains a conundrum. This was confirmed by the seismological analyses of the 2012 great Wharton Basin earthquakes [moment magnitude (M-w) 8.6], which suggested the rupture of several faults at high angles to one another. Using high-resolution bathymetry and seismic reflection data, we report the discovery of new N294 degrees E-striking shear zones, oblique to the plate fabric. These shear zones are expressed by sets of normal faults striking at N335 degrees E, defining the direction of the principal compressional stress in the region. Also, we have imaged left-lateral strike-slip faults along reactivated N7 degrees E-oriented oceanic fracture zones. The shear zones and the reactivated fracture zones form a conjugate system of faults, which accommodate present-day intraplate deformation in the Wharton Basin.

• 出版日期2017-1