Morphological structures relate to the location and extent of the seismogenic zone - bathymetric studies of the Sunda margin, Indonesia

Earthquake history shows that the Sunda subduction zone of the Indonesian margin produces great earthquakes offshore Sumatra, whereas earthquakes of comparable magnitude are lacking offshore Java and the Lesser Sunda islands. Morphological structures from multibeam bathymetric data across the forearc relate with the extent of the seismogenic zone (SZ). Off Java and the Lesser Sunda islands the Indo-Australian plate subducts almost normal underneath the oceanic plate of the Indonesian archipelago. Landward of the trench, the outer wedge of the slope break is ~50 km uniformly wide with uniform bathymetric gradients. The slope of the outer wedge is locally cut by one/two steeper ridges of ~5 km extent. The sharp slope break corresponds to the updip limit of the SZ, which is also associated with the seawardmost part of the outer arc high. Landward of the slope break we find narrow, uniform outer arc ridges. The landward termination of these ridges coincides with the downdip limit of the SZ. The intersection of the shallow upper plate mantle with the subduction thrust fault marks the downdip limit of the SZ beneath the forearc. Off Sumatra the Indo-Australian plate subducts obliquely underneath the continental part of the Indonesian Sunda margin. Landward of the trench, the outer wedge varies, being mostly ~70 km wide, in some areas narrowing to 50 km width. The lower slope bathymetric gradients are steep. The outer wedge slope is made up of several steeper ridges of ~5 km extent. The slope break is only locally sharp, and corresponds to the updip limit of the SZ. The outer arc ridges off Sumatra are, in comparison with the forearc structures off Java and the Lesser Sunda islands, wider and partly elevated above sea level forming the Mentawai forearc islands. The downdip limit of the SZ coincides with the intersection of a deeper upper plate mantle with the subduction thrust fault beneath the forearc. Sunda Strait marks a transition zone between the Sumatra and Java margins. Seafloor morphology enables the identification of the seismogenic zone (SZ) across the entire Sunda margin. The SZ is uniformly wide for the Sumatra margin and narrows off Sunda Strait. Sunda Strait is the transition between the Sumatra margin and the uniformly narrow extent of the SZ of the Java/Lesser Sunda margin. Comparing the Java and Lesser Sunda islands with the Sumatra margin we find the differences along the Sunda margin, especially the wider extent of the SZ off Sumatra, producing larger earthquakes, to result from the combination of various causes: The sediment income on the oceanic incoming plate and the subduction direction; we attribute a major role to the continental/oceanic upper plate nature of Sumatra/Java influencing the composition and deformation style along the forearc and subduction fault. Off Sumatra the SZ is up to more than twice as wide as off Java/Lesser Sunda islands, enlarging the unstable regime off Sumatra and thus the risk of sudden stress release in a great earthquake

Reply to Chang et al., 2014, Evolution of the South China Sea: Revised ages for breakup and seafloor spreading

International audienc

Evolution of the South China Sea: Revised ages for breakup and seafloor spreading

International audienc

The great Sumatra-Andaman earthquakes : imaging the boundary between the ruptures of the great 2004 and 2005 earthquakes

Segmentation along convergent margins controls earthquake magnitude and location, but the physical causes of segment boundaries, and their impact on earthquake rupture dynamics, are still poorly understood. One aspect of the 2004 and 2005 great Sumatra-Andaman earthquakes is their abrupt termination along a common boundary. This has led to speculation on the nature of the boundary, its origin and why it was not breached. For the first time the boundary has been imaged and, with newly acquired marine geophysical data, we demonstrate that a ridge on the subducting Indo-Australian oceanic crust may exert a control on margin segmentation. This suggests a lower plate influence on margin structure, particularly its segmentation. The ridge is masked by the sedimentary cover in the trench. Its most likely trend is NNE-SSW. It is interpreted as a fracture zone on the subducting oceanic plate. A ramp or tear along the eastern flank of the subducting fracture zone beneath Simeulue Island may be considered as an intensification factor in terms of rupture propagation barrier

Bathymetry of the Sunda margin, Indonesia: morphological features of the upper plate slopes relate to the location and extent of the seismogenic zone

T13A-2185 Earthquake history shows that the Sunda subduction zone of the Indonesian margin produces great earthquakes offshore Sumatra, whereas earthquakes of comparable magnitude are lacking offshore Java and the Lesser Sunda islands. We use morphological structures in multibeam bathymetric data across the forearc to identify the extent of the seismogenic zone (SZ). The updip limit of the SZ is associated with a distinct slope break at the seawordmost part of the outer arc high off Java and the Lesser Sunda islands. In contrast, the slope break is rather indistinctive off large parts of Sumatra. The inner wedge shows differences along the Indonesian margin. Uniform trench-parallel ridge structures lie off Java and Lesser Sunda islands, whereas non-uniform trench-parallel outer arc high structures consisting of several broad tectonic ridges off Sumatra shape the seaward part of the inner wedge. The landward termination of the inner wedge ridge structure and a shallow upper plate mantle at a depth range of ~15-25 km at Java and the Lesser Sunda islands coincide with the downdip limit of the seismogenic zone. In contrast the outer arc ridges off Sumatra are wider and partly elevated above sea level forming the forearc islands. Here, the downdip limit of the seismogenic zone is situated at depths of ~30-40 km, which coincides predominantly with a deeper upper plate mantle. Sunda Strait marks a transition zone between the Sumatra and Java margins. We find the differences along the Sunda margin, especially the wider extent of the seismogenic zone off Sumatra, producing larger earthquakes, to result from the interaction of different age and subduction direction of the oceanic plate. We attribute a major role to the sediment income and continental/island arc upper plate nature of Sumatra/Java influencing the composition and deformation style along the forearc and subduction fault. Off Sumatra the SZ is up to more than twice as wide as off Java and the Sunda islands, enlarging the unstable regime off Sumatra and thus the risk of sudden stress release in a great earthquake

At the tip of a propagating rift - The offshore East African Rift

Numerous studies have addressed various aspects of the East African Rift system (EARS) but surprisingly few the offshore continuation of the south-eastern branch of the rift into the Mozambique Channel. Here, we present new evidence for neotectonic deformation derived from modern seismic reflection data and sup- ported by additional geophysical data. The Kerimbas Graben offshore northern Mozambique is the most prominent manifestation of sub-recent extensional deformation. The seismic reflection data reveals that recent normal faulting often utilizes preexisting, deeply buried half-graben structures which likely are related to the formation of the Somali Basin. The ca. 30 km wide and ca. 150 km long symmetric graben is in a stage where the linkage of scattered normal faults already did happen, resulting in increased displacement and accommodation of most of the extension across the basin. However, deep earthquakes below the rift indicate a strong and still preserved lithospheric mantle. Extension is becoming diffuse where an onshore suture, subdividing the northern from the southern metamorphic basement onshore Mozambique, is closest to the offshore rift. It appears likely that this suture is the origin for the variation in rifting style, indicating that mantle fabric resulting from a Cambrian collision has been preserved as mechanical anisotropy of the lithospheric mantle. Further south the rift focuses in an about 30 km wide half- graben. An important finding is that the entire offshore branch of the EARS lacks significant volcanism. Along the off- shore EARS there are only negligible indications for recent volcanism in the reflection seismic data such as sills and dikes. Apparently the "Comoros mantle plume" (French and Romanowicz, 2015) has a very minor influence on the progressive extensional deformation along the northern Mozambique continental margin, leading eventually to breakup sometimes in the future. Combining structural with earthquake data reveals that the magma-poor offshore rift is in a stage where mainly the lithospheric mantle is extended but not yet broken