3D Fault modeling of the active Chittagong-Myanmar fold belt, Bangladesh
Abstract
The Chittagong-Myanmar fold belt (CMFB), located in eastern Bangladesh, eastern India and western Myanmar, accommodates east-west shortening at the India-Burma plate boundary. Oblique subduction of the Indian Plate beneath the Burma Plate since the Eocene has led to the development of a large accretionary prism complex, creating a series of north-south trending folds. A continuous sediment record from ~55 Ma to the present has been deposited in the Bengal Basin by the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna rivers, providing an opportunity to learn about the history of tectonic deformation and activity in this fold-and-thrust belt. Surface mapping indicates that the fold-and-thrust belt is characterized by extensive N-S-trending anticlines and synclines in a belt ~150-200 km wide. Seismic reflection profiles from the Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, indicate that the anticlines mapped at the surface narrow with depth and extend to ~3.0 seconds TWTT (two-way travel time), or ~6.0 km. The folds of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts are characterized by doubly plunging box-shaped en-echelon anticlines separated by wide synclines. The seismic data suggest that some of these anticlines are cored by thrust fault ramps that extend to a large-scale décollement that dips gently to the east. Other anticlines may be the result of detachment folding from the same décollement. The décollement likely deepens to the east and intersects with the northerly-trending, oblique-slip Kaladan fault. The CMFB region is bounded to the north by the north-dipping Dauki fault and the Shillong Plateau. The tectonic transition from a wide band of E-W shortening in the south to a narrow zone of N-S shortening along the Dauki fault is poorly understood. We integrate surface and subsurface datasets, including topography, geological maps, seismicity, and industry seismic reflection profiles, into a 3D modeling environment and construct initial 3D surfaces of the major faults in this region. These models will further our understanding of fault geometry and history of the CMFB, allowing us to investigate the region's potential for geologic hazards. At least twenty-five percent of the country of Bangladesh sits on top of this actively deforming region, which is home to more than 28 million people. The CMFB also extends offshore, meaning that a major thrusting event could induce a regional tsunami with little warning. Understanding the geometry of the region's underlying detachment as well as the location and ages of specific thrust faults is critical to assessing seismic hazards for this heavily populated area.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFM.T51B2468P
- Keywords:
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- 8100 TECTONOPHYSICS;
- 8004 STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY Dynamics and mechanics of faulting;
- 9320 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION Asia;
- 4302 NATURAL HAZARDS Geological