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Tectonics of the Indo-Australian plate near the Ninetyeast Ridge constrained from marine gravity and magnetic data

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Abstract

Although the Indo-Australian plate near the Ninetyeast Ridge is important for understanding the formation of new plate boundaries, its tectonic problems are complex and most of them are poorly known. This paper made a detailed tectonic analysis based on the data of bathymetry, gravity and magnetics. Bathymetry and gravity maps show morphological features of many folds, which are related to the intraplate deformation of the Indo-Australian plate due to the collision between the Indian and Asian plates. Gravity anomalies show the structure of fracture zones, which are caused by the seafloor spreading and transform faulting. The characteristics of the folds and fracture zones are consistent with the hypothesis that diffuse plate boundaries and redefined plate components would occur within the Indo-Australian plate. In addition, compiled magnetic data demonstrate magnetic lineations, abandoned spreading centers, southward ridge jumps and plate motions. These features provide useful information for rebuilding the tectonic evolution history of the study area. Magnetic anomalies suggest that an additional plate boundary of transform fault type is developing.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41606069 and 31500411), the Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (MSGL15-04), the Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Ministry of Land and Resources of China (No. KLMMR-2014-B-06), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province in China (No. 2015A030310374), the Director Grant for Oceanic technology of South China Sea Branch, State Oceanic Administration (1501), the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China (50603-54), the Key Laboratory of Integrated Marine Monitoring and Applied Technologies for Harmful Algal Blooms, State Oceanic Administration (No. MATHAB201501), the Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas, State Oceanic Administration (201504), the Mariana Trench Project of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. South China Sea Institute of Planning and Environmental Research, State Oceanic Administration, Guangzhou, 510310, P. R. China

    Jie Chen

  2. Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas, State Oceanic Administration, Dalian, 116023, P. R. China

    Jie Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of Integrated Marine Monitoring and Applied Technologies for Harmful Algal Blooms, State Oceanic Administration, Shanghai, 200137, P. R. China

    Jie Chen

  4. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, P. R. China

    Jinchang Zhang

  5. Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Ministry of Land and Resouces, Guangzhou, 510075, P. R. China

    Jinchang Zhang

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  1. Jie Chen
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Chen, J., Zhang, J. Tectonics of the Indo-Australian plate near the Ninetyeast Ridge constrained from marine gravity and magnetic data. J. Ocean Univ. China 16, 403–410 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-017-3314-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-017-3314-8

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