Neotectonics of the Surma Basin, Bangladesh from GPS analysis

Abstract:

The Surma Basin is a sub-basin of the Bengal Basin situated at the northeastern corner of Bangladesh. The tectonically-active basin lies at the junction of three tectonic plates: the Indian plate, the Eurasian plate and the Burma platelet. The Surma Basin is bounded on the north by the Shillong Massif, east and southeast by CTFB of the Indo-Burman Ranges, west by the Indian Shield and to the south and southeast it is open to the main part of Bengal Basin. The Surma basin is subsiding at a high rate, which is controlled by flexure loading along the southern margin of the 2-km high Shillong Massif because of Dauki thrust fault system.

The objective of this study is to explore and reconstruct the present scenario of the tectonically active zone of the northeastern Bangladesh, identify the active faults, identify the relation between the neotectonic activities and seismicity, relation between neotectonic activities and natural hazards and describe the nature of the possible future earthquakes. The present effort to establish the tectonics of the Surma basin mainly utilizes the horizontal and vertical movements of the area using GPS geodetic data and other constraints on the structure of the region. We also make use historical seismologic data, field geology, and satellite image data. The GPS data has been processed using GAMIT-GLOBK.

The analysis of 5 continuous GPS geodetic stations installed in the Surma Basin are combined with published data from the adjacent parts of India. While the area is moving northeast at a rate of 50-52 mm/year relative to ITRF2008 reference frame, it is moving south in an Indian reference frame. The velocities reflect that the Surma Basin being overthrust by both Shillong Plateau from the north and Burmese microplate from the east, respectively. The combined GPS velocity data indicates shortening across Dauki Fault and Indo Burman Ranges at a rate of 7 mm/yr and 18 mm/yr, respectively. The complex anticlinal structures in and around the Surma Basin are due to the interactions of the generally N-S and E-W shortening of the basin from the overlapping thrust systems. As a result of the tectonics, the low, swampy Sylhet basin is subsiding rapidly with at rates up to 8.4 mm/y at Jamalganj (JAML) and 12.4 mm/yr at Sylhet (SUST), although Sylhet may also be affect by local tectonics related to the anticline of the same name.