Burma Plate

Burma Plate

The Burma Plate is a small tectonic plate or microplate located in Southeast Asia, often considered a part of the larger Eurasian Plate. The Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, and northwestern Sumatra are located on the plate. This island arc separates the Andaman Sea from the main Indian Ocean to the west.

To its east lies the Sunda Plate, from which it is separated along a transform boundary, running in a rough north-south line through the Andaman Sea. This boundary between the Burma and Sunda plates is a marginal seafloor spreading centre, which has led to the opening up of the Andaman Sea (from a southerly direction) by "pushing out" the Andaman-Nicobar-Sumatra island arc from mainland Asia, a process which began in earnest approximately 4 million years ago.

To the west is the much larger India Plate, which is subducting beneath the eastern facet of the Burma Plate. This extensive subduction zone has formed the Sunda Trench.

Tectonic history

In models of the reconstructed tectonic history of the area, the generally northwards movement of the Indo-Australian Plate resulted in its substantive collision with the Eurasian continent, which began during the Eocene epoch, approximately 50-55 million years ago (Ma). This collision of the India Plate portion with Asia began the orogenic uplift which has formed the Himalaya mountains.

As the India Plate drifted northwards at a relatively rapid rate of an average 16 cm/yr, it also rotated in an counter-clockwise direction. As a result of this movement and rotation, the convergence along the plate's eastern boundary (the Burma-Andaman-Malay region) with Eurasia was at an oblique angle.

The transform forces along this subduction front started the clockwise bending of the Sunda arc; sometime during the late Oligocene (ca. 32 Ma) further faulting developed and the Burma and Sunda microplates began to "break off" from the larger Eurasian plate.

After a further series of transform faulting, and the continuing subduction of the India Plate beneath the Burma plate, backarc spreading saw the formation of the marginal basin and seafloor spreading centre which would become the Andaman Sea, a process well-underway by the mid-Pliocene (3-4 Ma).

Recent tectonic activity

On December 26, 2004, a large portion of the boundary between the Burma Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate slipped, causing the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. This megathrust earthquake had a magnitude of 9.3. Over 1600 km of the boundary underwent thrust faulting and shifted an average of 15 m, with the sea floor being uplifted several meters. This rise in the sea floor generated a massive tsunami that killed approximately 229,800 people along the coast of the Indian Ocean.

References

* pdf
* Paul, J., Burgmann, R., Gaur, V. K., Bilham, R. Larson, K. M., Ananda, M. B., Jade, S., Mukal, M., Anupama, T. S.. Satyal, G., Kumar, D. 2001 The motion and active deformation of India. Geophys. Res. Lett. Vol. 28 , No. 04 , 647-651 2001.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Earthquakes in Burma —    Burma is located in a seismically active region, and earthquakes occasionally cause great damage and loss of life. In 1930, a large earthquake destroyed the Shwemawdaw Pagoda in Pegu (Bago), causing many deaths. A 1975 earthquake damaged… …   Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)

  • Plate tectonics — The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century …   Wikipedia

  • Molucca Sea Plate — Map of the Molucca Sea Plate (as Mer des Moluques ) and its neighbouring plates (in French) Contents 1 Earlier theory …   Wikipedia

  • North Bismarck Plate — Map of the North Bismarck Plate (as Bismarck Nord ) and its neighbouring plates (in French). Where Manus is labeled it should be BSSL. The North Bismarck Plate is a small tectonic plate located in the Bismarck Sea off the northeast coast of New… …   Wikipedia

  • Manus Plate — Map of the Manus Plate and its neighboring plates (in French) The Manus Plate is a tiny tectonic plate located northeast of New Guinea. It is sandwiched between the North Bismarck Plate and the South Bismarck Plate. References 50. Bird, P. (2003) …   Wikipedia

  • Maoke Plate — Map of the Banda Sea Plate (as Mer de Banda ) and its neighbouring plates (in French) The Maoke Plate is a small tectonic plate located in western New Guinea underlying the Sudirman Range from which the highest mountain on the island Puncak Jaya… …   Wikipedia

  • Indian Plate — [ continental drift, the India Plate split from Madagascar and collided with the Eurasian Plate resulting in the formation of the Himalayas.] The India or Indian Plate is a tectonic plate that was originally a part of the ancient continent of… …   Wikipedia

  • Sunda Plate — The Sunda Plate is a tectonic plate located in southeast Asia and commonly considered a part of the Eurasian Plate. The Sunda includes the South China Sea, the Andaman Sea, southern parts of Vietnam and Thailand along with Malaysia and the… …   Wikipedia

  • 2011 Burma earthquake — 2011 Burma earthquake …   Wikipedia

  • Culture of Burma — The culture of Burma (or Myanmar) has been heavily influenced by Buddhism and the Mon people. Its neighbours, particularly China and Thailand have made major contributions to Burmese culture. In more recent times, British colonial rule and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”