The geological evolution of the Aden-Owen-Carlsberg triple junction (NW Indian Ocean) since the Late Miocene

Type Article
Date 2018-05
Language English
Author(s) Rodriguez Mathieu1, Fournier MarcORCID2, Chamot-Rooke NicolasORCID1, Huchon Philippe2, Delescluse MatthiasORCID1
Affiliation(s) 1 : PSL Res Univ, CNRS, Lab Geol, Ecole Normale Super, Paris, France.
2 : UPMC Univ Paris 06, Sorbonne Univ, Paris, France.
Source Tectonics (0278-7407) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2018-05 , Vol. 37 , N. 5 , P. 1552-1575
DOI 10.1029/2017TC004687
WOS© Times Cited 4
Keyword(s) triple junction, strike slip, pull apart, Indian Ocean, Indus
Abstract

The Aden‐Owen‐Carlsberg triple junction is the place where Arabia, Somalia, and India meet in the Arabian Sea (NW Indian Ocean). Here we present a new seismic dataset crossing a key structure of the triple junction, namely the Beautemps‐Beaupré pull‐apart basin at the southern end of the Owen Fracture Zone. The seismic dataset is tied to ODP Leg 117 Sites at the top of the Owen Ridge, which provides a detailed tectono‐stratigraphic framework since the Late Miocene. We show that the triple junction configuration has been disturbed by a major kinematic change at ~8 Ma and since then experienced a series of transient structural adjustments. A major structural episode is recorded at 2.4 Ma, expressed by the opening of the Beautemps‐Beaupré Basin and the uplift of its southern flank (the Beautemps‐Beaupré Ridge). This episode is coeval with the formation of the present‐day Owen Fracture Zone and must be considered as a part of a major structural reorganization of the entire India‐Arabia plate boundary up to the Makran subduction zone. This 2.4 Myrs‐old geological episode is unrelated to any significant kinematic change, leaving questions over its driving mechanism.

Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 58 20 MB Open access
Top of the page