SEISMOTECTONICS OF HIMALAYA

The prevailing view appears to be that Himalaya was formed by collision of Indian and Eurasian continents wherein the buoyant crust of the Indian plate was detached from the underlying mantle and its subsequent deformation raised mountain chains. The collision also caused large scale deformation and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current science (Bangalore) 1992-01, Vol.62 (1/2), p.40-71
Main Author: Chandra, Umesh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Borderlands
Dams
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Earthquakes
Earthquakes, seismology
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Exact sciences and technology
Fault planes
Hindus
Internal geophysics
Natural hazards: prediction, damages, etc
Plate tectonics
Seismology
Tectonics
Tectonophysics
Tobacco chewing
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Summary:The prevailing view appears to be that Himalaya was formed by collision of Indian and Eurasian continents wherein the buoyant crust of the Indian plate was detached from the underlying mantle and its subsequent deformation raised mountain chains. The collision also caused large scale deformation and high seismicity of vast areas of both continents. Focal mechanism solutions of earthquakes near and north of Indus suture zone reveal east-west tensional stress. Earthquakes north of Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) have thrust solutions with one of the nodal planes dipping gently towards north. Two earthquakes in the Ganga basin have normal fault plane solutions. These solutions are consistent with the interpretation of underthrusting of Indian plate along the Himalayan arc. Models proposed for the evolution and deformation of the Himalaya have utilized a wide variety of data including seismicity, focal mechanism solutions, gravity, river profiles, topography etc. The portion of the Himalayan arc between the rupture zones of the Kangra earthquake of 1905 and Bihar–Nepal earthquake of 1934, and the Assam gap identified as the portion between the rupture zones of the great Assam earthquakes of 1897 and 1950, may be locales of possible future great Himalayan earthquakes. Water impoundment of reservoirs of Himalayan dams does not appear to be related to any increase in seismicity.
ISSN:0011-3891