Present-day stress field of Southeast Asia

Abstract

It is now well established that ridge push forces provide a major control on the plate-scale stress field in most of the Earth's tectonic plates. However, the Sunda plate that comprises much of Southeast Asia is one of only two plates not bounded by a major spreading centre and thus provides an opportunity to evaluate other forces that control the intraplate stress field. The Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Sunda plate is usually considered to be controlled by escape tectonics associated with India-Eurasia collision. However, the Sunda plate is bounded by a poorly understood and complex range of convergent and strike-slip zones and little is known about the effect of these other plate boundaries on the intraplate stress field in the region. We compile the first extensive stress dataset for Southeast Asia, A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTthe radiating stress patterns arising from the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. However, the present-day maximum horizontal stress is primarily oriented NW-SE in Borneo, a direction that may reflect plate-boundary forces or topographic stresses exerted by the central Borneo highlands. Furthermore, the South and Central Sumatra Basins exhibit a NE-SW maximum horizontal stress direction that is perpendicular to the Indo-Australian subduction front. Hence, the plate-scale stress field in Southeast Asia appears to be controlled by a combination of Himalayan orogeny-related deformation, forces related to subduction (primarily trench suction and collision) and intraplate sources of stress such as topography and basin geometry.

Linear volcanic segments in the central Sunda Arc, Indonesia, identified using Hough Transform analysis: Implications for arc lithosphere control upon volcano distribution

“…However, geodetic data ( Fig. 9a) and far field stress 434 indicators (Tingay et al, 2010) may be more consistent with contraction or 435 transpression across the arc (Fig. 9d).…”

Tectonics and Geological Factors Controlling Cleat Development in the Barito Basin, Indonesia

“…This contractional regime still persists to the present day with the convergence and collision between the Australian and the SE Sunda Plate [18,22]. The present-day maximum horizontal stress (S Hmax ) in Borneo is primarily oriented NW-SE [17] (see Figure 3 for details). This NW-SE maximum horizontal stress orientation in Borneo has long been postulated to have been caused by the orientation of geologically recent lineaments and the NW-SE oriented inversion of many major structures [23].…”

“…By Eocene times, India began to collide with the southern Eurasian margin [16]. The Eocene India-Eurasia collision was likely responsible for the Cenozoic tectonic events in most of Southeast Asia [17,18]. However, the tectonic evolution in Borneo is less likely to be related directly to the collision of India with Eurasia [19,20].…”

Stress state in the Cuu Long and Nam Con Son basins, offshore Vietnam

“…Maximum horizontal stress is oriented NWeSE to NeS in the Cuu Long Basin (Binh et al, 2007;Le and Nguyen, 2008), NEeSW in the northern part of the Nam Con Son Basin, and NeS in the central part of the basin (Binh et al, 2007). Tingay et al (2010) suggested that stresses might be locally deflected within both basins by the mechanical contrasts associated with structures in the area. (Tandom et al, 1997;Binh et al, 2007) and from earthquakes (Nguyen et al, 2008a).…”