Direct evidence of active deformation in the eastern Indian oceanic plate

Conventional plate tectonics theory postulates that plates only deform on their boundaries. To the contrary, there is ample evidence of intraplate deformation in the equatorial Indian Ocean, west of the Ninetyeast aseismic ridge. Prior to this study, no direct evidence of deformation east of the Ninetyeast Ridge was available. We present the results of a multipurpose geophysical cruise showing that intraplate deformation also occurs in this area. Long, at least 1000 km, left-lateral north-south strike-slip faults are active and reactivate fossil fracture zones. This style of deformation is strikingly different from the east-west folds and reverse faults that affect the region west of the Ninetyeast Ridge. Contrasting processes of convergence at the northern plate boundaries can account for the two styles of deformation. West of the Ninetyeast Ridge there is a continent-continent collision, and east of the ridge oceanic lithosphere subducts along the Sumatra trench. The Ninetyeast aseismic ridge therefore appears to be a mechanical border separating two distinct deformed areas.