The Arabia–India plate boundary: New active fault scarp system found

A Survey of the Owen Fracture Zone at the boundary between the Arabia and India plates in the NW Indian Ocean revealed a previously unrecognized and active submarine fault scarp system running for over 800 km

Abstract and Highlights:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V61-51VXWM3-6&_user=10&_coverDate=02%2F01%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=ce869bbe71a08151ca659f844f584af1&searchtype=a

the whole Article can be downloaded as .pdf here:
http://marc.fournier.free.free.fr/publications/Fournier_et_al_EPSL_2011.pdf

Here's a (google)-translation of an german article:


Indian Ocean: active rejection increases tsunami risk
Owen back at the warp-marked boundary between Arabian and Indian plate
A previously unknown system of active faults in the Indian Ocean has turned out to be the boundary between Indian and Arabian plate. The French research team discovered a 800-kilometer interface is still active and often triggers huge landslides. Therefore now it is also the earthquake and tsunami risk in the Indian Ocean are revalued, the geologists concluded in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Since then, the theory of plate tectonics by Alfred Wegener in the 1960 general finally enforced, the "seams" of the earth's crust, the subject of intense research. In particular, the plate boundaries along which accumulate volcanoes or earthquakes, are now under almost constant surveillance. But yet there are still areas that are either too quiet or unobtrusive to have been investigated to date more precisely.

Such a "white spot" on the research map is the plate boundary between the Indian and the Arabian Plate. Both panels slide in the amount of the so-called Owen Fracture Zone in the Indian Ocean past each other. This zone is characterized by low seismicity, and a fold out, which rises to 2,000 meters above the ocean floor. The Arabian plate is moving, slightly faster than the Indian plate, according to a rate of two to four millimeters per year north.

800 km long fault system
Thanks to the "Owen" expedition in 2009 managed a research team of the Institute of Earth Sciences Paris (istep), the Laboratory of Geology of the CNRS and the Research Centre Géoazur this boundary between the Arabian and Indian plates now be defined more precisely. The researchers were based its work on a high-resolution Tiefseelot on board the research vessel Beautemps-Beaupré.

The bathymetric data brought a previously unknown fault system to the light, which extends over more than 800 kilometers northwest of the Indian Ocean. They also revealed that not the towering Owen-back is the primary plate boundary, but a series of striking shift segments which are interrupted by several bends.

Landslides highlight high activity and increased risk of tsunami
Noticeable is: Although the Indus transported large quantities of sediment from the Himalayas into the Indian Ocean, are the faults not covered by debris and can be a hundred kilometers of track visible. According to the researchers, this is a sign of continued active tectonics in this area. Especially on the western side of the Owen Ridge also many traces of landslides are observed, which were probably triggered by earthquakes along the Owen Fracture Zone. They are a potential source of tsunamis on the adjacent coasts of Oman.

http://www.g-o.de/wissen-aktuell-12943-2011-02-04.html

FYI - 5.0 earthquake there today.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usb0001bdn.php#details

Talk about the middle of nowhere...