71-7 Geodetic signature of high rate of strain build-up in the Jammu-Kashmir-Zanskar range of Northwest Himalaya

Session: The Geodynamic Evolution of the Himalaya: From Mountain Building to Modern Seismicity and Climate Change (Posters)

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Abstract:

Continuous geodetic measurements were carried out through permanent GPS stations to quantify the present-day rate of crustal strain build-up for assessment of the seismic potential along the Main Himalayan thrust within the Northwest Himalaya. The study reports that north-eastward plate motion in the region, ranging from 44.3 mm/yr in the Sub-Himalaya to 35.3 mm/yr in Higher Himalaya with a maximum rate of surface deformation of 11 mm/yr. A scale dependent weighting factor, using the least square inversion approach, was applied to compute the deformation and rotation rates in the region from the derived site motion. The maximum rate of plate boundary compression in the region is estimated to be ~-70 nano strain/yr towards N32°E in the Zanskar Range with clockwise rotation of the Indian tectonic block with an average rate of 0.8°/Ma. The derived rate of compressive strain buildup suggests accumulation of ~2E+21 Nm of seismic moment energy since the occurrence of last major earthquake in 1555. Based n the findings, we suggest that the region has the potential to reactivate the megathrusts causing an earthquake of Mw>8 in the region. 

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9729

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