Tectonic Evolution of a Sedimented Oceanic Transform Fault: The Owen Transform Fault, Indian Ocean

The Owen transform fault (OTF) connecting the Sheba and the Carlsberg spreading ridges in the Indian Ocean currently forms the active plate boundary between India and Somalia plates. This 330‐km‐long transform fault is by far the longest transform fault along the India‐Somalia plate boundary and its valley is buried under the thick distal turbidites of the Indus Fan with total thickness ranging from 1,000 to >5,000 m. A new set of seismic reflection and multibeam bathymetric data reveals remarkable transpressive structures along its entire length recorded as folds in the sedimentary cover, eruption of mud ridges at the seafloor, thrusts in the young oceanic lithosphere. Based on a new regional time‐calibration of the seismic reflectors, we show that sediments in the transform valley (post 8.6 Ma) recorded a period of tectonic quiescence until the onset of a transpressive event around 1.5–2.4 Ma that we relate to a minor change in India‐Somalia kinematics not captured by magnetic anomalies. This tectonic regime is still active based on compressive earthquakes and deformation of the most recent sediments. Transpression resulted in the formation of a proto‐median ridge and the coeval propagation of the tip of the Carlsberg Ridge into the Somalian plate. These features are typically encountered at many other transform faults but rarely captured in their very early stage.

[1]  D. Lange,et al.  Disparate crustal thicknesses beneath oceanic transform faults and adjacent fracture zones revealed by gravity anomalies , 2023, Geology.

[2]  I. Grevemeyer,et al.  Impact of Spreading Rate and Age‐Offset on Oceanic Transform Fault Morphology , 2022, Geophysical Research Letters.

[3]  M. Wolfson-Schwehr,et al.  Oceanic transform fault seismicity and slip mode influenced by seawater infiltration , 2021, Nature Geoscience.

[4]  C. Demets,et al.  Detailed reconstructions of India-Somalia plate motion, 60 Ma to present: Implications for Somalia plate absolute motion and India-Eurasia plate motion , 2021, Geophysical Journal International.

[5]  J. Braun,et al.  Flexural strike-slip basins , 2021, Geology.

[6]  M. Marjanović,et al.  Serpentinized peridotite versus thick mafic crust at the Romanche oceanic transform fault , 2021 .

[7]  C. Devey,et al.  Extensional tectonics and two-stage crustal accretion at oceanic transform faults , 2021, Nature.

[8]  C. Vargas,et al.  Global variation of seismic energy release with oceanic lithosphere age , 2021, Scientific reports.

[9]  D. Storchak,et al.  Rebuild of the Bulletin of the International Seismological Centre (ISC)—part 2: 1980–2010 , 2020, Geoscience Letters.

[10]  M. Marjanović,et al.  Seismic Crustal Structure and Morphotectonic Features Associated With the Chain Fracture Zone and Their Role in the Evolution of the Equatorial Atlantic Region , 2020, Journal of geophysical research. Solid earth.

[11]  M. Agius,et al.  Evolution of the Oceanic Lithosphere in the Equatorial Atlantic From Rayleigh Wave Tomography, Evidence for Small‐Scale Convection From the PI‐LAB Experiment , 2020, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

[12]  J. Bull,et al.  A complete structural model and kinematic history for distributed deformation in the Wharton Basin , 2020, Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

[13]  C. Teyssier,et al.  Fracture-mediated deep seawater flow and mantle hydration on oceanic transform faults , 2020 .

[14]  A. Kohli,et al.  Evidence for a Deep Hydrologic Cycle on Oceanic Transform Faults , 2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

[15]  C. Demets,et al.  High-resolution reconstructions and GPS estimates of India–Eurasia and India–Somalia plate motions: 20 Ma to the present , 2020, Geophysical Journal International.

[16]  M. Cormier,et al.  Distinctive Seafloor Fabric Produced Near Western Versus Eastern Ridge‐Transform Intersections of the Northern Mid‐Atlantic Ridge: Possible Influence of Ridge Migration , 2019, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

[17]  S. Constable,et al.  Marine Geophysical Investigation of the Chain Fracture Zone in the Equatorial Atlantic From the PI‐LAB Experiment , 2018, Journal of geophysical research. Solid earth.

[18]  M. Agius,et al.  Sediment Characterization at the Equatorial Mid‐Atlantic Ridge From P‐to‐S Teleseismic Phase Conversions Recorded on the PI‐LAB Experiment , 2018, Geophysical research letters.

[19]  M. Fournier,et al.  The Geological Evolution of the Aden‐Owen‐Carlsberg Triple Junction (NW Indian Ocean) Since the Late Miocene , 2018 .

[20]  D. Storchak,et al.  Rebuild of the Bulletin of the International Seismological Centre (ISC), part 1: 1964–1979 , 2017, Geoscience Letters.

[21]  R. Gordon,et al.  The rigid‐plate and shrinking‐plate hypotheses: Implications for the azimuths of transform faults , 2016 .

[22]  Jean-Yves Royer,et al.  Seismicity and active accretion processes at the ultraslow-spreading Southwest and intermediate-spreading Southeast Indian ridges from hydroacoustic data , 2016 .

[23]  A. Briais,et al.  Extreme mantle uplift and exhumation along a transpressive transform fault , 2016 .

[24]  P. Clift,et al.  Identification of new deep sea sinuous channels in the eastern Arabian Sea , 2016, SpringerPlus.

[25]  M. Fournier,et al.  Tracking the paleogene India-Arabia plate boundary , 2016 .

[26]  B. Tikoff,et al.  An Abrupt Transition in the Mechanical Response of the Upper Crust to Transpression Along the Queen Charlotte Fault , 2015 .

[27]  M. Fournier,et al.  Tectonics of the Dalrymple Trough and uplift of the Murray Ridge (NW Indian Ocean) , 2014 .

[28]  M. Fournier,et al.  The Owen Ridge uplift in the Arabian Sea: Implications for the sedimentary record of Indian monsoon in Late Miocene , 2014 .

[29]  M. Sambridge,et al.  REDBACK: Open‐source software for efficient noise‐reduction in plate kinematic reconstructions , 2014 .

[30]  J. Dyment,et al.  Revisiting the structure, age, and evolution of the Wharton Basin to better understand subduction under Indonesia , 2014 .

[31]  D. Rea.  Delivery of Himalayan Sediment to the Northern Indian Ocean and Its Relation to Global Climate, Sea Level, Uplift, and Seawater Strontium , 2013 .

[32]  F. Coren,et al.  How do long‐offset oceanic transforms adapt to plate motion changes? The example of the Western Pacific‐Antarctic plate boundary , 2013 .

[33]  F. Rolandone,et al.  From rifting to oceanic spreading in the Gulf of Aden: a synthesis , 2012, Arabian Journal of Geosciences.

[34]  Göran Ekström,et al.  The global CMT project 2004–2010: Centroid-moment tensors for 13,017 earthquakes , 2012 .

[35]  M. Sambridge,et al.  Reconstructing plate-motion changes in the presence of finite-rotations noise , 2012, Nature Communications.

[36]  Mathieu Rodriguez,et al.  Neotectonics of the Owen Fracture Zone (NW Indian Ocean): Structural evolution of an oceanic strike‐slip plate boundary , 2011 .

[37]  M. Fournier,et al.  Owen Fracture Zone: The Arabia–India plate boundary unveiled , 2011 .

[38]  J. Stock,et al.  Abyssal hill deflections at Pacific‐Antarctic ridge‐transform intersections , 2010 .

[39]  P. Bown,et al.  Locating earliest records of orogenesis in western Himalaya: evidence from Paleogene sediments in the Iranian Makran region and Pakistan Katawaz basin , 2010 .

[40]  M. Behn,et al.  The structure of oceanic core complexes controlled by the depth distribution of magma emplacement , 2010 .

[41]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  Geologically current plate motions , 2010 .

[42]  M. Fournier,et al.  Arabia‐Somalia plate kinematics, evolution of the Aden‐Owen‐Carlsberg triple junction, and opening of the Gulf of Aden , 2010 .

[43]  D. Sanderson,et al.  Reconciling plate kinematic and seismic estimates of lithospheric convergence in the central Indian Ocean , 2010 .

[44]  Mathieu Fournier,et al.  Tracking Arabia-India motion from Miocene to Present , 2009 .

[45]  D. Fabre,et al.  Global Bathymetry and Elevation Data at 30 Arc Seconds Resolution: SRTM30_PLUS , 2009 .

[46]  John F. Casey,et al.  Life cycle of oceanic core complexes , 2009 .

[47]  W. Ryan,et al.  Global Multi‐Resolution Topography synthesis , 2009 .

[48]  Ravi Kumar,et al.  Horizontal thermal contraction of oceanic lithosphere: The ultimate limit to the rigid plate approximation , 2009 .

[49]  M. Behn,et al.  Magmatic and tectonic extension at mid‐ocean ridges: 1. Controls on fault characteristics , 2008 .

[50]  N. Chamot-Rooke,et al.  Fault reactivation and selective abandonment in the oceanic lithosphere , 2008 .

[51]  M. Behn,et al.  Thermal structure of oceanic transform faults , 2007 .

[52]  M. Fournier,et al.  Segmentation and along‐strike asymmetry of the passive margin in Socotra, eastern Gulf of Aden: Are they controlled by detachment faults? , 2007 .

[53]  C. Demets,et al.  Constraints on Indian plate motion since 20 Ma from dense Russian magnetic data: Implications for Indian plate dynamics , 2006 .

[54]  P. Clift,et al.  Controls on the erosion of Cenozoic Asia and the flux of clastic sediment to the ocean , 2006 .

[55]  L. Gasperini,et al.  Flexural uplift of a lithospheric slab near the Vema transform (Central Atlantic): Timing and mechanisms , 2005 .

[56]  Y. Najman.  The detrital record of orogenesis: A review of approaches and techniques used in the Himalayan sedimentary basins , 2005 .

[57]  William Bosworth,et al.  The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Basins , 2005 .

[58]  J. Daniel,et al.  Why did Arabia separate from Africa? Insights from 3-D laboratory experiments , 2003 .

[59]  J. Stock,et al.  Cenozoic evolution of Neotethys and implications for the causes of plate motions , 2003 .

[60]  L. Gasperini,et al.  Mantle thermal pulses below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and temporal variations in the formation of oceanic lithosphere , 2003, Nature.

[61]  A. Poliakov,et al.  Modes of faulting at mid-ocean ridges , 2003, Nature.

[62]  P. Bird.  An updated digital model of plate boundaries , 2003 .

[63]  M. Zuber,et al.  Evidence for weak oceanic transform faults , 2002 .

[64]  R. White,et al.  The stratigraphic evolution of the Indus Fan and the history of sedimentation in the Arabian Sea , 2002 .

[65]  R. Armijo,et al.  Long-term elasticity in the continental lithosphere; modelling the Aden Ridge propagation and the Anatolian extrusion process , 2002 .

[66]  J. Blusztajn,et al.  Development of the Indus Fan and its significance for the erosional history of the Western Himalaya and Karakoram , 2001 .

[67]  A. Niem,et al.  Detrital modes and provenance of the Paleogene Khojak Formation in Pakistan: Implications for early Himalayan orogeny and unroofing , 2001 .

[68]  R. White,et al.  Extension across the Indian–Arabian plate boundary:the Murray Ridge , 2000 .

[69]  J. Angelier,et al.  Variable coupling across weak oceanic transform fault: Flateyjarskagi, Iceland , 2000 .

[70]  R. Pockalny,et al.  ANOMALOUSLY ROTATED ABYSSAL HILLS ALONG ACTIVE TRANSFORMS : DISTRIBUTED DEFORMATION OF OCEANIC LITHOSPHERE , 1999 .

[71]  J. Dyment.  Evolution of the Carlsberg Ridge between 60 and 45 Ma: Ridge propagation, spreading asymmetry, and the Deccan-Reunion hotspot , 1998 .

[72]  Anjana K. Shah,et al.  Evolution of the Pacific-Antarctic ridge south of the Udintsev fracture zone , 1997 .

[73]  A. Niem,et al.  Discovery of the palaeo-Indus delta-fan complex , 1997, Journal of the Geological Society.

[74]  J. Goff,et al.  Stochastic analysis of seafloor morphology on the flank of the Southeast Indian Ridge: The influence of ridge morphology on the formation of abyssal hills , 1997 .

[75]  U. Rad,et al.  Late Quaternary sedimentation on the outer Indus shelf and slope (Pakistan): evidence from high-resolution seismic data and coring , 1997 .

[76]  P. J. Fox,et al.  Tectonic reconstruction of the Clipperton and Siqueiros Fracture Zones: Evidence and consequences of plate motion change , 1997 .

[77]  P. Tapponnier,et al.  Propagation of rifting along the Arabia‐Somalia Plate Boundary: The Gulfs of Aden and Tadjoura , 1997 .

[78]  R. Pockalny.  Evidence of transpression along the Clipperton Transform: Implications for processes of plate boundary reorganization , 1997 .

[79]  A. Niem,et al.  Newly discovered Paleogene deltaic sequence in Katawaz basin, Pakistan, and its tectonic implications , 1996 .

[80]  M. Brudzinski,et al.  Changes in plate motions and the shape of Pacific fracture zones , 1996 .

[81]  J. Stock,et al.  Geophysics of the Pitman Fracture Zone and Pacific-Antarctic Plate Motions During the Cenozoic , 1995, Science.

[82]  C. Beaumont,et al.  Three‐dimensional numerical experiments of strain partitioning at oblique plate boundaries: Implications for contrasting tectonic styles in the southern Coast Ranges, California, and central South Island, New Zealand , 1995 .

[83]  R. Kidd,et al.  A time-slice approach to the history of Cenozoic sedimentation in the Indian Ocean , 1995 .

[84]  L. Gasperini,et al.  Transform migration and vertical tectonics at the Romanche fracture zone, equatorial Atlantic , 1994 .

[85]  W. Ryan,et al.  Flow line variations in abyssal hill morphology for the Pacific‐Antarctic Ridge at 65°S , 1994 .

[86]  S. Solomon,et al.  Oceanic transform earthquakes with unusual mechanisms or locations - Relation to fault geometry and state of stress in the adjacent lithosphere , 1993 .

[87]  B. Tikoff,et al.  The deformation matrix for simultaneous simple shearing, pure shearing and volume change, and its application to transpression-transtension tectonics , 1993 .

[88]  S. Stein,et al.  A model for the global variation in oceanic depth and heat flow with lithospheric age , 1992, Nature.

[89]  H. Schouten,et al.  Tectonic Evolution of the Atlantis II Fracture Zone , 1991 .

[90]  W. Haxby,et al.  Thermal stresses, differential subsidence, and flexure at oceanic fracture zones , 1990 .

[91]  J. Severinghaus,et al.  High inside corners at ridge-transform intersections , 1988 .

[92]  J. R. Cochran.  Somali Basin, Chain Ridge, and origin of the Northern Somali Basin gravity and geoid low , 1988 .

[93]  P. J. Fox,et al.  Morphology and tectonics of the Kane Transform from Sea Beam bathymetry data , 1988 .

[94]  H. Schouten,et al.  Kane Fracture Zone , 1988 .

[95]  V. Kolla,et al.  Morphology, Internal Structure, Seismic Stratigraphy, and Sedimentation of Indus Fan , 1987 .

[96]  M. Steckler,et al.  Lithospheric strength variations as a control on new plate boundaries: examples from the northern Red Sea region , 1986 .

[97]  E. Parmentier,et al.  Thermal stresses in the oceanic lithosphere: Evidence from geoid anomalies at fracture zones , 1986 .

[98]  D. Sandwell.  Thermal stress and the spacings of transform faults , 1986 .

[99]  C. Stein,et al.  The transition between the Sheba Ridge and Owen Basin: rifting of old oceanic lithosphere , 1985 .

[100]  J. Achache,et al.  India–Eurasia collision chronology has implications for crustal shortening and driving mechanism of plates , 1984, Nature.

[101]  P. J. Fox,et al.  A tectonic model for ridge-transform-ridge plate boundaries: implications for the structure of oceanic lithosphere , 1984 .

[102]  S. Solomon,et al.  An extensive region of off‐ridge normal‐faulting earthquakes in the southern Indian Ocean , 1984 .

[103]  E. Parmentier,et al.  Lithospheric stress near a ridge‐transform intersection , 1984 .

[104]  E. Bonatti,et al.  Ultramafic rock/seawater interaction in the oceanic crust: Mg-silicate (sepiolite) deposit from the Indian Ocean floor , 1983 .

[105]  G. Schubert,et al.  Lithospheric flexure at fracture zones , 1982 .

[106]  John H. Woodhouse,et al.  Determination of earthquake source parameters from waveform data for studies of global and regional seismicity , 1981 .

[107]  J. R. Cochran.  The Gulf of Aden: Structure and evolution of a young ocean basin and continental margin , 1981 .

[108]  E. Bonatti,et al.  Petrology of mantle-derived ultramafics from the Owen fracture zone, northwest Indian ocean: Implications for the nature of the oceanic upper mantle , 1980 .

[109]  E. Bonatti,et al.  Mantle Uplifted Block in the Western Indian Ocean , 1978, Science.

[110]  R. L. Carlson,et al.  Site 353: Vema Fracture Zone , 1977 .

[111]  E. Bonatti.  Serpentinite protrusions in the oceanic crust , 1976 .

[112]  B. J. Collette.  Thermal contraction joints in a spreading seafloor as origin of fracture zones , 1974, Nature.

[113]  D. Turcotte.  Are transform faults thermal contraction cracks , 1974 .

[114]  O. Weser.  Sedimentological Aspects of Strata Encountered on Leg 23 in the Northern Arabian Sea , 1974 .

[115]  R. Kidd,et al.  Sedimentation of Coarser Grained Interbeds in the Arabian Sea and Sedimentation Processes of the Indus Cone , 1974 .

[116]  G. Thompson,et al.  The Petrology of Oceanic Crust across Fracture Zones in the Atlantic Ocean: Evidence of a New Kind of Sea-Floor Spreading , 1972, The Journal of Geology.

[117]  H. W. Menard,et al.  Origin of Fracture Zone Topography , 1969, Nature.

[118]  M. Maia.  Topographic and Morphologic Evidences of Deformation at Oceanic Transform Faults: Far-Field and Local-Field Stresses , 2019, Transform Plate Boundaries and Fracture Zones.

[119]  T. K. Mallik.  11. HEAVY MINERAL STUDIES OF SAMPLES FROM DEEP SEA DRILL CORES OF SITES 223 AND 224, LEG 23, GLOMAR CHALLENGER CRUISE IN THE ARABIAN SEA , 2007 .

[120]  G. Weedon,et al.  MUD TURBIDITES FROM THE OLIGOCENE AND MIOCENE INDUS FAN AT SITES 722 AND 731 ON THE OWEN RIDGE , 2006 .

[121]  J. Royer,et al.  Paleogene magnetic isochrons and palaeo-propagators in the Arabian and Eastern Somali basins, NW Indian Ocean , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[122]  P. Clift,et al.  Seismic stratigraphy and correlation of major regional unconformities in the northern Arabian Sea , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[123]  A. Poliakov,et al.  Oceanic broad multifault transform plate boundaries , 2002 .

[124]  J. Royer,et al.  Paleogene plate tectonic evolution of the Arabian and Eastern Somali basins , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[125]  B. Tikoff,et al.  Extended models of transpression and transtension, and application to tectonic settings , 1998, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[126]  A. Chaubey,et al.  Early Tertiary seafloor spreading magnetic anomalies and paleo-propagators in the northern Arabian Sea , 1998 .

[127]  J. Cann,et al.  Corrugated slip surfaces formed at ridge–transform intersections on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge , 1997, Nature.

[128]  P. Gente,et al.  Oceanic transverse ridges: A flexural response to fracture-zone–normal extension , 1996 .

[129]  W. Prell,et al.  A multiphase plate tectonic history of the southeast continental margin of Oman , 1990, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[130]  S. Stein,et al.  A kinematic model of ridge-transform geometry evolution , 1988 .

[131]  E. Bonatti.  Vertical tectonism in oceanic fracture zones , 1978 .

[132]  J. L. Harrison,et al.  The Government Printing Office , 1968, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.