A synthesis of Indian and U.S. geophysical data to investigate the structure and tectonics of the Andaman Sea

The Andaman-Sumatra margin of Southeast Asia is the site of convergence between the floor of the Indian Ocean and the Asian continent that spawns major earthquakes and tsunamis, with consequent loss of both lives and property. An interesting feature of this boundary is that the plate motion changes from normal convergence (perpendicular to the plate boundary) at Sumatra to oblique (parallel to the boundary) in the Andaman Sea. This project seeks to unravel how the displacement is partitioned between these directions, which is crucial to understanding the tectonics of this region. An additional and very significant benefit of the work is that build on and improve a rare collaboration between U.S. investigators and the Indian National Institute of Oceanography.