4.5 GPlate reconstructions
Relative plate motions induce corresponding regional strain into plates near the plate boundary (Ledouzey, 1986; Heidbach et al., 2007; Zoback & Zoback, 2007). Eastern Oman is located near the present-day Arabia-India plate boundary, i.e., near the Owen Fracture Zone (Fournier et al., 2008; DeMets et al., 2010; Fig. 1).
The ~N/S to NW/SE-oriented Eocene to Miocene compressive structures deformed sedimentary rocks likely due to ~E/W to NE/SW-directed shortening. A suitable geodynamic cause for this shortening is the convergence history between the Arabian and Indian plates as suggested by Fournier et al. (2006) and Gaina et al. (2015). The latter authors suggested minor E/W-shortening between the Arabian and Indian plates from 40 Ma to the present (their Fig. 7). We analyzed the plate configurations of Arabia and India during the Cenozoic using the GPlates software to develop the causal relationship.
In all our reconstructions, Arabia is anchored (fixed). We describe the distance of India (near the present-day location of Karachi at 24°50ꞌN/66°40ꞌE) and the western tip of the 64 Ma isochron, as part of the Indian Plate, with respect to Arabia (East of Sur: 22°29ꞌ30ꞌN/59°49ꞌE; Figs. 10-12). We calculated/measured the E/W-component of distance of the two fix points between India and Arabia at different times (distance between Karachi and Sur, and distance between western tip of the 64 Ma isochron and Sur).