Abstract
Deformation within the Indo-Asian Collision Zone is accommodated on a
complex network of faults spanning thousands of kilometers in any
direction. In order to characterize faulting in the orogen for seismic
hazard assessment, a new fault database was compiled, resulting in
~1000 fault traces mapped at around 1:100,000. A block
model was created simultaneously with the fault mapping to estimate
robust, internally-consistent slip rates on all mapped faults. The block
model inverts >3000 GNSS velocities and
~200 Quaternary geologic slip rates. The results yield
slip rates that are generally quite consistent with geologic estimates,
indicating that decadal and millenial-scale deformation rates are
compatible. Additionally, the great strike-slip faults of the orogen are
the dominant faults of the orogen’s interior, accumulating and
redistributing slip from linked, subordinate fault networks in a way
similar to transfer faults within a basin or thrust belt, but on much
larger scale.