INTRAPLATE VS INTERPLATE TECTONICS: DELINEATING TECTONIC ACTIVITY BY UTILIZING A TECTONIC-BASED GIS

Intraplate tectonics poses a unique challenge in determining the locale of significant natural hazard risks for both the scientist and the general public. To ascertain intraplate activity, one must aggregate all tectonic data into one coherent digital architecture. The best scientific visualization tool for this is a Geographic Information System (GIS). Such a visualization tool has already been developed (Yates, et. al, 1998; and Lowman, et., al, 1999) to quantify global tectonic activity for the last one million years. This tectonic atlas is the Digital Tectonic Activity Map (DTAM). The DTAM depicts tectonic activity for the past one million years at a length scale of 9-km. The DTAM project has embarked on a study to quantify intraplate tectonic parameters for the proposed Global Earthquake Satellite System (GESS).

This study is focusing on determining the spatial extent from plate boundary tectonics through a transitional zone, to the intraplate tectonics of the continental craton. The plate boundary sites chosen are the NUVEL-1 locations (DeMets, et. al., 1990). These provide a common reference frame from the mid-oceanic ridge system. This has been done for each of the four primary study sites: (1) Aegean Archipelago, (2) Australia, (3) Central and Southern India, and the (4) St. Lawrence River. By ascertaining the tectonic activity of each study region, one may correlate the tectonic activity with other similar geological provinces. By spatially contouring the seismic epicenter distributions for each of the study sites, regions of active or increased intraplate tectonics can be identified. Further information of this intraplate tectonic study can be found on-line at: http://geodynamics.gsfc.nasa.gov/dtam/

References:

DeMets, C., Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F., and Stein, S., "Current Plate Motions" Geophysical Journal International. v. 101, p 425-478. 1990.

Lowman, P., Yates, J., Masuoka, P., Montgomery, B., O'Leary, J., & Salisbury, D. "A Digital Tectonic Activity Map of the Earth" Journ. Geoscience Ed., vol. 47, no. 5, p.428-437. Nov. 1999.

Yates, J., Lowman, P., Masuoka, P., Montgomery, B., and Salisbury, D. "A Digital Tectonic and Volcanic Activity Map." GSA Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 30, No. 7, Oct. 1998.