University of Santo Tomas - Legazpi

College of Engineering, Architecture, and Fine Arts

Tectonic Plates in Asia

Prepared by:

BALATUCAN, JOHN MARK C.

BSCE 2A3

CE224: Geology for Civil Engineers

Submitted to:

Engr. Keren Dy Angustia

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I. INTRODUCTION

As introduced by Meteorologist Alfred Wegner the Continental Drift theory stating that

there is one massive continent which composed of the present islands and continents around

the globe. Almost all of Earth's landmasses were part of Pangea, a supercontinent that existed

in early geologic times. Panthalassa, the global ocean that encircled Pangea, was completely

assembled by the Early Permian Epoch, which occurred between 299 and 273 million years

ago. According to J. Rafferty, 2024, Plate tectonics has replaced Wegener's antiquated theory

of continental drift, which proposed that Earth's continents were formerly united to form the

supercontinent Pangea, which persisted for the majority of geologic time, as the mechanism for

the breakup of Pangea. Due to plate tectonics, the vast, unyielding plates that make up Earth's

outer shell, or lithosphere, move apart at oceanic ridges, come together at subduction zones,

or slip past one another along fault lines. Seafloor spreading patterns suggest that Pangea did

not split into pieces all at once, but rather broke apart into smaller pieces over time. The theory

of plate tectonics also suggests that throughout Earth's geologic past, the continents combined

and separated several times.

Approximately 180 million years ago, the Atlantic Ocean between North America and

Africa's northwest and the Indian Ocean between Africa and Antarctica were the first oceans to

originate from the breakup. About 140 million years ago, when Africa broke away from South

America, the South Atlantic Ocean opened. The central Indian Ocean was formed at the same

period as Antarctica and Australia split off from India. Finally, North America broke away from

Europe about 80 million years ago, Australia started to rifts away from Antarctica, and India
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broke away from Madagascar. The Himalayas were created when India and Eurasia finally

clashed some 50 million years ago. The tectonic plates are categorized in three names; Major

plates (primary), Minor plates (secondary), and Microplates (tertiary) which differ from each

other in terms of size (km). Focusing at the continent of Asia whereas vast of natural resources

and huge geological discoveries. It is also divided into many tectonic plates as part of the Plate

Tectonic movements theorem, it is constantly moving every time. As the evidence of its

movements are the representation of the mountain ridges, volcanoes, submerging land

masses, and other geological properties cause by the movements of the plates.

II. DISCUSSION

The continent of Asia is composed of distinct plates which are Eurasia plate,

Filipino plate, Indian plate, Arabian plate, and Sunda plate. These plates posed a large mass

and perimeter in Asia, constantly moving. Over time, the Asian plate's arrangement has

undergone substantial alteration. The northern portion of the Philippine Sea Plate was situated

close to the equator in the Eocene, some 50 million years ago. At that time, it experienced a

clockwise 90° revolution on a 23°N/162°E Euler pole, and for the next 25 million years, it

moved northward. It was about where it is now, and rotation had stopped, around 15 Ma ago.

(Yamazaki et al, 2010) “As the India Plate drifted northwards, rotated and collided with Eurasia

at an oblique angle, transform forces along the newly created subduction front caused the

bending of the Sunda arc. Later, in the Oligocene ~32 Ma ago, further faulting developed and

the Burma and Sunda plates began to break off from Eurasia.” (Zahran et al, 2007) The

collision and convergence of these plates result in various tectonic activities such as
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earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the formation of mountain ranges. The Himalayas, for

example, continue to grow taller due to ongoing tectonic activity. Asia experiences significant

seismic hazards due to its complex tectonic setting. Earthquakes are frequent in regions like

Japan, Indonesia, China, and the Himalayan region. These seismic events can have

devastating consequences on human settlements and infrastructure.

Figure 1. Geological Map of Tectonic Plates Movements in Asia

The Sunda plate, Burma plate, Okhotsk plate, Eurasian plate, and Pacific plate

are all interconnected tectonic features. The northernmost Okhotsk plate has a velocity of

25mm/year relative to the Eurasian plate, with convergent boundaries connecting it to the

Philippine Sea and Amur plates. The Philippine Sea plate has a relative velocity of 51mm/year
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with subduction occurring along its border. The Marianas plate moves 25mm/year. relative to

the Eurasian plate, while the Burma plate has a velocity of 44mm/year at 15°. The Sunda

plate, with a velocity of 11mm/year at 91.8°, is larger than the other plates.

Figure 2. Globe Map of Tectonic

Plates in Asia (E. Fitzhenry, 2014)

The Andaman and Nicobar island chains, northern Sumatra, and the Andaman

Ocean Basin comprise the Burma microplate, which is primarily composed of oceanic crust. In

a region of the world that is quite active in terms of plate tectonics, the Burma microplate is

surrounded by the Australian, Sunda, Indian, and Eurasian plates. The Sunda trench, where

the overriding Burma microplate is subducting beneath the Indian plate, is located on the

western flank. The Australian plate is located to the south, and the Sunda plate is to the east.

The Burma plate is classified as a sliver plate because of the oblique convergence on either

side of the plate, which gave it its peculiar shape. (A. Haugan, n.d.)
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The Himalaya (the Indian plate) was raised due to the Indian plate colliding with

Asia around 50 million years ago, and the Asian plate's crustal thickening in Tibet intensified.

The Cretaceous island arc sequence (Kohistan-Dras arc) and thrust sheets of ophiolites

(Tethyan oceanic crust and mantle) were deposited southward onto the Indian continental edge

before the collision. The collision between India and Asia was characterized by the following

events: the Indian plate's northward velocity abruptly decreased; marine sedimentation ended

along the collision zone, the Indus—Yarlung Tsangpo suture zone; continental sedimentation

began along the suture zone and the Tethyan Himalaya to the south; and subduction-related

calc-alkaline magmatism ended along the southern margin of Asia (Ladakh—Gangdese granite

batholith). (M. Searle, 2021)

Figure 3. Map of the

boundaries of South Asia Plates

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The Sunda Plate, also called the Sunda land Block, is encircled on all

sides by tectonically active convergent boundaries, beneath which the Indo-Australian Plate

subducts to the south and the Philippine Sea Plate to the east. The rather gradual collision

between the Sunda Plate and the Eurasian Plate, of which the Sunda land Block was formerly

thought to be a component, defines the Sunda Plate's northern limit (Baroux, 1998). According

to Kroker (2012), this specific area of Southeast Asia is among the planet's most seismically

active and tectonically complex locations. There is a rise in differential tensions within the Indo-

Australian Plate as a result of the northward-moving plate colliding with the Eurasian Plate and

slowing down in comparison to its northward migration and collision with the southern edge of

the Sunda Plate.

The tectonic peculiarity of the Philippine Sea plate is that nearly all of its

boundaries are convergent. While the west/northwest portion of the Philippine Sea plate is

subducting beneath the continental Eurasian plate, the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the

Philippine Sea plate to the east. The Australian plate to the south and the Okhtosk plate to the

north form the shorter borders of the Philippine Sea plate. There are additional transform faults

close to Taiwan and the Philippine trench. According to Smoczyk et al. (2013), the Philippine

Sea plate is moving relative to the Eurasian plate at a rate of about 80 mm/yr. This means that

earthquakes and tsunamis are more likely to occur soon. The thickness of the plate varies

throughout, with values around the Nankai trough calculated by Yoshioka and Ito (2001) to

range from 29 to 41 km. They propose that differences in thickness are influenced by the

formation process and the age of the sea floor.

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Figure 4. Philippine Sea Plate Boundaries

The Okhotsk plate is situated on the western edge of Asia, covering the

Kamatchka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island, and the northern half of Japan in addition to the

Okhotsk Sea. Although it was once thought to be a component of the North American plate,

more recent studies have revealed that it travels independently and is actually a different plate

(Sakurai et al. 2006). The Ulakhan Fault, a transform fault that is left-lateral (or sinistral) in

nature, separates the North American plate from the Okhotsk plate. This fault's westernmost

segment is linked to a triple junction where the Okhotsk, Eurasian, and North American plates

converge, compressing the region and creating a more complex environment. According to

Hindle et al. (2009), there are several NW-SE trending strike slip faults that divide this NW

region of the plate into several faulting blocks.

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Figure 5. Active Plate Tectonic Boundary

Movement at East Asia

The various geological characteristics, seismic activity, and geological

dangers found in Asia are a result of these plate tectonic processes. Studying the region's

geology, seismic risk, and tectonic evolution requires an understanding of these movements.

Derive to the understanding about the process and conclude how things come together such

as the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau were formed as a result of significant tectonic

processes in Asia between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes and volcanic arcs are

resulting from the Pacific Plate boundary subducting beneath other plates. The lateral motion

between the plates is accommodated by transform boundaries, such as the Kunlun Fault in

western China and the Altyn Tagh Fault. Tectonic plate movement is creating rift zones, like the
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East African Rift, where rift valleys and new ocean basins are being formed. Asia's geological

evolution is also influenced by internal plate tectonic deformation.

III. REFERENCE

Das, S., & Filson, J., On the tectonics of Asia, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 28,

Issue 2, 1975, Pages 241-253, ISSN 0012-821X, https://rb.gy/sgtcsq

Fitzhenry, E., (2014). Tectonics of Asia., EPSC 350 - Tectonics, McGill University,

https://tectonicsofasia.weebly.com/

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Pangea". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Feb. 2024,

https://www.britannica.com/place/Pangea

Searle, M., et al, (2021) India: Asia Collision and Tibet, Encyclopedia of Geology (Second

Edition), Academic Press, Pages 486-493, ISBN 9780081029091,

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.12493-5.

Kroker, H. 2012. October 17th. Überraschung im Indischen Ozean.

http://www.planeterde.de/wissen/ueberraschung-im-indischen-ozean

Baroux, E., et al. 1998. Slip-partitioning and fore-arc deformation at the Sunda Trench

Indonesia. Terra Nova, vol. 10, 139-144. Doi: 10.1046/j.1365 3121. 1998. 00182.x
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Seno, T., T. Sakurai, and S. Stein (1996), Can the Okhotsk Plate be discriminated from the

North American plate?, J. Geophys. Res., 101(B5), 11305–11315, doi:10.1029/96JB00532