Morphological and microstructural evidences of paleo-seisminc occurrences in an earthquake prone zone of Tripura, India

Abstract

Morphology and structure of a faulted zone not only express the present status but also preserve the evidences of early seismo-tectonic occurrences. The present paper aims to assess the morphological as well as subsurface evidences of early seismo-tectonic occurrences in an earthquake prone zone of Baromura Hill, Tripura. Tectonically this is a part of Tripura-Mizoram fold belt and fall within Zone V of BIS seismic map. In the present research the tectonic lineaments of Baromura Hill was identified by using satellite data. For that purpose, Landsat TM shortwave infrared, midwave infrared and near infrared was selected for preparing suitable band combination. A classified thermal infrared was used for final operation. From the remote sensing operation five clear tectonic lineaments were found. During the field work rock samples were collected for laboratory testing. Thin sections of the rocks show that complex stress pattern was developed during the geological past which caused strong seismo-tectonic occurrences. From the study it can be assessed that though the nature of the paleo-seismic occurrences were almost same but the level of impact varied through spatial and temporal scales due different physical properties and arrangements. It is also clear from the study that the geological evolution of this place is more complex as it seems to be. Tectonic and geomorphic processes worked together through the Tertiary and Quaternary periods and played equally important role for landform evolution.

Keywords

morphology / tectonic lineament / microstructure / grain scale deformation / Baromura Hill / geomorphic process

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