Frontal expansion of an accretionary wedge under highly oblique

plate convergence: Southern Indo-Burman Ranges, Myanmar

Peng Zhang1,2,†, Shao-Yong Jiang1, Raymond A. Donelick3, Renyuan Li4, Cleber J. Soares5, and Lianfu Mei2
1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploration of Strategic
Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
2Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources (China University of Geosciences), Ministry of Education,

Wuhan 430074, China

3Apatite.com Partners, LLC, 1075, Matson Road Viola, Idaho 83872-9709, USA
4International Limited, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Beijing 10027, China
5ChronusCamp Research, São Paulo State 13974-160, Brazil

ABSTRACT
The formation of accretionary wedges
with oversteepened slopes and uplifted axial
zones has been demonstrated to be poten-
tially associated with highly oblique plate
convergence by numerical and analog stud-
ies. The direct role of this mechanism, or
other factor(s) in producing the described
structural and morphological features in
nature, however, has yet to be confirmed.
We used seismic reflection sections, detrital
zircon U-Pb ages, and detrital apatite fission-
track thermochronological data to examine
the effects of highly oblique convergence and
sediment reworking on accretionary wedge
growth in the Indo-Burma Subduction Zone.
A detailed subsurface structural analysis of
a two-dimensional seismic survey from the
outer wedge of the southern Indo-Burman
Ranges, Myanmar, yielded three primary
characteristics. These are (1) a narrow, steep
deformation front (average width 15.6 km)
and a vast, low-relief shelf terrace (average
width 49 km); (2) a comparatively long-lived
growth thrust fault (FT1) with a convex-up
geometry at the rear of the deformation front
that controlled the vertical stack of the pro-
gradational sequences in the shelf terrace;
and (3) a group of NE-striking transtensional
faults that cut through entire outer-wedge
Peng Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
7897-1144
†Present address: State Key Laboratory of Geological
Processes and Mineral Resources, Collaborative
Innovation Center for Exploration of Strategic Mineral
Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan
430074, China; p8.zhang@cug​.edu​.cn.
successions and displays as a series of nega-
tive flower-like structures. These charac-
teristic features are roughly consistent with
the results of laboratory analog modeling of
highly oblique plate convergence but signifi-
cantly differ from those of natural accretion-
ary wedges that formed under highly oblique
convergence conditions, such as those in Su-
matra, Hikurangi, Chile, and Cascadia. We
further a­nalyzed the sediment provenance
of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges and
discovered that the outer-wedge rocks are a
product of sediment reworking of the hinter-
land wedge that began to be uplifted and ex-
humed in the early Miocene (22–12 Ma) due
to transpressional motion between the Indian
plate and West Burma Terrane. Our analyses
indicate that active sedimentation behind the
major growth thrust fault (FT1) provided ad-
ditional basal shear stress that strengthened
the coupling of the interface between the
wedge base and décollement and promoted
the vertical expansion of the outer wedge
of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges from
the Neogene to the present day. In contrast,
the outer wedge of the central Indo-Burman
Ranges has experienced stronger forward ac-
cretion since the late Miocene, which could
be explained by a smaller degree of obliquity
and weaker sediment reworking. Our find-
ings demonstrate that both highly oblique
plate convergence and sediment reworking
were the primary driving forces that trig-
gered vertical development of accretionary
wedges. The results of this research have sig-
nificant implications for understanding the
structures and kinematic evolution of wedge
systems at other convergent plate margins, in
which seamount passage or subduction ero-
sion is often interpreted as the cause of the
steeply tapered wedges.
INTRODUCTION
Convergent plate margins are depicted as
principal regions of crustal growth and subduc-
tion erosion and are central to our understand-
ing of how plate tectonics operate on Earth over
time (e.g., Frisch et al., 2011; Fitch, 1972; Stern,
2004; von Huene and Scholl, 1991). Wedge-
shaped sedimentary complexes, called accretion-
ary wedges, often characterize such margins and
grow when materials are transferred from the
subducting plate to the overriding plate, either by
frontal offscraping at the trench axis or by under-
plating along the subduction décollement. The
critical-taper wedge mechanics theory (Dahlen
et al., 1984; Davis et al., 1983) describes the
overall mechanics of wedges at convergent plate
margins as analogous to a pile of soil/snow in
front of a moving bulldozer. This theory predicts
that the critically tapered wedge will advance “in
sequence” along the basal décollement, forming
a broad seaward fold and thrust belt.
However, at highly oblique convergent mar-
gins (convergence obliquity φ >60–70°; Braun
and Beaumont, 1995; Burbidge and Braun,
1998), the relative motions of the lithospheric
plates result in large margin-parallel strike-slip
faults at the rear of the wedge and prominently
attenuated margin-perpendicular crustal short-
ening (e.g., Fitch, 1972; McCaffrey, 1992).
Here, convergence obliquity, φ, represents the
angle between the plate vector and the normal
to the plate boundary (e.g., Leever et al., 2011).
Accretionary wedges developed in this context
are commonly doubly vergent and symmetric,
with oversteepened slopes and uplifted axial

GSA Bulletin; September/October 2023; v. 135; no. 9/10; p. 2348–2374; https://doi.org/10.1130/B36560.1; 14 figures; 2 tables; 1 supplemental file.
Published online 23 December 2022

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 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins
zones (Burbidge and Braun, 1998; Koons, 1994;
Leever et al., 2011; McClay et al., 2004; Mortera-
Gutiérrez et al., 2003). However, the direct role
of highly oblique plate convergence in producing
the structures described has yet to be determined
in natural accretionary systems. Only a few stud-
ies have focused on the geometry and kinematic
evolution of accretionary wedges that developed
from highly oblique plate convergence, such as
those from Sumatra (Karig et al., 1980; McNeill
and Henstock, 2014; Moeremans et al., 2014),
Hikurangi (Barnes et al., 2002; Barnes and de
Lépinay, 1997; Nicol et al., 2007), and Casca-
dia (Adam et al., 2004; Booth-Rea et al., 2008),
where the wedges narrow and steepen as the
convergence obliquity increases. Nevertheless,
natural wedges at oblique convergent margins
are not completely consistent with previous the-
oretical results (e.g., Leever et al., 2011; Mannu
et al., 2016; McClay et al., 2004; McNeill and
Henstock, 2014; Morgan and Bangs, 2017).
For example, wedges developed at the Sumatra
margin include broad deformation fronts and
prominent frontal accretion (e.g., Moeremans
et al., 2014). This discrepancy indicates that the
structure and geometry of accretionary wedges
are affected not only by the convergence obliq-
uity but also by other factors, such as sediment
reworking (i.e., active sedimentation and surface
erosion).
Numerical and analog models demonstrate
that active sedimentation can act as a first-order
control on wedge development. The exact mech-
anism by which active sedimentation affects the
wedge depends on the locus of deposition (Fillon
et al., 2013; Mannu et al., 2016; Mugnier et al.,
1997; Noda et al., 2020; Simpson, 2010; Storti
and McClay, 1995). Sedimentation on top of the
wedge would increase the taper to induce new
internal thrusts, promoting wedge deformation
over the décollement, whereas sedimentation in
the trench would lead to deformation concen-
trated in front of the wedge and enhance forward
advance of the wedge (Fillon et al., 2013; Mor-
ley, 2007; Noda et al., 2020; Simpson, 2010).
If the wedge continues its vertical deformation
above sea level, surface erosion occurs in the
hinterland and restrains the wedge from attain-
ing critical equilibrium (Cruz et al., 2010, 2011;
Davis et al., 1983; Mugnier et al., 1997). How-
ever, the coupling effects of active sedimenta-
tion and surface erosion on accretionary wedges
remain unresolved.
Here, we investigate the deformation history
of the Indo-Burman Ranges (Fig. 1), which are
key to understanding the eastern Tethys sub-
duction and subsequent India-Eurasia collision
(Advokaat et al., 2018; Morley et al., 2020, 2021;
Najman et al., 2022; Westerweel et al., 2019).
Several researchers have recognized that the
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Indo-Burman Ranges represent an accretionary
wedge that developed under highly oblique plate
convergence since at least the Miocene (Bertrand
and Rangin, 2003; Betka et al., 2018; Curray,
2005; Maurin and Rangin, 2009a; Nielsen et al.,
2004) and potentially as early as the late Eocene
(ca. 40 Ma; Licht et al., 2019; Morley et al.,
2020, 2021; Rangin, 2017; Westerweel et al.,
2019). Although significant margin-parallel
components accommodated by strike-slip faults
within the wedge itself and at the rear of the
wedge have been determined (Betka et al., 2018;
Bürgi et al., 2021; Khin et al., 2020; Maurin and
Rangin, 2009a; Morley et al., 2020; Morley,
2017; Nielsen et al., 2004; Pivnik et al., 1998;
Vigny et al., 2003), crustal shortening in the
outer wedge of the central Indo-Burman Ranges
(20–25°N) dominated by a 120-km-wide fold
and thrust belt was still prominent. Some authors
have attributed this forward advance of the cen-
tral Indo-Burman Ranges to excess subsidence
and lithospheric sinking of the Surma subbasin
(Fig. 1; Mallick et al., 2020), an increase in the
sedimentation rate in front of the outer wedge
(Najman et al., 2020), and/or a combined effect
of southwestward Tibetan Plateau crustal flow
and strike-slip tectonics (Rangin et al., 2013;
Rangin and Sibuet, 2017). In the southern Indo-
Burman Ranges (16–20°N), frontal accretion is
relatively limited, forming a narrow and steep
outer wedge that may coincide with those at
highly oblique convergent margins. However,
previous studies have usually attributed this
wedge to the subduction of the Ninetyeast Ridge
beneath the Indo-Burman Ranges (Gopala Rao
et al., 1997; Maurin and Rangin, 2009b). The
kinematic development of the outer wedge as
a function of oblique plate convergence and/
or sediment reworking in both the central and
southern parts of the Indo-Burman Ranges has
not been described in detail in previous studies.
In this study, we combined field mapping,
two-dimensional (2-D) seismic-reflection sec-
tions, detrital zircon U-Pb ages, and detrital apa-
tite low-temperature thermochronological data
to test the effects of highly oblique plate con-
vergence and sediment reworking of the hinter-
land wedge rocks on outer-wedge expansion in
the southern Indo-Burman Ranges. While field
investigations and 2-D seismic data can be used
to characterize highly oblique plate convergence
by identifying flower-like structures and spe-
cific fault assemblages, the coupled application
of detrital zircon U-Pb ages and detrital apatite
fission-track results can depict surface erosion
and redistribution of the hinterland wedge mate-
rials. To test the assumed sediment reworking in
the southern Indo-Burman Ranges, the key is to
demonstrate that the Miocene rocks of the outer
wedge were recycled from the Eocene rocks
of the hinterland wedge. Thus, we should: (1)
verify that the Miocene rocks of the outer wedge
have provenance features similar to those of the
Eocene rocks of the hinterland wedge (Target I),
and (2) confirm that the outer-wedge materials
were eroded from the hinterland wedge rather
than from other regions that have always been
sources of the hinterland wedge (Target II). For
Target I, we used detrital zircon U-Pb ages from
published samples and our new data set: if the
outer wedge showed age spectra similar to those
of the hinterland wedge, we could conclude that
they share similar provenance features. For Tar-
get II, we utilized detrital apatite low-tempera-
ture thermochronological data to demonstrate
that the hinterland wedge has uplifted since the
early Miocene. If the hinterland wedge were
uplifted in the Miocene, it would be able to sup-
ply detritus to the outer wedge and, more impor-
tantly, stop detritus from other potential sources
(e.g., West Burma Terrane) from being trans-
ported into the outer wedge. Our results indicate
that highly oblique plate convergence and sedi-
ment reworking have increased the duration and
magnitude of slip on the thrust faults that previ-
ously existed and delayed the formation of new
thrust faults in the deformation front, which led
to the vertical growth of the outer wedge in the
southern Indo-Burman Ranges since the early
Miocene (ca. 22 Ma). These findings may also
be used to understand wedge growth-associated
sediment reworking at other highly oblique con-
vergent margins.
GEOLOGIC BACKGROUND
Tectonic Setting of the Indo-Burma
Subduction Zone and Adjacent Regions
The Indo-Burman Ranges and West Burma
Terrane constitute the Indo-Burma Subduction
Zone, which connects the Eastern Himalayan
Syntaxis and Sunda trench-arc system to the
north and south, respectively. The Himalayas
were formed in the Cenozoic after the India-
Eurasia collision and include three distinct tec-
tonostratigraphic units (Fig. 1). In the north, the
Xigaze forearc basin and Indus-Yarlung suture
zone separate the Himalayas from the Gang-
dese Arc. The Assam and Bengal basins south
of the eastern Himalayas comprise ∼10–20 km
of shallow marine to deltaic-fluvial sedimentary
rocks. The southern end of the Bengal Basin
empties into the Bengal Fan, and farther south,
into the Nicobar Fan (Fig. 1), all of which were
mainly formed during the Neogene to Quater-
nary (Blum et al., 2018; McNeill et al., 2017;
Pickering et al., 2020).
The Sunda trench-arc system in the Suma-
tra region includes the Woyla Arc and West
2349
 Peng Zhang et al.

Figure 1. Geological map of

Indo-Burma Subduction Zone
and the eastern Himalayan
Syntaxis shows major terranes,
terrane boundaries, geologi-
cal units, and rivers (modified
after Advokaat et al., 2018;
Curray, 2005; and Zhang et al.,
2021a). Seismic profiles and
drillings used in Figure 5 are
marked. Sediment isopaches
presented in the Bay of Ben-
gal and Andaman Sea are af-
ter Curray (1991) and Morley
and Alvey (2015). Inset map
shows plate motion vectors
of Myanmar and India in the
Sundaland reference frame (af-
ter Vigny et al., 2003). KGR—
Katha Gangaw Range; N.
MMB—northern Mogok Meta-
morphic Belt within SE Tibet;
S. MMB—southern Mogok
Metamorphic Belt in the Shan
Scarps; WPA—Wuntho-Popa
Arc; TMB—Tagaung-Myitky-
ina Belt; KR—Kumon Range;
JB—Jade Belt; MR—Minwun
Range; WR—Wuntho Range;
EHS—Eastern Himalayan Syn-
taxis; THS—Tethyan Himala-
yan Sequence; GHC—Greater
Himalayan Crystalline Com-
plex; LHS—Lesser Himalayan
Sequence; SHS—Sub-Himala-
yan Sequences; GCT—Great
Counter Thrust; STD—South
Tibet Detachment; MCT—
Main Central Thrust; MBT—
Main Boundary Thrust;
MFT—Main Frontal Thrust;
HK—Hukawng; CH—Chind-
win; SM—Shwebo-Minwun;
MB—Minbu; BY—Bago-
Yoma; PI—Prome-Irrawaddy.
Seismic profiles A–H are illus-
trated in Figure 5.

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 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins
­ umatra, which assembled in the mid-Creta-
S h­ interland wedge in the southern Indo-Burman
ceous (Fig. 1; Advokaat et al., 2018; Barber and
Crow, 2009). The Woyla Arc represents an intra-
oceanic volcanic arc within the eastern Tethys
(Barber and Crow, 2009). Igneous rocks exposed
in the West Sumatra and Woyla Arc yielded pre-
dominant magmatism in the Late Triassic, mid-
Cretaceous, and Cenozoic (Zhang et al., 2019a).
These rocks suggest that the Woyla Arc formed
above a SW-dipping subduction zone in modern
coordinates, and West Sumatra above a synchro-
nous NE-dipping subduction zone (Advokaat
et al., 2018). The Sunda margins have absorbed
the oblique convergence between the Indian-
Australian plate and Sundaland (Fig. 1) since the
early Neogene by partitioning over the forearc
areas and several right-lateral faults (such as
the Sumatra and West Andaman faults; Misawa
et al., 2014; Vigny et al., 2003).
The Indo-Burman Ranges consist primarily
of an Eastern Belt (wedge core), Western Belt
(hinterland wedge) to the west, and farthest
west the Outer Belt (outer wedge; Maurin and
Rangin, 2009a; Mitchell, 2018). In the central
and northern Indo-Burman Ranges (Fig. 1), the
wedge core itself is composed of the Upper Tri-
assic Kanpetlet Schist and Pane Chaung turbi-
dites, upper Albian Paung Chaung limestones,
and minor ophiolites within or overlying the
turbidites and limestones (Mitchell, 2018; Mor-
ley et al., 2020). However, the origins of and
relationships among the Mesozoic rocks are
disputed, and the Paung Chaung limestones
and equivalents are unconformably underlain
by the Kanpetlet Schist and the Pane Chaung
turbidites in most places (Mitchell, 2018; Mor-
ley et al., 2020). The Pyay–Toungup section of
the southern Indo-Burman Ranges investigated
in this study lacks the typical wedge core rocks
(Figs. 2–4 and Supplementary Material Fig. S11).
The hinterland wedge is separated from the
wedge core by the Kheng Fault and its equiva-
lents (Fig. 1). It contains a complex of folded
and thrusted Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene
turbidites, with numerous blocks of limestone,
andesite, pillow-basalt, chert, and serpentinite
(Mitchell, 2018; Moore et al., 2019). The Falam
and Chunsung formations represent these turbi-
dites in the central Indo-Burman Ranges (Mitch-
ell, 2018). The stratigraphic division of the
1Supplemental Material. Descriptions of field
work and analytical methods; additional figures
showing cross sections, 2D seismic sections, and
multidimensional scaling map; and tables containing
full results of new detrital zircon U-Pb analyses, apatite
fission track results, and compiled published detrital
zircon U-Pb ages. Please visit https://doi​.org​/10​
.1130​/GSAB​.S.21326094 to access the supplemental
material, and contact editing@geosociety​.org with
any questions.
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 135, no. 9/10
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Ranges is unclear; thick (3–5 m) sandstone beds
and interbedded mudstone beds with blocks of
serpentinite have been reported on its western
margin (Moore et al., 2019; Naing, 2019; Zhang
et al., 2021a).
The outer wedge is separated from the hinter-
land wedge by the Kaladan Fault (Fig. 1). The
outer wedge was best investigated in the Chit-
tagong-Tripura Belt (Bangladesh and NE India).
East-dipping thrusts converging to a décollement
in Oligocene shales dominate this belt (Betka
et al., 2018; Maurin and Rangin, 2009a). Off-
shore, in western Myanmar, however, the outer
wedge is characterized by gentle folds and grav-
ity sliding (Maurin and Rangin, 2009b; Morley
et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2021a).
The West Burma Terrane, separated by the
west-dipping Kabaw Fault from the Indo-
Burman Ranges, is inferred to be either a
continental block related to Cathaysia, which
formed by the Late Triassic (Barber and Crow,
2009), or a part of the Trans-Tethyan Arc that
rifted from the northern margin of Gondwana
before the mid-Cretaceous (Licht et al., 2020;
Westerweel et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2021b).
The West Burma Terrane rocks exposed in the
Wuntho Range are undated Hypu Taung and
Shwedaung metamorphic rocks, Jurassic to
mid-Cretaceous Mawgyi and Mawlin volca-
nogenic units, Upper Cretaceous Namakauk
limestone, and Upper Cretaceous to lower
Paleogene clastic formations. Their equiva-
lents or parts of these units are reported in
the Jade Belt, Kumon Range, Minwun Range,
Katha-Gangaw Range, and Tagaung-Myitky-
ina Belt (Fig. 1). The West Burma Terrane is
currently occupied by the Central Myanmar
Basin. This Cenozoic forearc-backarc basin
consists of several isolated subbasins (Fig. 1;
Bertrand and Rangin, 2003; Pivnik et al., 1998;
Zhang et al., 2021a).
Stratigraphy and Stratigraphic Age
Control of the Southern Indo-Burman
Ranges
A fully integrated stratigraphy has not been
established for the hinterland wedge of the
southern Indo-Burman Ranges, and much of
the nomenclature described here (Fig. 2A)
is the result of published data (Naing, 2019;
Naing et al., 2014) and several internal reports
provided by the China National Offshore Oil
Corporation (Qiu et al., 2008; Yang et al., 2007,
2009; Zhao et al., 2006; Zheng, 2008). We used
these data and (un)published geological maps
(Burma Earth Sciences Research Division,
1977; Myint Swe, 2007; Tsung Aung, 1982) to
create an updated geological map (Fig. 3). Off-
shore of Myanmar (outer wedge), tectonostrati-
graphic sequences include units separated by
unconformities of regional extent (or their cor-
relative conformities; horizons U1 to U6) that
record deposition during different stages in the
evolution of the accretionary wedge (Fig. 2B).
These six horizons divide the outer-wedge suc-
cession into seven packages with distinct ampli-
tudes, reflector continuities, and deformation
characteristics.
Along the Pyay–Toungup section (Fig. 3),
the majority of the sediments (Rakhine ­Flysch)
were mapped from the Late Cretaceous to
Eocene (Bannert et al., 2011; Brunnschweiler,
1966; Burma Earth Sciences Research Divi-
sion, 1977; United Nations, 1979) based on the
identification of Globotruncana-Nummulitic–
bearing limestones and microfossil-bearing
shales (Ammodiscus siliceous, Globotruncana
2, Gumbelina 7, Heterohelix globulosa, Pre-
discosphaera columnata, and Watznaueria sp.;
Bannert et al., 2011; Gramann, 1974; Naing,
2019; Fig. S2; see footnote 1). However, the
assigned ages are inconsistent with the maxi-
mum depositional ages (MDAs) determined
from detrital zircon U-Pb data (49.6–42.5 Ma;
Naing, 2019; Najman et al., 2020; this study).
This discrepancy could be explained by either
unmapped structural interleaving of Eocene
and Cretaceous rocks (Najman et al., 2020)
or the large age ranges of the microfossils
(Naing, 2019).
In the Rakhine coast region of the southern
Indo-Burman Ranges, the Eocene rocks (Nga-
pali Formation) were drilled by well RM-1 and
showed paleontological assemblages of Globi-
grtinatheka subconglobata curry, Turborota-
lia cerroazulensis cerroazulensis, Globigerina
inaequispira, and Turborotalia cerroazulensis
frontosa (Lei et al., 2009; Fig. S2), which indi-
cate a Lutetian–Bartonian age. The inferred
Eocene age is consistent with the MDAs deter-
mined from detrital zircon U-Pb analyses (47.2–
41.2 Ma; Najman et al., 2020; this study). The
lower Oligocene in this region was previously
thought to have been absent, and the Eocene
was unconformably overlain by the upper Oli-
gocene Yechangyi Formation (Yang et al., 2009).
However, paleontological assemblages of Glo-
bigerina gortanii, Globorotalia opima nana,
and Globigerina ciperoensis ciperoensis (Lei
et al., 2009) suggest that sedimentation occurred
from the Rupelian to the Chattian. Up section,
the Miocene rocks (Yenandaung, Maragyun,
and Leikkamaw formations; Fig. 2A) comprise
paleontological assemblages of Globigerinoides
primordius, Globigerina euapertura, Globige-
rina praebulloides praebulloides, Globigerina
praebulloides occulusa, Globorotalia mayeri,
Globorotalia obesa, Discoaster surculus, B ­ revis,
2351

B Indo-Burman Ranges. Six
Florschuetzia spp., and Sphenolithus tintin-
abulum (Lei et al., 2009; Najman et al., 2020;
Figs. 2A and S2), all of which match the ages
assigned in the Burma Earth Sciences Research
Division geological map. Depositional ages
inferred from our detrital zircon U-Pb analyses
are older than those obtained from paleontologi-
2352
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Peng Zhang et al.
cal data or assigned by (un)published geologi-
cal maps. We do not consider the depositional
ages inferred from detrital zircon U-Pb data to be
credible given the presence of the older zircons
associated with sediment reworking in the post-
Eocene rocks (Najman et al., 2020; this study;
see below).
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 135, no. 9/10
Figure 2. (A) Tectonostrati-
graphic chart for hinterland
wedge of the southern Indo-
Burman Ranges (IBR) was
compiled from Naing et al.
(2014) and Zhang et al. (2019b).
(B) Seismostratigraphy of the
outer wedge of the southern
main unconformities (U1, U2,
U3, U4, U5, and U6) were in-
terpreted across the study area,
and these unconformities rep-
resent the top Eocene, top Oli-
gocene, top lower Miocene, top
upper Miocene, top lower Plio-
cene, and top upper Pliocene,
respectively. TWT—two-way
traveltime; MDA—maximum
depositional age.
Offshore of western Myanmar (outer wedge),
the stratigraphic divisions and age controls
were primarily derived from industrial drilling
well A4-H1 and our new 2-D seismic profiles
(Figs. 2B and S3; see footnote 1). Regional
unconformities that separate the different
seismic reflection layers act as stratigraphic
 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

Figure 3. Detailed geological map of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges (after Burma Earth Sciences Research Division, 1977; Myint Swe,
2007; Tsung Aung, 1982; and Najman et al., 2020) is presented with seismic reflection data used in Figures 6–8 and detrital samples used
in Figures 9 and 12. Inset map shows stereograms (Wulf projections, lower hemisphere) of fault-slip vectors measured at five groups of
conjugate faults, and σ1, σ2, and σ3, represent maximum, intermediate, and minimum stress, respectively.

­boundaries. Asterorotalis trispinosa and ben-
thonic forms (Bolivina, Lagena, Nonion, Cibi-
cides, and Trifarina) were found in the Pleis-
tocene rocks and Pulleniatina obliquiloculata,
Globorotalia tumida, and Globigerinoides were
discovered in the Pliocene rocks (Yang et al.,
2009). Sedimentary rocks below horizon U4
(Eocene to Miocene) were not fully drilled by
well A4-H1; therefore, the stratigraphic divi-
sions were primarily correlated with published
seismic sections from adjacent regions (Maurin
and Rangin, 2009a; Nyan Tun et al., 2007; Yang
and Kim, 2014), as well as with the surface geol-
ogy of the Ramree and Cheduba Islands.
MATERIALS AND ANALYTICAL
METHODS
Geologic Mapping and Analysis of Tectonic
Stress Field
A new geological map (Fig. 3) was used to
describe the hinterland wedge in the study area.
Bedding dips (n = 80) were obtained from
road-cut outcrops (Fig. 4) along the transects
that crossed each primary structure. Lithologi-
cal contacts were not extrapolated because rocks
in the hinterland wedge were strongly deformed
and commonly included cut through thrusts and
strike-slip faults. Eight cross sections (P1–P8)
were constructed perpendicular to the structural
axes (Fig. S1). Structural geology software 2-D
Move and manual cross-section construction
were used to interpret the kinematic evolution,
tectonic shortening, and surface erosion for each
anticline and syncline. Descriptions of the anti-
clines and synclines are summarized in detail in
Text S1 (see footnote 1). We collected fault-slip
data (slip parameters included dip directions
and angles of the faults; n = 28) and the sense
of motion inferred from kinematic indicators
(overturned folds, Riedel shears, offset markers,
and fibrous minerals) to characterize the tectonic
stress field during sedimentation and faulting
(Fig. 4). The computer program TectonicsFP
was employed to calculate the directions of the
three principal stress axes for five groups of con-
jugated shear joints (Fig. 3).
Two-Dimensional Reflection Seismic Data
Two-dimensional seismic sections were
acquired during many petroleum exploration
campaigns over the past four decades. All reflec-
tion profiles were processed by deconvolution,
multiple suppression, time migration, and filter-
ing to improve them to the highest quality (e.g.,
Zhang et al., 2021a). Seismostratigraphic analy-
sis was conducted using GeoFrame_4.5 soft-
ware, which allows identification of stratigraphic
boundaries that show onlap relationships, trun-
cated reflectors, and contrasts between seismic
facies reflectivity. Surface geology (Rakhine
coastal area; Fig. 3) and formation-top data from
drilled wells (RM-1, RM-3, H-1, and adjacent
wells) were used to constrain the main bound-
aries (Fig. 5). Sediments deposited in the outer
wedge can be divided into seven units (Eocene,
Oligocene, lower–middle Miocene, upper Mio-
cene, lower Pliocene, upper Pliocene, and Qua-
ternary; Fig. 2B). We compiled eight regional
geological cross sections across the westernmost
part of the hinterland wedge, outer wedge, and

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 Peng Zhang et al.

1m SE NW NW 325°
Ax1 Thrust W
Ax2 a a

a′

45°
°
120 a′
b′ b
σ1 L σ1 E
62
° b′
b
0°
15

A B C
Overturned anticline SE
E NE
SW

D E F G
E W SE

H I J

Figure 4. Field photographs show lithofacies and structures from the hinterland wedge; see Figure 3 for locations. (A) Fold and thrust
within Eocene strata of the hinterland wedge, west of Pyay. (B) Two groups of conjugate faults in the Eocene strata; the older group
(black dotted lines) was formed by approximate north–south contraction, and the younger group (white dashed lines) was formed by
approximate east–west contraction. (C, E) Conjugate faults in the Eocene strata. (D) Overturned anticline and associated thrust. (F)
Antistep dextral translational fault with glided calcite crystal. (G, H) Thrust faults with numerous cleavages. (I, J) Conjugate faults
within the Miocene strata.

abyssal plain (Bengal Fan) to illustrate the gen-
eral structural geometry and kinematic evolution
of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges (16–20°N;
Fig. 5). We then concentrated on the outer wedge
in the Rakhine Block A4 (RBA4) between 18°10′
N and 19°00′ N (Fig. 3), where newly acquired
2-D reflection seismic profiles covering an area
of 20 × 100 km were available, to describe its
structures, fault activity, and sedimentation
(Figs. 6–8). This survey included 57 NE–SW-
striking cross-lines and 21 NW–SE-striking in-
lines, both spaced at 2 km and extending to 6 s
two-way travel time (TWT). The quality of the
seismic data is generally good, particularly from
the seafloor down to the top Miocene unconfor-
mity (U4 horizon) at ∼2.0–2.5 sTWT. Below
this level, the data quality commonly deterio-
rates, although reliable recognition of the major
faults is still possible down to 4 sTWT (Fig. 2B).
Detrital Zircon U-Pb Geochronology
Detrital zircon U-Pb ages record the time of
zircon growth in magma, or less commonly, of
zircon growth during metamorphism, and are
useful for assessing sedimentary provenance in
western Myanmar and adjacent regions (e.g.,
Blum et al., 2018; Cina et al., 2009; Lang and
Huntington, 2014; McNeill et al., 2017; Morley
and Arboit, 2019; Najman et al., 2020; Pick-
ering et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2019b). We
collected 10 samples for detrital zircon U-Pb
analyses (Table S1; see footnote 1) to constrain
their derivations and assess sediment rework-
ing of the hinterland wedge rocks in the south-
ern Indo-Burman Ranges. Clastic rocks were
collected along the Pyay–Toungup–Kyaukpyu
Road (Fig. 3) because: (1) previous studies
have provided basic geological information

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 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

A0 Deformation front
sea level
Gentle shelf B0 AP Deformation front Gentle shelf Outer fold-thrust belt
sea level
1 Shwe-4A 1
TWT [s]

TWT[s]
2
3 3
4 4
5 5

C0 AP DF Gentle shelf
RM3-1 Ramree
Island E0 sea level
AP Deformation front Gentle shelf H-1
sea level
1 1
Shale
2 Shale
2 diapir
TWT [s]

TWT [s]
diapir
3 K 3
al Shale
ad
4 an 4 diapir
FT3 FT2 FT1 5
5 FT3 FT2 FT1
De tac hm ent lev
6 el 6 Detachment level

D 0Deformation front Gentle shelf

RM1-1 Circular syncline
F0
on Ramree Island
sea level Deformation front Gentle shelf
1 sea level Rubis-1(projected)
1
2 Shale
TWT [s]

TWT [s]
2
3 diapir
Shale 3
4 diapirs
Ka 4
5 FT2 FT1 lad
FT3 an 5
Detachm ent level FT2 FT1 Detachment level
6 FT3
Deformation
G0 Abyssal plain front Gentle shelf H0 DF Gentle shelf
A7-1
sea level sea level
1 1
2 2
TWT [s]
TWT [s]

3 3
4 4
5 5
6 FT1 6 FT1
FT3 FT2 FT3&FT2 Detachment level
7 Detachment level 7
10 km Eocene Oligocene Lower-Middle Miocene Upper Miocene Lower Pliocene Upper Pliocene Pleistocene Holocene Industrial well

Figure 5. Line drawing of regional seismic sections shows geometry, structure, and Eocene–Quaternary successions of the outer wedge
of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges. The interpreted thrust faults within the deformation front are numbered in order (FT1, FT2, and
FT3). Seismic sequences were correlated with offshore Myanmar industrial wells and the surface geology of Ramree and Cheduba islands.
Profiles A and B were modified after Yang and Kim (2014) and Jain et al. (2010), respectively, and others were provided by CNOOC; all
uninterpreted seismic profiles are shown in the Supplementary Material (see footnote 1). See Figure 1 for seismic locations. TWT—two-way
traveltime; AP—abyssal plain; DF—deformation front; RM—Ramree Island.

on tectonic deformation and stratigraphy of
this region (e.g., Brunnschweiler, 1966; Naing,
2019); (2) Eocene to Miocene rocks have been
roughly distinguished and mapped along this
transect (e.g., Burma Earth Sciences Research
Division, 1977; United Nations, 1979),
although there are still a lot of uncertainties;
and (3) surface geology of this region could
be compared with newly acquired 2-D seismic
sections and drilling data in the RBA4 area
(offshore), which provides a unique chance to
validate the hypothetic scenario involving sedi-
ment reworking (hinterland-wedge erosion and
outer-wedge sedimentation).
Laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–
mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used to
measure zircon U-Pb ages at the State Key
Laboratory of Geological Processes and Min-
eral Resources, China University of Geosci-
ences, Wuhan. A description of the method is
given in Text S2 (see footnote 1), and the full
results are listed in Table S2 (see footnote 1).
The data described in this article were filtered
to exclude grains with a >10% discordance. ing and rates of rock cooling through the AFT
This yielded at least 87 grains per sample, partial annealing zone, which ranges between
resulting in 95% confidence that any age popu- 60 °C and 120 °C (e.g., Reiners and Brandon,
lations comprising more than 7% of the sam- 2006). To constrain exhumation history of the
ple will be measured (Vermeesch, 2004). The hinterland wedge of the southern Indo-Burman
206Pb/238U ratio was used to calculate the age Ranges and test the hypothesis of sediment
of grains younger than 1000 Ma, whereas the reworking since the early Miocene, 11 apatite
207Pb/206Pb ratio was used for older grains. The samples were prepared and analyzed using the
new data set and previously published samples LA-ICP-MS method at either Apatite.com Part-
(excluding grains with a >10% discordance) ners (USA) or ChronousCamp Research (Bra-
were processed and visualized using the R zil). We refer the reader to the Supplemental
package IsoplotR (Vermeesch, 2018; Figs. 9– Material for the detailed method and full results
11). The weighted average 206Pb/238U age for (Text S3 and Table S3; see footnote 1). Specifi-
the youngest group of at least two zircon grains cally, of the 11 analyzed samples, seven were
overlapping within error at the 1 sigma level collected from the hinterland wedge (M02, M07,
(YC1σ[2+]; Dickinson and Gehrels, 2009) is M11, M23, M25, M28, and M211), two from
quoted here as the MDA. the outer wedge (Ramree Island; M08 and M12),
and the remaining two from the forearc subba-
Detrital Apatite Fission-Track sin (southern Minbu; M220 and M221). As sam-
Thermochronology pling in the deformation front of the outer wedge
(offshore area) is unavailable, the deformation
Apatite fission-track (AFT) thermochronol- history of this region was constrained mainly by
ogy provides invaluable constraints on the tim- our 2-D seismic reflection data.

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 Peng Zhang et al.

A Figure 6. (A) Short seismic reflection pro-

file across the deformation front and Abys-
sal plain is shown. The deformation front is
separated from the unfolded abyssal plain
by a landward-dipping thrust, which shows
upward propagation but has yet to rupture
seafloor sediments. The thick abyssal plain
sediment section (>6.0 km) near the defor-
mation front appears to be characterized by
numerous cross-cutting faults. The abyssal
plain sediment section that has been incor-
porated into the deformation front between
FT2 and FT3 is ∼5 km in width, which sug-
gests a very limited frontal accretion in the
Neogene. (B) Expanded view of deformation
front, behind which fanning growth pack-
ages of sediment deposited within the thrust-
top basin are observed. Prominent onlap
reflectors along main boundaries and pro-
gradation reflections within several seismic
B
units such as the Oligocene succession (inset
map) are identified. Erosional surfaces with
distinct truncation reflections and a buried
channel are also interpreted. (C) Short seis-
mic reflection profile across the rear part of
the shelf domain shows large-scale listric
normal faults that appear to have converged
at the deeper décollement surface. These
normal faults cut through the Oligocene–
lower Pliocene sequences, which indicates a
distinct block rotation. Overlying the listric
normal faults, large-scale propagation re-
flectors and erosion surfaces are observed.
See Figure 3 for locations of the seismic
­profiles. CDP—common depth point.

Detrital apatite grains were sorted into dif-

ferent groups using the following steps: (1)
measure rare earth element concentrations
C and 206Pb*/238U ages for each of ∼9 differ-
ent apatite standard species analyzed during
a LA-ICP-MS session, and then calculate the
mean and standard deviation for each of the
measured standard value; (2) derive a session-
specific, best-fit line for each measurement that
gives standard deviation as a function of mean
among all standards; (3) for each unknown
apatite grain from our new sample, use the
derived best-fit lines to define an apatite grain
group centered at the measured values for the
unknown grain and bounded by two standard
deviations about the measured values; and (4)
search for and isolate other unknown apatite
grains that exhibit measured values that fall
within the bounds of the defined apatite grain
group. Using the color ramp for 206Pb*/238U
age, rare earth element plots for all unknown

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 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

Figure 7. NW–SE-striking seismic profiles across the outer wedge of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges show planar faults that cut
through the entire wedge successions, with some of them forming negative flower-like structures. Major transtensional faults dis-
cussed in Figure 8 are numbered (FS1, FS2, FS3, and FS4). See Figure 3 for locations of the seismic profiles. Panel A shows planer
faults formed at the rear of the deformation front, whereas panel B shows planer faults developed close to the trench axis. CDP—
Common depth point.

apatites are shown in the Supplementary Mate- of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges. FT3 is ventional AFT and high resolution-AFT data.
rial. In this article, FT3 was used to describe Apatite.com Partners’ software package for The philosophy of this software is similar to
the degree of burial reheating and exhumation calculating thermal histories based on con- that of AFTSolve (Ketcham et al., 2000) but

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 Peng Zhang et al.

A B

C D

Figure 8. (A–C) Time–structure maps show top upper Miocene, top lower Pliocene, and top upper Pliocene, respectively, of the RBA4 area
from 2-D seismic interpretation. (D) Simple tectonic model of the RBA4 area during the early Pliocene shows five blocks cut by the trans-
tensional faults (FS1, FS2, FS3, and FS4), consistent with the Riedel shears in a right-lateral shear system. The early Pliocene slope-break
line and transtensional faults indicate that these blocks are moving in distinct directions. TR—Thrust faults.

allows provenance history to vary among mod- AFT age goodness-of-fit (GOF) and confined GOF values are ≥0.05 in this study. The best fit
eled apatite grain populations. FT3 yields time- fission-track length GOF values for each popu- model is the model yielding the greatest prod-
temperature (t-T) paths with corresponding lation. Models are deemed acceptable when all uct of all GOF values.

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 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

B C

Figure 9. Kernel density estimates (KDE) of zircon U-Pb data show the new samples we analyzed (marked with asterisks) and
published samples (Naing et al., 2014; Najman et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2018, 2019b) in (A) the southern Indo-Burman Ranges
(IBR) and (B) southern Minbu subbasin. Insets display detailed U-Pb age spectra in the range of 0–300 Ma. N—total analyzed
zircons; n—zircons younger than 300 Ma; n′—zircons calculated for maximum depositional age (MDA). The weighted average
206Pb/238U age for the youngest group of at least two zircon grains overlapping within error at the 1 sigma level (YC1σ[2+];

Dickinson and Gehrels, 2009) is quoted here as the MDA. (C) Same data as in panels A and B is displayed as a multidimensional
scaling (MDS) map calculated using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic (Vermeesch, 2013). An MDS plot visualizes the degree
of similarity between samples, with the proximity of sample points reflecting their similarity. The axis scales are dimensionless
and have no physical meaning. Stress = 10.038287; a goodness-of-fit or stress of <10% is considered “good” for moderate to
large data sets (Vermeesch, 2013). The KDE plots were made using IsoplotR (Vermeesch, 2018).

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 Peng Zhang et al.

A B C

Figure 10. Zircon kernel density estimate (KDE) plots compare our new data sets with published data in the (A)
Himalayan foreland (Bracciali et al., 2015; Cina et al., 2009; Lang and Huntington, 2014; and Najman et al.,
2008), submarine fans (Blum et al., 2018; McNeill et al., 2017; Pickering et al., 2020), and Andaman Flysch (Li-
monta et al., 2017; Bandopadhyay et al., 2022); (B) Indo-Burman Ranges (Aitchison et al., 2019; Allen et al., 2008;
Lin et al., 2022; Najman et al., 2020; Rahman et al., 2020; Vadlamani et al., 2015; Yang et al., 2020); (C) Central
Myanmar Basin (Arboit et al., 2021; Cai et al., 2020; Licht et al., 2019; Robinson et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2014;
Westerweel et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2019b); and (D) from modern river sands (Bao et al., 2015; Bracciali et al.,
2015; Cina et al., 2009; Garzanti et al., 2016; Lang and Huntington, 2014; Lin et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2012). (E)
The same data in panels A–D are displayed as a multidimensional scaling (MDS) map. The MDS map indicates
that the southern Indo-Burman Ranges and Central Myanmar Basin rocks were mainly derived from the Burma
Terrane. Details of these published data are given in Table S4 (see footnote 1). Fm—formation.

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 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

RESULTS

Structural Analysis of the Southern

Indo-Burman Ranges

Hinterland Wedge, Onshore Southern

Indo-Burman Ranges
The hinterland wedge of the southern Indo-
Burman Ranges consists of highly deformed
NW-SE–striking anticlines (sections P1–P6; Figure 11. Zircon kernel den-
Fig. S1). These anticlines are asymmetric, with sity estimate (KDE) plots for
shorter forelimbs and longer back limbs that are potential source regions are
both, in places (sections P1–P3), dominated by shown. Published data: Lhasa
second-order synclines or overturned synclines. Terrane (Fan et al., 2017; Geh-
All antiforms are separated by east-dipping rels et al., 2011; Leier et al.,
thrusts with fault planes that dip as much as 90° 2007; Wang et al., 2016); Gang-
(45–55° on average) and form a series of west- dese Arc and Dianxi-Burma
vergent, fault-related folds (Text S1 and Fig. Batholith (see references in
S1). Gentle synclines extend through the west- Zhang et al., 2019b); Himalaya
ernmost part of the hinterland wedge and are (Cai et al., 2016; Gehrels et al.,
cored by Paleogene sediments (Fig. S1). Total 2011; McQuarrie et al., 2008,
horizontal displacements on these major thrusts 2013; Myrow et al., 2010; Wang
are estimated to be ∼19.7 km by restoring hang- et al., 2016; Webb et al., 2013);
ing wall/footwall to the initial position, whereas Indian Craton (Myrow et al.,
the amount of fold shortening is estimated to be 2010; Najman et al., 2008; Yin
∼17.2 km from kinematic analysis of balance et al., 2010); Naga metamor-
sections. Thus, these fault-related folds have phic rocks (Aitchison et al.,
absorbed a minimum of 36.9 km of subhorizon- 2019; Najman et al., 2020); Tri-
tal shortening across the hinterland wedge (Text assic Pane Chaung turbidites
S1). In the study area, subhorizontal shortening (Sevastjanova et al., 2016; Yao
was perpendicular to the northwesterly trend et al., 2017); Burma Terrane
of the fold-and-thrust belts. This regime was and northern Mogok metamor-
also recorded by sets of conjugate NW-striking phic rocks (Zhang et al., 2018);
sinistral and NE-striking dextral faults, which Sibumasu Terrane (Burrett
­indicate principal stress distributions of subho- et al., 2014; Cai et al., 2017);
rizontal σ1 and σ3, and subvertical σ2 (Figs. 3 Tengchong Terrane (Li et al.,
and 4). More importantly, this contraction has 2016); Western Myanmar Arc
regional significance, as it has resulted in wide- (Licht et al., 2019; Zhang et al.,
spread folding and thrusting of Mesozoic to 2019b, and references therein);
Cenozoic strata, as well as the formation of a and West Sumatra (Zhang
young, 600-km-wide basin-orogenic belt in et al., 2019a).
western Myanmar (Brunnschweiler, 1966; Mau-
rin and Rangin, 2009a; Mitchell, 1993; Morley
et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2018). The upper Mio-
cene to Pliocene Irrawaddy Group and equiva-
lents were the youngest strata involved in fold-
ing and thrusting (Kyi Khin et al., 2020; Pivnik
et al., 1998; this study), which implies that the
onset of the contraction may have occurred in the
late Miocene. Lithostratigraphic correlation on
flanks of the anticlines shown in P1, P2, P3, and
P6 indicates that at least 1.2–2.0 km of materials
have been eroded in the hinterland wedge (Text fold-thrust belt that reflects ongoing accretion parts of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges, the
S1 and Fig. S1). of fluvio-deltaic sediments above a décolle- outer wedge was more complex and exhibited
ment and varies in depth from 5 km to 10 km different geometries. Here, we divided the
The Outer Wedge, Offshore Southern (Betka et al., 2018; Bürgi et al., 2021; Maurin outer wedge into two tectonostratigraphic
Indo-Burman Ranges and Rangin, 2009a; Sikder and Alam, 2003). elements from west to east: the deforma-
The outer wedge recognized in the central This belt extends into the northern part of the tion front, which displays a series of closely
Indo-Burman Ranges and imaged by 2-D southern Indo-Burman Ranges and consists of spaced fault-related folds, and an inner sector
seismic reflection sections is a thin-skinned gentle antiforms (Figs. 5A and 5B). In other of the gentle shelf, which contains extensional

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faults, thrust-top basins, and shale diapirs
(Figs. 5C–5G).
Deformation front. The deformation front
includes three seaward-vergent imbricated
thrusts (FT1–FT3) with a regional topographic
gradient of 5.7–9.8° and is 14–30 km wide,
extending from the base of the shelf edge at
a depth of 200 m to the abyssal plain domain
at depths of 2.2–3.2 km (Figs. 5C–5F). These
thrusts were developed “in sequence” with the
younger thrust (FT3) forming in the footwall of
the older thrusts (FT2 and FT1) and produced a
forward-breaking sequence in the outer wedge.
At the wedge toe, where the abyssal plain section
(>6.0 km) is initially deformed, offset sedimen-
tary reflectors (Fig. 6A) indicate that FT3 was
likely generated by an updip rupture of the abys-
sal plain sediments (Bengal Fan). These thrusts
have deformed the Eocene to lower Pliocene
successions and appear to continue at depths
of 5.0–6.0 sTWT (6.2–7.1 km) into positions
of high-amplitude reflections, which are inter-
preted to represent a detachment surface dipping
to the east at angles between 1.4° and 2.1°. In the
southernmost part of the southern Indo-Burman
Ranges (near the Ayeyarwady delta), the cross-
sections (Figs. 5G and 5H) show that the defor-
mation front appears as a positive flower-like
structure, which is a typical marker of a strike-
slip–dominated regime. The upper Pliocene to
Quaternary successions on the right-hand side
of the deformation front (shelf domain) thicken
toward the first thrust (FT1), which has activity
dating to the late Pliocene to the present day.
An intervening synclinal (thrust-top) basin
(5–15 km in width) on the back limb of the sec-
ond thrust (FT2) was imaged in several seismic
sections (Figs. 5E and 5F). This thrust-top basin
is infilled with Oligocene to Quaternary growth
successions (1.9–2.3 km in thickness) that thin
to the top of the FT2-related anticline, indicat-
ing a prolonged active thrust from the late Paleo-
gene to Quaternary. Below this thrust-top basin
sequence are poorly imaged Eocene sediments,
interpreted here as the proto-wedge sequence.
The Quaternary succession displays closely
spaced, seaward-dipping reflectors and blan-
kets of the underlying deformed successions,
which are cut by a set of small-scale normal
faults (Figs. 5C and 5E), or slips that dip toward
the trench over a shallow detachment surface
(Fig. 5G). To the southwest, sub-parallel and lat-
erally continuous reflectors that appear parallel
to the deep oceanic crust/attenuated continental
crust (Rangin and Sibuet, 2017) dominate the
sediments of the abyssal plain region (Oligo-
cene to Quaternary successions; Figs. 5C, 5E,
and Fig. S3). A strong reflector at 4.8–5.6 sTWT
(6.0–6.7 km; Fig. S3) is interpreted to be the
detachment surface that separates the accreted
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Peng Zhang et al.
portion (off-scraped sediments) from the sedi-
ments that were underthrust beyond the base of
the deformation front and attached to the under-
side of the accretionary wedge (underplated).
Shelf terrace. The shelf terrace (landward
portion of the wedge) is 65–70 km wide at water
depths of 0–200 m and exhibits a surface slope
of only 0.2–0.4°. The thrusts in the shelf-terrace
domain are developed only within the Eocene
succession and are commonly steeper landward
due to the back-rotation of thrust faults previ-
ously developed by ongoing frontal accretion.
We interpret the thrusts to have formed within
a décollement at ∼5.5–6.0 sTWT (6.6–7.1 km;
Figs. 5 and S3), although their locations are
difficult to determine in several places due to
imaging limitations of the seismic sections. The
thrust-top basins between these thrusts and FT1
were asymmetric and had a sediment thickness
of up to 6.2 km (Fig. 5G). Overlying the Eocene
succession (U1 horizon), the Oligocene to Pleis-
tocene sequences were offset by NW-striking,
SW-dipping listric-style growth faults, and hang-
ing-wall units within these sequences thickened
toward the growth faults (see below). The strata
between the U4 and U6 horizons were also cut by
a younger set of planar extensional faults that dip
toward both the NE and SW directions (Fig. 6B).
The planar faults were particularly well-formed
in the southernmost part of the southern Indo-
Burman Ranges (Figs. 5G and 5H), where the
planar fault system often offsets the top upper
Miocene unconformity (U3 horizon).
Reflectors in the Oligocene to Quaternary
successions that onlap the underlying sediments
are specifically described in seismic profile
4171 (Fig. 6B), which displays sediment growth
packages overlying FT1. At least two truncation
surfaces were identified in this thrust-top basin.
In the regions immediately overlying the ero-
sion surface are two packages of low-amplitude,
high-frequency, laterally continuous reflectors
that exhibit a distinct progradational pattern
dipping to the west (successions of the lower
Pliocene and Quaternary; Figs. 6B and 6C).
Such progradational reflection architecture has
also been recorded in the Oligocene and Mio-
cene successions. The progradational reflectors
within the Oligocene–Quaternary successions
onlap the back limb of the anticline and are
directly associated with FT1 (Fig. 6B). Over-
all, the fanning growth packages of sediments
deposited in the thrust-top basin likely indicate
periodic or continuous synsedimentary activ-
ity of FT1, which progressively tilted the basin
landward. Growth successions are hardly visible
on the right-hand side of the shelf terrace (Fig.
S3), which likely implies nearly dormant thrusts.
Our findings indicate that strain is currently dis-
tributed primarily across the deformation front
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 135, no. 9/10
and declined toward the rear of the shelf terrace
after the late Paleogene.
Shale diapirs. In the shelf terrace, where
the thrusts are inactive or lacking, shale dia-
pirs dominate. Shale diapirs are associated
with poorly defined zones of transparent or
chaotic reflections, and they display irregular
geometries. In several cases, outward-dipping
reflectors in proximity to the main conduit were
observed and traced discontinuously as far as
the décollement (Figs. 5C–5E and S3). This
suggests that these shale diapirs were squeezed
out of Eocene overpressured sediments. On
Ramree and Cheduba islands, mud volcanoes
are widely distributed and have been interpreted
to have originated from methane-rich deposits
buried at depths of 5.6–8.8 km and paleotem-
peratures of 117–184 °C (Moore et al., 2019).
Maurin and Rangin (2009a) suggested that
the progressive collapse of the volcanic cone
induced circular synclines on Ramree Island
(Fig. 3). Shale diapirs and mud volcanoes
appear to have developed mostly near the Ram-
ree and Cheduba islands; they cannot be iden-
tified from poor-resolution seismic sections in
the central and southern parts of the southern
Indo-Burman Ranges.
Extensional faults in the RBA4 area. A
detailed structural analysis of the 2-D seismic
data allowed us to recognize three sets of exten-
sional faults within the upper 3 s of the data in the
central part of the RBA4 area (Figs. 3, 6, 7, and
8). These include NW-striking late Paleogene to
early Pliocene faults (Fault Set 1), NE-striking
Neogene to present-day faults (Fault Set 2), and
WNW-striking Pliocene intra-formational faults
(Fault Set 3).
NW-striking, SW-dipping extensional faults
(Fault Set 1) cut the Eocene to lower Plio-
cene successions and characteristically exhibit
hanging-wall strata thickened toward the faults.
These late Paleogene–Pliocene faults range
from ∼5–25 km in strike length with offsets of
up to 0.4 s (∼370 m) in the RBA4 area (Figs. 6
and 8). A specific interpretation of this set of
faults was conducted from seismic profile 4187
(Fig. 6C). These faults have vertical offsets of
∼300–400 m and offset the U2 to U4 horizons
to produce a series of landward-dipping rotated
blocks. These listric-style faults are interpreted
to have been rooted at ∼6.0 sTWT on a décol-
lement level, which may represent the landward
extension of the main décollement from the
deformation front. Onlap reflectors and trunca-
tion terminations were identified at the U4 to U6
levels, which indicates that multiphase erosional
events occurred in the shelf terrace region. The
NW-striking faults were later segmented by a
series of NE-striking Neogene to present-day
faults (Fault Set 2).
 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

The Neogene to present-day faults (Fault Set
2) cut through the Eocene to Pliocene strata
and terminate upward within the Quaternary
sequence (Fig. 7). These faults are planar and
dip steeply up to 85° both to the SE and NW.
Several of these faults clearly exhibit flower-like
structures (Fig. 7). The Neogene to present-day
faults have maximum offsets of ∼900 m and are
aligned in four NE-SW corridors in the RBA4
survey (FS1–FS4; Fig. 8). Within the Miocene
to Pliocene successions, hanging-wall units
thicken toward these faults and constrain their
activity from (at least) the early Miocene. In
addition to these dominant faults, a subgroup of
smaller NE-striking faults was also developed
within the Pliocene succession, primarily in
the footwalls of the larger Neogene to present-
day faults.
The WNW-striking faults (Fault Set 3) are pla-
nar and dip ∼75° to the NE and SW (Figs. 5, 6B,
and 8). Most of these faults were formed in the
Pliocene succession. A small number of faults
extend downward, offsetting the U4 horizon and
terminating in the upper Miocene strata; several
of these faults extend upward to the Quaternary
strata (Figs. 5 and 6B). These faults have an aver-
age trace length of ∼5.5 km and are commonly
mapped between the FS2 and FS3 NE-striking
faults (Figs. 8B and 8C).
Detrital Zircon U-Pb Ages
The detrital zircon age spectra from the
Eocene strata in the hinterland wedge (M11,
M23, M25, M28, and M211) are internally
consistent and show features similar to those
of the published data (Figs. 9A and 9C). All
of the Eocene samples are characterized by a
prominent age signal of 90–105 Ma. In addi-
tion, most of the samples have two subordinate
peak ages at ca. 65 Ma and 50 Ma; these peaks
become prominent in samples M11 and M211
(Fig. 9A). Detrital zircons with U-Pb ages older
than 300 Ma are less common (6–30%); how-
ever, in several cases (M211, M25, MY-57A,
M23, and M11), they formed subordinate peaks
at 450–650 Ma and 0.95–1.2 Ga. All of the
samples yielded MDAs between 49.6 ± 3.4 Ma
and 41.2 ± 1.0 Ma (Table 1). The detrital zir-
con U-Pb age spectra from the Eocene strata
formed in the hinterland wedge of the southern
Indo-Burman Ranges exhibit age distributions
that are remarkably comparable to those of the
Central Myanmar Basin (Chindwin, Minbu, and
Shwebo-Minwun subbasins; Figs. 9 and 10).
Although the newly presented Oligocene–Mio-
cene samples (M07, M12, and M08) and half
of the published samples (10TTN13, 10TTN20,
R16-3-4, and 10TTN09; Naing et al., 2014;
Najman et al., 2020) show predominant peak
ages at ca. 50 Ma and 450–650 Ma and sub-
ordinate peaks at ca. 65 Ma, 90–105 Ma, and
0.95–1.3 Ga, the remaining published samples
show age spectra and relative abundances similar
to those of the Eocene samples (Fig. 9A). All
Oligocene and Miocene samples plot close to the
Eocene samples on the multidimensional scaling
(MDS) graph (Fig. 9C).
Detrital AFT results
Out of seven analyzed samples in the hinter-
land wedge, four (M23, M25, M211, and M28)
yield pooled AFT ages of between 7.65 + 1.8/–
1.5 Ma and 21.6 + 4.9/–4.0 Ma (see Table 1).
Our detrital zircon U-Pb ages indicate that
depositional ages of these four samples cannot
be younger than 43 Ma (Fig. 9A). Since the
AFT ages are significantly younger than the
stratigraphic ages, it is highly likely that apatite
grains in these samples were completely reset,
which would indicate the initiation of exhuma-
tion of the hinterland wedge. The remaining
three samples in the hinterland wedge (M02,
M11, and M07) and two forearc samples
(M220 and M221) yield pooled AFT ages that
are fairly close to their stratigraphic ages within
the 2σ level of error. The degree of annealing
of apatite grains in these samples cannot be
definitively determined due to the uncertainties
regarding the depositional ages of the south-
ern Indo-Burman Ranges rocks. The Miocene
samples from the outer wedge (M08 and M12)
show pooled AFT ages that are older than the
stratigraphic ages, which indicates that they
are unreset. Thermal history modeling exhibits
that all of the hinterland wedge samples (M07,
M02, M23, M25, M28, and M211) and the
southern Minbu subbasin samples (M220 and
M221) may have experienced peak tempera-
tures of >125 °C (Table 1; Fig. 12). This implies
that apatite grains in these samples were totally
reset during post-depositional burial and reheat-
ing. If samples M02 and M07 were excluded
because of the very small numbers of grains
(≤10; Text S3), the remaining four hinterland
wedge samples would indicate an early Mio-
cene uplift event that began at ca. 22–12 Ma.
In the southern Minbu subbasin, thermal mod-
eling indicates two exhumation events that
initiated at ca. 30 Ma and 12 Ma, respectively.
The oldest median AFT ages of samples M08,
M12, and M11 are greater than their strati-
graphic ages (Table 1), which indicates that
these samples were only partially reset. Ther-
mal modeling shows that the Miocene samples
did not experience peak temperatures of >75
°C (Fig. 12). This is consistent with syndeposi-
tional structures observed in the field (coral and
burrow; Fig. S1) that suggest the Miocene rocks
were deposited in a shallow water environment
before being rapidly raised at ca. 8–3 Ma.
The late Miocene–Pliocene uplift history of
the outer wedge was also recorded by several
angular unconformities (U4, U5, and U6) on
our seismic sections (Figs. 6 and 7).

TABLE 1. DETRITAL APATITE FISSION-TRACK (AFT) DATA FROM THE SOUTHERN INDO-BURMAN RANGES AND SOUTHERN MINBU SUBBASIN
Sample Depositional Pooled AFT age Pooled Ns Mean length Oldest AFT Peak age Peak T EasyRo† BasinRo§ EasyDL#
no. age (Ma) (track) (μm), 1σ age (Ma)* (Ma) (°C) Median Median Median
(Ma) CI +95%/–95% median (2σ) median (2σ) median (2σ) (2σ) (2σ) (2σ)
M23 44.8–44.4 7.65 +1.8/–1.5 92 13.56 ± 0.21 9.00 (5.44) ≥14.50 (9.95) ≥167.79 (26.33) ≥1.32 (0.36) ≥1.04 (0.33) ≥1.33 (0.45)
M25 56.4–42.8 11.3 +3.1/–2.4 68 13.54 ± 0.21 13.00 (7.33) ≥18.00 (11.47) ≥176.82 (20.63) ≥1.46 (0.30) ≥1.23 (0.32) ≥1.56 (0.45)
M211 46.0–40.8 16.8 +4.5/–4.6 72 13.58 ± 0.38 19.00 (12.45) ≥22.00 (13.97) ≥131.19 (19.76) ≥0.79 (0.13) ≥0.65 (0.08) ≥0.65 (0.11)
M220 46.5–43.3 29.1 +3.5/–3.1 345 13.37 ± 0.12 28.00 (6.49) ≥34.00 (7.54) ≥164.88 (20.19) ≥1.25 (0.30) ≥0.92 (0.25) ≥1.26 (0.41)
M221 24.6–22.2 13.4 +3.4/–2.7 79 12.82 ± 0.22 12.00 (5.08) ≥13.50 (5.24) ≥125.28 (23.08) ≥0.73 (0.15) ≥0.62 (0.09) ≥0.59 (0.11)
M02 46.6–42.1 23.2 +10.3/–7.1 31 12.80 ± 0.33 23.00 (13.85) ≥23.00 (13.95) ≥163.42 (12.08) ≥1.22 (0.18) ≥0.89 (0.16) ≥1.20 (0.28)
M07 32.6–29.0 17.9 +9.2/–6.1 24 11.56 ± 0.44 15.00 (24.48) ≥14.00 (10.67) ≥170.76 (28.24) ≥1.38 (0.38) ≥1.12 (0.36) ≥1.38 (0.49)
M08 11.6–5.3 26.8 +5.1/–4.3 156 13.59 ± 0.27 52.00 (19.84) 3.00 (1.87) 71.03 (23.55) 0.40 (0.10) 0.41 (0.09) 0.37 (0.09)
M11 43.2–39.2 31.0 +7.8/–6.3 88 12.25 ± 0.19 95.00 (26.01) 23.00 (16.87) 108.75 (15.42) 0.66 (0.12) 0.57 (0.09) 0.54 (0.14)
M12 23.0–16.0 32.0 +6.8/–5.6 125 13.10 ± 0.12 95.50 (42.41) 9.00 (8.19) 73.23 (19.01) 0.42 (0.08) 0.43 (0.07) 0.39 (0.07)
M28 46.0–40.0 21.6 +4.9/–4.0 108 13.07 ± 0.32 18.00 (13.30) ≥19.00 (14.14) ≥177.03 (14.90) ≥1.45 (0.24) ≥1.23 (0.29) ≥1.56 (0.40)

*If the Oldest AFT Ma median (2σ) is less than the stratigraphic age, the sample has been reset.
†EasyRo from Burnham and Sweeney (1989).
§BasinRo from Nielsen et al. (2017).
#EasyDL from Schenk et al. (2017).

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 Peng Zhang et al.

Figure 12. Plots show thermal history modeling for samples collected from the southern Indo-Burman Ranges and southern Minbu sub-
basin, using program FT3. Note that all temperature-time (t-T) paths are shown, and all—except for the first t-T path that fits the apatite
fission-track (AFT) data—are only shown back to the age of the oldest fission track present for each subgroup. Full results and specific
analyses are shown in Text S3 (see footnote 1).

DISCUSSION
Kinematic Evolution of the Outer Wedge
Under Highly Oblique Plate Convergence
Our data are the first direct records of wedge
deformation in the southern Indo-Burman
Ranges, and they yield several significant char-
acteristics that may provide insights into global
commonalities and site-specific characteristics
of the tectonic evolution of accretionary margins.
A first-order characteristic feature is the con-
tinuous activity of the thrust fault at the rear of
the deformation front (FT1; Fig. 6A), which
caused a narrow, steep deformation front (aver-
age width of 15.6 km) and broad, low-relief
shelf terrace (average width 49 km). Because
of the steeper surface slope of the deformation
front (average 7.4°) and lower width ratio of the
deformation front within the entire outer wedge
(average 0.24), the geometry of the outer wedge
seems to be unique to this margin when com-
pared to other convergent margins such as Suma-
tra (Indonesia), Nankai (Japan), and Hikurangi
(New Zealand; Table 2). The effect of this long-
lived thrust fault is evident through qualitative
analysis of the progradational reflectors within
the Miocene to Quaternary successions that
straddle the depocenter of the thrust-top basin
and terminate toward FT1 (Fig. 6B). The vertical
stack of progradational reflectors strongly indi-
cates that the sedimentation rate may have never
exceeded the activity rate of the growing thrust
during most geological stages. Periodic slip on
this thrust fault thus produced the landward-
tilted slope-basin successions at the rear of the
deformation front. The remaining thrust faults
(FT2 and FT3) in the deformation front are prob-
ably inactive or were initiated very late, because

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 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

TABLE 2. COMPARISON OF STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS CALCULATED FOR THE SOUTHERN INDO-BURMAN RANGES
(RAKHINE) FROM THIS STUDY, WITH PUBLISHED DATA FROM SELECTED OTHER MARGINS
Represented Max trench Surface slope of Surface Wedge taper values (°) Deformation Shelf Ratio Obliquity
margins* sediment the deformation slope of the front width terrace L1/(L1+L2) (°)†
thickness front shelf terrace Surface Basement Taper (L1; km) width
(km) (α1; °) (α2; °) slope slope (β) (α+β) (L2; km)
(α)
Rakhine, Myanmar >6.0 7.4 0.2 1.9 2.1 4.0 15.6 49.0 0.24 76
Northern Sumatra, Indonesia 4.0 3.3 0.4 1.3 1.6 2.9 53.3 43.0 0.57 53
Southern Sumatra, Indonesia 1.5 4.7 0.3 2.1 2.2 4.3 30.0 64.0 0.32 31
Eastern Java, Indonesia 1.4 5.8 0.9 3.2 6.7 9.9 38.1 44.1 0.46 5
Nankai, Japan 1.6 5.1 0.1 1.9 4.6 6.5 29.0 50.0 0.37 30
Honshu, Japan 0.3 5.4 0.8 2.9 5.0 7.9 48.0 55.0 0.47 33
Aleutian, USA 1.0 2.6 0.1 1.0 4.2 5.2 15.4 32.5 0.32 20
Alaska, USA 2.2 3.3 0.2 1.8 2.4 4.2 80.0 76.0 0.51 25
Cascadia, USA 2.9 2.6 0.3 2.0 1.8 3.8 87.0 68.0 0.56 44
Colombian-Caribbean 4.0 4.3 0.2 2.2 2.1 4.3 78.0 71.0 0.52 19
Lesser Antilles 5.0 3.5 0.4 2.0 1.0 3.0 65.0 215.0 0.23 28
Central Chile 2.0 4.0 0.3 2.4 7.6 10.0 52.0 40.5 0.56 26
Southern Chile 3.0 4.9 0.7 2.8 3.4 6.2 44.7 42.0 0.52 48
Makran, Pakistan 6.0 2.8 1.3 2.0 1.5 3.5 72.5 73.6 0.50 9
Southern Hikurangi, New Zealand 3.8 3.2 1.4 1.0 3.0 4.0 93.8 31.3 0.75 50–80
*Key References: Rakhine (this study); Sumatra (McNeill and Henstock, 2014; Moeremans et al., 2014); Java (Lüschen et al., 2011); Nankai (Moore et al., 2007, 2015;
Strasser et al., 2009); Honshu (von Huene et al., 1994); Aleutian (von Huene and Scholl, 1991); Alaska (von Huene and Klaeschen, 1999); Cascadia (Adam et al., 2004);
Colombian-Caribbean (Mantilla-Pimiento et al., 2009); Lesser Antilles (Bangs et al., 1990); Central Chile (Contreras-Reyes et al., 2010); Southern Chile (Polonia et al.,
2007); Makran (Grando and McClay, 2007; Smith et al., 2012); Hikurangi (Barnes and de Lépinay, 1997; Barnes et al., 2010).
†Data are summarized from Noda (2016), Barnes and Lépinay (1997), and Mallick et al. (2020).

only ∼5 km of horizontal shortening (measured
on the U1 horizon) has occurred on these faults
over the past ∼30 m.y. The thrust faults that
occur between 17°00′N and 19°30′N show steep
dips at their bases and are less steep toward their
tops with a convex-up geometry (Fig. 5C–5F),
while those faults that occur between 15°50′N
and 17°00′N are arranged as positive flower
structures (Figs. 5G and 5H).
Although the geometric and structural prop-
erties of the deformation front in the southern
Indo-Burman Ranges differ from those observed
at other convergent margins, these features are
largely compared to analog modeling in the lab-
oratory under highly oblique plate convergence
(Leever et al., 2011; McClay et al., 2004). These
theoretical studies show that a larger obliquity,
for example φ >60°, would produce a rather
symmetrical flower-like structure with steep
faults rooting near the basal décollement and
a decreased number of large-offset prowedge
thrust faults. In this context, the accretionary
wedge experienced dramatic vertical uplift in
the axial belt and limited forward expansion.
The geometrical characteristics of the transpres-
sional wedge vary with the convergence obliq-
uity due to the changing orientation of the stress
triad (Burbidge and Braun, 1998; Koons, 1994;
Leever et al., 2011). We define a reference frame
in which x and y are both horizontal and per-
pendicular and parallel to the plate boundary,
respectively, and z is vertical. For orthogonal
convergence, σ1//x, σ2//y, and σ3//z, whereas in
strike slip, σ1 and σ3 are horizontal at an angle
of 45° to x and y, and σ2//z (Burbidge and Braun,
1998). Thus, σ1 rotates horizontally around the
x-axis with increasing convergence obliquity,
which in turn changes the geometry of the thrust
faults in the deformation front. For instance,
steeper faults with larger displacements occur
in the transpressional wedge, which absorbs the
majority of the horizontal shortening. The slip
on these thrusts is comparatively long-lived,
and thus the development of the next thrust fault
is delayed.
A second observation was the occurrence
of NE-striking extensional faults (Fault Set 2).
These planar faults with steeper dip angles often
cut through entire wedge successions and pro-
duce a series of negative flower-like structures
(Fig. 7). In the RBA4 region, these extensional
faults are perpendicular to the frontal thrust
faults and the NW-striking listric-style faults at
the rear of the shelf terrace (Fault Set 1), split-
ting the study region into five blocks with dif-
ferent directions of relative motion (Fig. 8D).
For example, block A moved northeast along
FS1 relative to block B, whereas block C
moved southwest along FS3 relative to block
D. These characteristic features are comparable
to those of Riedel shears in a right-lateral shear
system (Fig. 8D). Because the distinct wedge-
shaped reflectors first occurred in the Miocene
sequences, we propose that the right-lateral
shear motion in the Indo-Burma Subduction
Zone initiated in the Miocene and continues to
the present day. This is roughly backed by our
field measurements, which demonstrate that
the southern Indo-Burman Ranges have been
reshaped by dextral strike-slip motion since the
Miocene (Fig. 3).
Along the Sunda trench between 14°00′N and
16°30′N (Fig. 1), Nielsen et al. (2004) reported
high-quality, 2-D seismic and swath bathymet-
ric data, in which positive flower structures were
recognized in seismic cross sections, and dex-
tral strike-slip faults were mapped on the plan
graph. In fact, dextral strike-slip tectonics may
have controlled the Indo-Burma Subduction
Zone since at least the Miocene (Bertrand and
Rangin, 2003; Betka et al., 2018; Bürgi et al.,
2021; Mallick et al., 2020; Maurin and Rangin,
2009a; Morley et al., 2020; Pivnik et al., 1998;
Rangin et al., 2013; Vigny et al., 2003). Global
positioning system measurements predict a
relative India–Sundaland motion of 36 mm/yr
oriented N014 at latitude 17° N (Socquet et al.,
2006). Considering the 18–23 mm/yr north–
south motion of the West Burma Terrane with
respect to Sundaland on the Sagaing Fault in the
east, a rest 7–9 mm/yr of this motion would be
expected to be distributed in the Indo-Burman
Ranges (Mallick et al., 2020; Maurin et al.,
2010; Vigny et al., 2003).
The presence of shale diapirs and mud vol-
canoes is another characteristic associated with
the development of an accretionary wedge in the
southern Indo-Burman Ranges. These fluid-sed-
iment mixtures, along with a lower wedge taper
(4.0°; Table 2) and a thick incoming sediment
section (>6 km; Bengal Fan), indicate a fluid-rich
margin of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges.
This margin would have a weak basal surface,
which commonly presents as a high-amplitude,
negative-polarity reflector on seismic profiles
that reflects reduced bulk density, increased
porosity, and probably high pore fluid pressures
(e.g., Bangs et al., 2004). However, the décol-
lement level recorded in our seismic reflection
data was unreflective and/or discrete (Fig. S3).
This finding could be explained by either its spe-
cific properties, which do not generate distinct
reflectors on the seismic profiles, or a sub-critical
taper model, in which the observed overpressure
is dispersed over the accreted sediment section
rather than concentrated at the décollement
surface (Smith et al., 2012). The occurrence of

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shale diapirs and mud volcanoes in the offshore
and onshore Oligocene to Quaternary succes-
sions (Figs. 3 and 5) suggests that the observed
overpressures were diffused upwards. Therefore,
the outer wedge of the southern Indo-Burman
Ranges seems to have developed as a subcritical
wedge with a stronger décollement than origi-
nally thought; the relatively strong décollement
could sustain vertical growth of the outer wedge.
However, this effect appears to be limited due
to the lack of significant plate subduction in
this region, as inferred from previous seismic
tomography (Pesicek et al., 2010; Replumaz
et al., 2010). Our seismic reflection data (Fig.
S3) show that only ∼1-km-thick Eocene rocks
were carried down the trench before the late
Pliocene, and they triggered tectonic underplat-
ing and subsequent NE–SW-striking extensional
faulting (Fault Set 1).
Our analysis reveals that the outer wedge
of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges has
­conspicuous geometric and structural character-
istics that potentially correlate with a transpres-
sional wedge that formed under highly oblique
convergence. However, there are also marked
differences between the outer wedge of the
southern Indo-Burman Ranges and the theo-
retical results, as well as several natural wedges
at highly oblique convergent margins such as
Sumatra (φ = 59–37°; McNeill and Henstock,
2014; Moeremans et al., 2014), Hikurangi
(φ = 40–10°; Barnes and de Lépinay, 1997;
Barnes et al., 2010), and Cascadia (φ = 46°;
Adam et al., 2004), which have different defor-
mation front widths, fault types, and thicknesses
of slope-basin infillings. This is hardly surpris-
ing, given that the formation of an accretion-
ary wedge is often affected by various factors,
including the material properties of the wedge
and the décollement (friction, cohesion, and
pore fluid pressure), plate convergence (obliq-
uity and velocity), isostatic response (uplift and
subsidence), and surface processes (erosion and
sedimentation; Noda et al., 2020; Tobin and Saf-
fer, 2009; von Huene and Ranero, 2003). Since
at least the Miocene, increased trench sedi-
mentation rate and enhanced hinterland wedge
­erosion have been observed in the southern Indo-­
Burman Ranges (McNeill et al., 2017; Najman
et al., 2012, 2020; Pickering et al., 2020; this
study); however, the influence of these processes
on wedge growth remains unknown. We address
this question below.
Reworking of the Hinterland Wedge Rocks
Facilitates Vertical Growth of the Outer
Wedge
Detrital zircon U-Pb ages provide MDAs for
sediments exposed in the hinterland wedge of
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the southern Indo-Burman Ranges and constrain
sedimentation spanning the early to middle
Eocene (50–41 Ma). Paleontological data from
the hinterland wedge (Lei et al., 2009; Naing,
2019) are broadly consistent with the MDAs,
which implies that the youngest detrital zircon
U-Pb age populations can be used to constrain
the maximum stratigraphic ages. Naing (2019)
reported Late Cretaceous planktonic foraminif-
eral assemblages and nannofossils and Paleo-
cene to early Eocene radiolarian fauna (Fig.
S2) from a few isolated observation sites along
the Pyay–Toungup section (hinterland wedge).
However, differentiating the Upper Cretaceous
to Paleocene from the Eocene strata is difficult
because of the heavily forested nature of the
hinterland wedge. Consequently, knowledge of
the Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene rocks is still
limited, although the Eocene Rakhine Flysch is
more prevalent in the study region.
The Eocene samples of the southern Indo-
Burman Ranges display detrital zircon age spec-
tra similar to those from the Burmese forearc
subbasins (i.e., Chindwin and Minbu) and cen-
tral Indo-Burman Ranges but substantially dif-
ferent age spectra from those of the northern
Indo-Burman Ranges. The strata of the north-
ern Indo-Burman Ranges consist primarily of
Proterozoic to early Paleozoic age populations
with major peaks at 470–600 Ma and 0.8–1.2 Ga
and subordinate peaks at 1.5–2.0 Ga (Fig. 10B;
Aitchison et al., 2019; Ding et al., 2022; Vadlam-
ani et al., 2015), which are typical detrital zircon
age signals of the Himalayan Orogen (Fig. 11).
Although the contributions from the Gangdese
Arc (Robinson et al., 2014) and/or the Himala-
yan Orogen (Arboit et al., 2021) to the Burmese
forearc subbasins in a certain period time of the
Eocene are not completely eliminated, previous
studies (Cai et al., 2020; Licht et al., 2013, 2019;
Wang et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2019b, 2021a)
have conservatively linked the Upper Cretaceous
to middle Eocene rocks in these subbasins to the
exhumation and erosion of autochthonous vol-
canogenic rocks, granitoids, and deep basement
rocks of the West Burma Terrane (wedge core
of the Indo-Burman Ranges, Wuntho-Popa Arc,
and Tagaung-Myitkyina Belt; Fig. 1). Our find-
ings, when combined with previously published
detrital zircon data, strongly suggest that the
southern Indo-Burman Ranges was open to the
trench to the west (in modern coordinates) and
represented an additional significant discharge
region for material derived from West Burma
Terrane during the early–middle Eocene. The
Oligocene rocks show detrital zircon age pat-
terns very similar to those of the upper Eocene
rocks in the Chindwin subbasin (Yaw Forma-
tion; Fig. 10E), which reflects the influence of
both the proto-Siang and Upper Irrawaddy riv-
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 135, no. 9/10
ers that flowed through the eastern Himalayas
and SE Tibetan Plateau margin (northern Mogok
Metamorphic Belt and Dianxi-Burma batho-
liths; Fig. 1), respectively. The formation of the
­palaeodrainage coincided with initial uplift of
SE Tibetan Plateau in the late Eocene–early Oli-
gocene (Hoke et al., 2014; Su et al., 2019; Xiong
et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2015). A late Eocene–early
Oligocene unconformity (Licht et al., 2019; Naj-
man et al., 2022; Westerweel et al., 2020; Zhang
et al., 2017) discovered in the Chindwin subba-
sin marks a significant erosional event that may
have caused sediment reworking of the Yaw For-
mation and subsequent deposition in the south-
ern Indo-Burman Ranges.
Our analysis of the Miocene rocks exposed
on Ramree Island and along the Rakhine coast
(Fig. 3) refutes the earlier hypothesis of a domi-
nant Himalayan source (Allen et al., 2008;
­Curray, 2005; Naing et al., 2014). The typical
Himalayan-derived detritus preserved in the
Miocene foreland depression (Sub-Himalaya
and Bengal Basin) and submarine fans (Bengal
and Nicobar) is characterized by Proterozoic to
early Paleozoic zircons (Fig. 10A; Blum et al.,
2018; Bracciali et al., 2015; McNeill et al., 2017;
Najman et al., 2008, 2012; Pickering et al., 2020;
Webb et al., 2021). However, the Miocene rocks
in the southern Indo-Burman Ranges are domi-
nated by Cretaceous–Cenozoic detrital zircons
(Fig. 9A), while Himalayan age signals (peaks
at 450–650 Ma, 0.8–1.2 Ga, and 1.60–2.0 Ga;
Fig. 11) are either minor or lacking (11.6–28.7%).
The MDS in Figure 10E compares data sets from
the Indo-Burman Ranges, Central Myanmar
Basin, Himalayan foreland basins, submarine
fans, and modern river sand. The Miocene rocks
clearly plot within the West Burma Terrane field
and show a closer affinity to the lower–middle
Eocene rocks deposited in the Burmese forearc
subbasins and the southern Indo-Burman Ranges
itself. Given that (1) there are no obvious uncon-
formities between the lower to middle Eocene
rocks and their overlying strata in the deeper
parts of the Burmese forearc subbasins (Pivnik
et al., 1998; Zhang et al., 2017), and (2) erosion
of the western outcrops in the Miocene would
result in mixed age signals that correspond to
both the Burmese forearc subbasins and wedge
core of the central Indo-Burman Ranges (Trias-
sic Naga metamorphic rocks and Pane Chaung
turbidites; Figs. 1, 11, and S4; see footnote 1),
we propose that the Miocene rocks are a result of
sediment reworking of the hinterland wedge of
the southern Indo-Burman Ranges. On another
MDS graph (Fig. 9C) that shows only the south-
ern Indo-Burman Ranges and southern Minbu
data sets, the Miocene rocks plot close to the
Eocene samples and significantly overlap, which
indicates that they have strong affinity.
 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

The outer-wedge rocks derived from the hin-
terland wedge require that the latter has been
uplifted since the early Miocene. This is sup-
ported by syndepositional structures observed
at the Rakhine coast (Fig. S1) and thermal his-
tory modeling of our AFT data. Four samples
from the hinterland wedge (M23, M25, M28,
and M211) were buried to depths greater than
the partial annealing zone and showed fully reset
AFT ages, which suggests that initial uplift of
the hinterland wedge occurred at ca. 22–12 Ma
(Fig. 12). If we assume a standard geothermal
gradient of 30 °C/km and put the base of the
partial annealing zone at ∼120 °C, average
exhumation rates of the hinterland wedge can be
estimated at 182–333 m/m.y.; at these relatively
steady exhumation rates, the Eocene rocks of the
hinterland wedge were raised to depths less than
those of the partial annealing zone (∼2 km) at ca.
10–5 Ma (Fig. 12 and Text S3). This implies that
the hinterland wedge of the southern Indo-Bur-
man Ranges must have been partially exposed to
sub-aerial condition, if the overlying Oligocene
rocks with a thickness of 1–2 km were included
(Maurin and Rangin, 2009a; Naing et al., 2014;
Zhang et al., 2021a). In addition, the uplift of the
hinterland wedge in the Miocene is further sup-
ported by three independent lines of evidence.
First, an increase in sedimentation rate in the
Prome-Irrawaddy subbasin started in the late
Miocene, with a large N-S–striking submerged
delta occurring in the Andaman Sea (e.g., Racey
and Ridd, 2015; Zhang et al., 2021a). This hints
at a shift from southwestward transverse flows
into the Bay of Bengal in the Paleogene (Licht
et al., 2013, 2019; Thein and Maung, 2017) to
a southward longitudinal flow into the Prome-
Irrawaddy subbasin and Andaman Sea in the
Neogene (Jonell et al., 2022; Khin and Myitta,
1999; Thein and Maung, 2017). Second, various
Eocene nannofossils are found in the lower Mio-
cene sedimentary rocks (Najman et al., 2020).
Third, truncation reflectors that record Neogene
erosional events at the rear of the outer wedge
were identified in our 2-D seismic sections
(Figs. 5–7).
Large-scale progradational reflectors
(8–16 km in length) within the Oligocene to
Quaternary sequences provide unambiguous
evidence of stable southwestward flow into
the shelf terrace of the outer wedge (thrust-top
basins; Figs. 6B and 6C). One could argue that
the presence of progradational reflectors within
the outer wedge may be directly linked to the
continuous sediment supply from the Central
Myanmar Basin (Minbu subbasin) to the east
by trans-wedge fluvial networks. This is most
likely true for Oligocene sedimentary rocks, as
the Minbu subbasin was characterized by the
south–southwestward direction of rivers dur-
ing the Oligocene, and these rivers could thus
feed sediments to offshore basins to the south-
west (Gough et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2021a).
However, substantial discharge from the Minbu
subbasin thereafter is unlikely because the hin-
terland wedge has emerged above sea level since
the Miocene (Khin et al., 2020; Morley et al.,
2020; Najman et al., 2020; this study). Detritus
derived from the Minbu subbasin might have
been transported to the Andaman Sea by the
through-going Irrawaddy River (Jonell et al.,
2022; Zhang et al., 2021a). Our MDS graph
(Fig. 10E) shows that the Miocene rocks plot
closer to the Eocene hinterland wedge than to
the contemporaneous rocks from the Minbu or
Chindwin subbasin. We further propose that sed-
iments eroded from the hinterland wedge must
have been transported along the footwalls of the
NE-striking transextensional faults (Fault Set 2),
where NE-striking elongated depocenters have
been observed (Fig. 8). Our findings suggest
that transextensional faults under oblique plate
convergence governed the pathways of reworked
sediments from the hinterland to the outer wedge
(Fig. 13).
This study lacks robust detrital zircon age
constraints on sediments in the deformation
front because systematic sampling is currently
unavailable. The immature thrust-top (wedge
slope) basin lying between FT1 and FT2
(Figs. 5E and 5F) shows a clear progradational
reflection configuration in the Quaternary suc-
cession that extends laterally into the thrust-top
basin in the shelf terrace. This indicates that the
reworked sediments from the hinterland wedge
may have been transported in the deforma-
tion front by submerged distributary channels
or large-scale slumping of surficial sediments
near the shelf break (Figs. 5 and 13). However,

Figure 13. Schematic shows de-

velopment of the outer wedge
under highly oblique plate
convergence during Neogene
to Quaternary times. The de-
nuded region represents the up-
lifted hinterland wedge, where
trans-wedge fluvial networks
transport the reworked hinter-
land wedge materials into the
slope-basin along the NE–SW-
striking transtensional faults
(Fault Set 2) to form large sea-
ward progradational sequences
in the outer wedge. While most
of these materials were trapped
by the slope-basin due to con-
tinuous fault slip on the thrust
at the rear of the deformation
front (FT1), a small amount of
the eroded materials was deliv-
ered into the deformation front,
where they were deformed along
with the abyssal plain sediments
(Bengal Fan). The black arrow
represents the motion vector of the Indian plate and indicates a highly oblique convergent margin of the southern Indo-Burman Ranges.

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the imbricated thrust faults that nucleated “in
sequence” (Figs. 5C–5H) and the abyssal plain
sediments offset by the youngest frontal thrust
(FT3; Fig. 6A) strongly imply that Bengal Fan
sediments accreted into the deformation front
and were probably the dominant sources.
In summary, our analyses demonstrate that
the hinterland wedge rocks are dominantly
derived from the West Burma Terrane, while
the shelf terrace rocks are the product of Eocene
hinterland wedge sediment reworking, and the
deformation front rocks are sourced from the
Himalaya (Bengal Fan) with a subordinate
contribution from the hinterland wedge. These
findings are of great importance for understand-
ing the development of accretionary wedges at
other highly oblique plate convergent margins,
particularly the outer wedge.
According to the critical-taper theory (Dahlen
et al., 1984; Davis et al., 1983), surface erosion
of the hinterland wedge and fast sedimenta-
tion in the thrust-top basins of the outer wedge
decrease the topographic slope and produce a
subcritical taper, which requires vertical fron-
tal deformation to maintain an overall critical
taper. This partly explains the occurrence of a
narrow deformation front in the study region,
which had higher slope angles and limited fron-
tal accretion (Figs. 5C–5H and 6A). Previous
numerical and analog studies demonstrated that
erosion of an accretionary wedge would pre-
vent the initiation of new thrusts in the defor-
mation front and instead concentrate strain on
these existing active thrusts within this belt
(Cruz et al., 2010, 2011; Mugnier et al., 1997).
Behind these existing active thrusts, additional
basal shear stress related to active sedimentation
strengthens the coupling of the interface between
the wedge base and décollement (Burbidge and
Braun, 1998; Noda et al., 2020). This behavior
is similar to the highly oblique plate conver-
gence described above. Therefore, it seems that
higher convergence obliquity, surface erosion,
and active sedimentation increase the duration
and magnitude of slip along individual thrusts
in the deformation front, particularly along FT1
(Figs. 5 and 6). Thus, periodic activity on these
thrusts produces a greater fault dip and leads to
more accommodation space, which allows the
development of growth sequences in thrust-top
basins (Leever et al., 2011).
Differential Evolution between the
Southern and Central Parts of the
Indo-Burman Ranges
Maurin and Rangin (2009b) attribute the
oversteepened deformation front and fairly
flat shelf terrace of the southern Indo-Burman
Ranges to the collision between the Ninetyeast
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Ridge and West Burma Terrane. However, the
smooth reflectors of the abyssal plain succes-
sions observed at the wedge toe (Figs. 5 and S3)
indicate that the ridge may not have arrived at
the base of the wedge yet. Our findings high-
light the significance of the highly oblique plate
convergence and sediment reworking that trig-
gered the vertical expansion of the outer wedge
during the Miocene to Quaternary. Based on its
structural styles and provenance characteristics,
the evolution of the entire southern Indo-Burman
Ranges can be summarized in two major stages
(Fig. 14).
Stage I: Deposition of turbidites (Rakhine
Flysch) and forward expansion of the proto-
wedge. The study region in the Eocene was a
seaward-sloping accretionary wedge in which
braided channel and/or submarine fan deposi-
tion occurred. These turbidites were deformed
“in sequence” due to consistent frontal accretion,
which caused subsequent underplating of the
Eocene turbidites at the base of the proto-wedge
(Fig. 14A); in addition, underplating of sedi-
ments thickened and uplifted the proto-wedge.
Between the pro-vergent thrusts, the Oligocene
rocks derived from the recycling of the upper
Eocene forearc basin rocks were deposited in
structural lows. The wedge development at this
stage was not significantly affected by oblique
plate convergence.
Stage II: Transpressional wedge development
under highly oblique convergence and sediment
reworking. Since the early Miocene, the study
region has developed as a highly oblique con-
vergent margin as a result of plate reorganiza-
tion in the northeastern Indian Ocean (Bertrand
and Rangin, 2003; Curray, 2005; Rangin et al.,
2013). This led to substantial vertical uplift in the
hinterland wedge and an increase in fault activity
on the thrusts at the rear of the deformation front
(Fig. 14B). The eroded materials from the hinter-
land (>1.2–2.0 km in thickness) were primarily
trapped by slope basins in the shelf terrace, fur-
ther strengthening the vertical slip on the thrusts
at the rear of the deformation front. In this stage,
frontal accretion and underplating of trench sedi-
ments below the wedge were limited.
In contrast to the southern Indo-Burman
Ranges, the central Indo-Burman Ranges (20–
25°N) have an additional Mesozoic wedge core,
a more strongly deformed hinterland wedge,
and a broader folded and thrusted outer wedge
(Fig. 14C; Betka et al., 2018; Bürgi et al., 2021;
Maurin and Rangin, 2009a; Morley et al., 2020).
These differences reflect distinct kinematic and
dynamic evolutionary processes. Prior to the
early Eocene (48 Ma), the tectonic and sedi-
mentary settings in the central Indo-Burman
Ranges were comparable to those in the southern
Indo-Burman Ranges; both areas had a seaward-
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 135, no. 9/10
sloping accretionary wedge fed by transverse
rivers draining through the West Burma Terrane
(Licht et al., 2019; Najman et al., 2020; Zhang
et al., 2019b). The effect of the collision between
India and West Burma Terrane propagated to
the central Indo-Burman Ranges in the middle
Eocene (45–40 Ma; Morley et al., 2020; Najman
et al., 2022), resulting in an initial uplift of the
wedge core and forward growth of the hinterland
wedge (Fig. 14A). Because of the smaller obliq-
uity (φ< 50°; Mallick et al., 2020), the forward
growth of the outer wedge in the central Indo-
Burman Ranges appears to be mainly controlled
by frontal accretion of fluvio-deltaic sediments
in the trench rather than by oblique plate con-
vergence. It is not clear whether this process
is influenced by the sediment reworking of the
overriding plate material. We propose that even
if this influence exists, it would be fairly minor
because sediments in the outer wedge were pre-
dominately supplied by the Himalayan Orogen
and Gangdese Arc to the north (Fig. 10). Ongo-
ing frontal accretion during the past 8 m.y. pro-
duced a wide (maximum width of 200 km) and
thin-skinned fold-thrust belt (Figs. 14B and 14C;
Betka et al., 2018; Bürgi et al., 2021; Maurin and
Rangin, 2009a).
We further note that at least three additional
mechanisms could explain the forward accretion
of the outer wedge in the central Indo-Burman
Ranges, which are described below.
(1) By altering the relative balance between
the rate of material input to the wedge and the
forces resulting from gravity acting on the ele-
vation contrast between the hinterland wedge
and the outer wedge (Ball et al., 2019; Copley
and McKenzie, 2007; Najman et al., 2020), an
increase in the thickness of the incoming sedi-
ment section contributed to obvious changes in
the uplift and deformation of the outer wedge.
In front of the wedge, the subducting Cenozoic
strata in the Bengal Basin have a maximum
thickness of >16 km (Curray, 1991), which
is larger than any other convergent margin in
the world.
(2) The initial subduction of the negatively
buoyant Indian passive margin lithosphere into
the mantle produced increased flexural loading
in the Surma subbasin (northeast Bengal Basin;
Fig. 1) and steepened the topographic slope of
the outer wedge (Mallick et al., 2020). As the
wedge was perturbed from its critical taper by
sinking, it was driven to propagate westward to
reduce its taper and sustain equilibration. The
subduction of the Indian lithosphere beneath the
West Burma Terrane has been well documented
in seismic tomography images (Pesicek et al.,
2010; Replumaz et al., 2010).
(3) The Tibetan Plateau crustal flow rotated
southwestward around the Eastern Himalayan
 Accretionary wedge development at oblique convergent margins

Figure 14. Paleogeographic reconstructions of the West Burma Terrane (WBT) are shown with schematic of cross section
across W–E transects in the central and southern parts of the Indo-Burman Ranges (IBR). (A) The WBT was dragged north-
ward by the Indian plate and dominated by trans-wedge rivers until the middle Eocene uplift of the central and northern
parts of the Indo-Burman Ranges. Prior to this period, both the central and southern parts of the Indo-Burman Ranges had
a broad deformation front characterized by numerous folds and thrusts. (B) The WBT has collided with Asia since at least
the early Oligocene and became a highly oblique convergent margin in the early Miocene. Highly oblique plate convergence
and sediment reworking of the hinterland wedge resulted in continuous fault slip on thrusts at the rear of the deformation
front and delayed forward advance of the wedge. (C) Differential evolution of the southern and central parts of the Indo-
Burman Ranges controlled different wedge geometry and structure. The black arrow represents the motion vector of the
Indian plate. Tectonic reconstructions are modified after Westerweel et al. (2019) and Morley et al. (2021). Cross section of
the central Indo-Burman Ranges is from Maurin and Rangin (2009a). IR—Irrawaddy River.

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Syntaxis was initiated in the middle Miocene
(Clark and Royden, 2000; Liu et al., 2014) and
caused uplift of the inner wedge (hinterland
wedge and Mesozoic wedge core) and collapse
of the outer wedge (Rangin et al., 2013; Rangin
and Sibuet, 2017). The southwestward Tibetan
Plateau crustal flow was restrained between the
Shillong Plateau and the Ninetyeast Ridge; thus,
only the outer wedge in the central Indo-Bur-
man Ranges shows a wider fold-and-thrust belt.
However, this crustal flow arrived at the Indo-
Burman Ranges later than the timing of initial
uplift of the central Indo-Burman Ranges, which
was dated to the middle Eocene by recent studies
(Morley et al., 2020; Najman et al., 2022).
Longitudinal differentiation has been a pri-
mary characteristic of the Indo-Burma Sub-
duction Zone since at least the Miocene and
potentially as early as the middle Eocene. This
differential evolution is commonly expressed
by temporal-spatial changes in the tectonic
configuration and depositional environments.
In the Burmese forearc region, for example,
the Oligocene Minbu subbasin exhibits tectonic
and depositional settings similar to those of the
present-day Ayeyarwady delta within the Prome-
Irrawaddy subbasin (Fig. 1; Gough et al., 2020;
Ridd and Racey, 2015). High-resolution plate
kinematic restorations of India, the West Burma
Terrane, Sundaland, and other relics of oceanic
arcs within this subduction zone could help us
better understand the diachronous development
of convergent margins; however, plate kinematic
restoration in the study area and adjacent regions
is still heavily debated (Westerweel et al., 2019;
Mitchell, 2018; Morley et al., 2021).
Implications for the Evolution of
Accretionary Wedges at Convergent Plate
Margins
In a broader context, the results of this study
demonstrate how an accretionary wedge with
a wide shelf terrace and narrow deformation
front may develop as a consequence of highly
oblique plate convergence and sediment rework-
ing of overriding plate rocks. This adds to our
understanding of the mechanisms that lead to
the formation of accretionary wedges in various
tectonic contexts.
Classically, the formation of a wedge at accre-
tionary-type margins with such geomorphologi-
cal and structural characteristics is attributed
to the occurrence of an out-of-sequence thrust
and/or passage of seamounts along subduction
margins (Bangs et al., 2006; Barnes et al., 2010;
Davidson et al., 2020; Frederik et al., 2020;
Moore et al., 2007; Mountjoy and Barnes, 2011;
Strasser et al., 2009). Subducting seamounts and
rough seafloor topography can induce transient
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uplift and slope steepening by concentrating
stress on fracture zones immediately above the
seamounts (Ruh, 2016; Wang and Bilek, 2011),
leading to large-offset, long-lived thrust faults
and a delay in the generation of new thrusts in
front of the seamounts (e.g., Morgan and Bangs,
2017). At nonaccretionary-type margins where
a narrow deformation front and limited trench
sediments occur, subduction erosion can desta-
bilize the upper plates and tip them seaward,
thereby forming oversteepened slopes (Noda,
2016; von Huene and Ranero, 2003). However,
the effect of highly oblique convergence or sedi-
ment reworking has been studied in detail at nei-
ther accretionary-type margins (e.g., Sumatra,
Nankai, and Hikurangi) nor nonaccretionary-
type margins (e.g., Eastern Java, Central Chile,
and Aleutian). In fact, fault slip on these out-of-
sequence thrusts is commonly synchronous with
active sedimentation in wedge-slope basins (e.g.,
Barnes et al., 2010; Moore et al., 2015). This
implies that sediment reworking plays a signifi-
cant role in governing the vertical growth of the
outer wedge, although it may not be the primary
factor. Detailed analyses of fault structures and
activities, as well as the provenance of rocks
preserved in wedge slope basins, may provide
additional information on wedge deformation at
these margins.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results reveal a broad shelf terrace domi-
nated by overfilled thrust-top basins, extensional
faults, and numerous shale diapirs, as well as a
narrow deformation front characterized by high
slope angles (5.7–9.8°) and very limited fron-
tal accretion in the outer wedge of the southern
Indo-Burman Ranges. The extensional faults
within the shelf terrace were divided into three
populations, which are, from oldest to youngest:
NW-striking late Paleogene to early Pliocene
listric-style faults (Fault Set 1), NE-striking
Neogene to present-day planar extensional faults
(Fault Set 2), and WNW-striking Pliocene intra-
formational faults (Fault Set 3). The NE-striking
planar faults (Fault Set 2), which are negative
flower-like structures, are interpreted to be a
result of dextral strike-slip tectonics. Within the
deformation front, three groups of thrust faults
(FT1, FT2, and FT3) nucleated “in sequence.”
The oldest thrust fault (FT1) is a long-lived
growth fault with a convex-up geometry that
governs the rapid vertical stack of the prograda-
tional reflectors within the shelf terrace.
The narrow deformation front and flower-like
structures are roughly consistent with analog
modeling in the laboratory of highly oblique
convergence conditions, which suggests that
increasing convergence obliquity causes a hori-
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 135, no. 9/10
zontal rotation of the maximum compressive
stress (σ1), which changes the geometry of
the thrust faults in the deformation front, par-
ticularly the oldest thrust fault at the rear (FT1).
The slip on FT1 is comparatively long-lived,
and thus the formation of the next thrust faults
(FT2 or FT3) is delayed. However, the features
of the outer wedge are not completely coincident
with theoretical results and those observed from
other highly oblique convergent margins, such
as Sumatra, Hikurangi, and Cascadia. Our detri-
tal zircon U-Pb and apatite fission-track analy-
ses indicate that the majority of the sediments
blanketing the slope basins within the shelf ter-
race are the product of sediment reworking of
the hinterland wedge since the early Miocene
(22–12 Ma). Active sedimentation behind the
major growth fault (FT1) produced additional
basal shear stress, which strengthened the cou-
pling of the interface between the wedge base
and décollement. Our results suggest that from
the Neogene to present day, both highly oblique
plate convergence and sediment reworking have
played an important role in controlling the verti-
cal expansion and the architecture of the outer
wedge in the southern Indo-Burman Ranges.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was funded by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (no. 42002130), China
Postdoctoral Science Foundation (no. 2019M662742),
and Open Research Foundation of Key Laboratory of
Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Edu-
cation (no. TPR-2020-2). The authors are grateful to
Yani Najman (Lancaster University), Edward Sobel
(Universität Potsdam), Songling Yang (CNOOC), and
Chuanbo Shen (China University of Geosciences), for
several conversations on topics related to this manu-
script, to Zhaochu Hu for zircon U-Pb analysis, and
to Peng Deng, Qing Ye, Lulu Wu, and Shihao Hao for
seismic data interpretation. We thank Paul O’Sullivan
(now at GeoSeps Services, Moscow, Idaho, USA) for
measuring the apatite fission-track parameters and
Margaret B. Donelick for collecting the LA-ICP-MS
data, both during their apatite to zircon days. Sugges-
tions by Chris Morley, two anonymous reviewers, and
editors W.J. Xiao, J. Waldron, and K. Cutts improved
the manuscript. P. Zhang welcomes the birth of his
daughter with this article.
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Science Editor: Wenjiao Xiao
Associate Editor: Kathryn Cutts
Manuscript Received 25 April 2022
Revised Manuscript Received 9 September 2022
Manuscript Accepted 9 October 2022
Printed in the USA