Myanmar-­India-­Bangladesh-Bhutan (MIBB) tectonic geodesy

Project Overview

The Myanmar-India-Bangladesh-Bhutan GPS network began operation in 2012 and now comprises 33 continuous stations across four countries, plus 113 survey stations we have added in the past several years. It has already collected a wealth of observations that reveal important features of the tectonics in this region, like the fact that the megathrust beneath Bangladesh is fully coupled and represents a significant seismic hazard there. During the next phase of this project, we will expand our scope to answer fundamental questions about the broader tectonic picture, to better understand the complex interactions between the many active faults in this region. We will also make use of the data to investigate one of the largest seasonal movements of water in the world: the Indian monsoon. The long time-series of data already recorded by the core sites in the network reveal one of the largest seasonal vertical land motions recorded anywhere, and we will work to combine this data with satellite gravity to understand both the long-term climatic trends in water movement and their influence on the tectonics of the region.