EVIDENCE FOR SINISTRAL STRIKE-SLIP DEFORMATION IN THE SOLOMON-ISLAND ARC

During the SOPACMAPS 2 crusie carried out by IFREMER (Institut Francai s de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer) and ORSTOM (Institu Fran cais de Recherche Scientifique pour le development en Cooperation) on the R/V L'Atalante, in the Central Solomon Arc area, multibeam bathyme tric and imagery data and single-channel seismic reflection profiles w ere collected from an area of about 3500 km2, to evaluate regional tec tonics. Structural data geophysical profiles interpretation provide ev idence for left-lateral transtensional tectonics on the southern edge of the Central Solomon Trough. This transtensional deformation is repr esented by faulting, block tilting, and rhombohedral deformation. The regional geology and the analysis of the sedimentary cover allow us to demonstrate that this tectonic occurred in two different phases durin g Oligocene to Miocene and Pliocene to Pleistocene times.