Extension active perpendiculaire à la subduction dans l'arc des Petites Antilles (Guadeloupe, Antilles françaises)

Active normal faults cut the uplifted reef platforms of Grande-Terre and Marie-Galante and the volcanic rocks of Basse-Terre in the Lesser Antilles arc. New marine geophysical data shows that such faults extend offshore, forming two distinct sets. One set bounds graben perpendicular to the arc, attesting to ∼ north–south extension. The ‘en echelon’ faults of the other set, roughly along the volcanic arc, accommodate a component of sinistral motion. The active Soufrière volcano lies inside the western termination of the Marie-Galante graben. Historical and instrumental earthquakes with magnitude ⩾5.5 may have ruptured the Marie-Galante graben bounding faults.