Coupling characteristics of stress and strain at different layers of different sub-regions in Yunnan and its adjacent areas

Abstract

In this paper, we collect 6 361 waveform data to calculate the shear wave splitting parameters from a regional seismic network of 22 digital stations in Yunnan and its adjacent area from July 1999 to June 2005. By using the cross-correlation method, 64 splitting events of 16 stations are processed. We also collect the splitting results of eight earthquake sequences to present the characteristics of shear wave splitting in Yunnan and its adjacent areas. The orientations of maximum principal compressive stress of three sub-regions in this area are derived from the CMT focal mechanism solutions of 43 moderate-strong earthquakes provided by Harvard University by the P axis azimuth-averaging method. The principal strain rate at each observatory is deduced from the observations of Crustal Movement Observation Network of China during the period from 1999 to 2004. In addition, the data of Pn aniso-tropy and SKS splitting of Yunnan and its adjacent areas are also collected. We have discovered from this study that the continental lithosphere, as a main seismogenic environment for strong earthquake, can be divided into blocks laterally; the mechanical behavior of lithosphere varies with depth and can be divided into different layers in the vertical orientation; the information of crustal deformation obtained from GPS might be affected by the type of blocks, since there are different types of active blocks in Yunnan and its adjacent areas; the shear wave splitting in this region might be affected mainly by the upper crust or even the surface tectonics.