Deformation across the Pacific‐North America plate boundary near San Francisco, California

Abstract

We have detected a narrow zone of compression between the Coast Ranges and the Great Valley, and we have estimated slip rates for the San Andreas, Rodgers Creek, and Green Valley faults just north of San Francisco. These results are based on an analysis of campaign and continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected between 1992 and 2000 in central California. The zone of compression between the Coast Ranges and the Great Valley is 25 km wide. The observations clearly show 3.8±1.5 mm yr−1 of shortening over this narrow zone. The strike slip components are best fit by a model with 20.8±1.9 mm yr−1 slip on the San Andreas fault, 10.3±2.6 mm yr−1 on the Rodgers Creek fault, and 8.1±2.1 mm yr−1 on the Green Valley fault. The Pacific‐Sierra Nevada‐Great Valley motion totals 39.2±3.8 mm yr−1 across a zone that is 120 km wide (at the latitude of San Francisco). Standard deviations are one σ. The geodetic results suggest a higher than geologic rate for the Green Valley fault. The geodetic results also suggest an inconsistency between geologic estimates of the San Andreas rate and seismologic estimates of the depth of locking on the San Andreas fault. The only convergence observed is in the narrow zone along the border between the Great Valley and the Coast Ranges.