Interseismic deformation in the northwestern Sichuan-Yunnan block constrained by Sentinel-1 InSAR and GNSS

Abstract

The northwestern Sichuan-Yunnan block (NW SYB), located in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, is characterized by complex fault systems. Its detailed crustal deformation is crucial to comprehending the kinematics of the Tibetan expansion. In this study, we integrate the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data to obtain the high-resolution present-day deformation of the NW SYB, which provides insights into the strain partitioning, fault kinematics, and block motion characteristics in this region. Our results show that the elastic strain is not only built up around faults but also widely distributed in the off-fault areas. The Ganzi segment of the Ganzi-Yushu fault and the Luhuo segment of the Xianshuihe fault in the study area accommodate 5.31 mm/yr and 8.41 mm/yr left-lateral strike-slip motion, respectively. The small-scale faults show certain deformation, among which the left-lateral and right-lateral slip rates of the Litang and Zhongdian faults are 2.53 mm/yr and 1.97 mm/yr, respectively. The spatial patterns of the strain partitioning and block motion show that the active strike-slip faults accommodate displacements from Cenozoic block extrusion and rotation, which partially coordinate the kinematic discrepancy of the Tibetan expansion. Our geodetic measurements and existing structural observations indicate that the southeastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau is absorbed mainly by E-W shortening and N-S extension in the NW SYB, may accommodated by continental strike-slip faults in the upper crust and distributed shear in the lower crust.