Intra-plate deformation in west-central Europe

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Abstract The central part of Europe north of the alpine orogenic belt is generally seen as a relatively stable area of the western tip of the Eurasian plate. Indeed, up to now, no geodetically significant motions have been detected although an active rift system running roughly in SSE–NNW direction along the Rhine valley could have some effect on the stability of this region. Presently, the increasing accuracy of geodetic point motions should allow the study of small motions at levels down to nearly 0.1 mm/yr. We start our investigation with a closer look at the ‘true’ accuracy and significance of GPS derived point velocities of permanent stations. We compare and discuss the different levels of formal errors obtained by the three analysis centers considered in this study (EPN, JPL and SOPAC) and present additional ways of assessing the accuracy using the redundancy offered by different independent analyses and multiple systems operating at one site. On the average, all results indicate that a one-sigma level of ±0.3 mm/yr can be seen as a conservative estimate for the horizontal accuracy of point motions in central Europe. On the basis of this assumption we find that at present, the actual velocity field as determined by different analysis groups and centers does not show any significant east–west extensional deformation. We do however see a prominent north–south compressional velocity gradient of about 1 mm/yr/1000 km (1 nanostrain/yr) which could be associated with the Alpine thrust in conjunction with a south-directed horizontal component of the Fennoscandian Glacial Isostatic Adjustment.