Interseismic Crustal Deformation Research Articles

Three-dimensional interseismic crustal deformation in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau using GNSS and InSAR

The nature of the crustal deformation of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is vital for elucidating the expansion mechanism of the plateau. We installed 21 continuous GNSS stations and obtained a horizontal velocity field with high spatial resolution. We also acquired a line-of-sight(LOS)velocity field with Sentinel-1 images covering the study area from 2014 to 2022. A multi-scale spherical wavelet method was employed to unify the reference frames of GNSS and InSAR data. After unifying the reference frame, the two data types achieve high consistency. Combining GNSS and InSAR velocities yielded the three-dimensional interseismic velocity field in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Furthermore, we analyzed the crustal deformation characteristics based on the three-dimensional deformation field. The crustal deformation exhibits a pronounced northeastward shift relative to the Ordos block, whereas the interior of the Ordos block remains remarkably stationary, behaving as a rigid unit. The Liupanshan fault is primarily characterized by uplift, devoid of any notable horizontal deformation across the fault. The left-lateral strike-slip mainly characterizes the Haiyuan fault.. The maximum east–west deformation velocity on the southern side of the fault is approximately 3.9 mm/yr, decreasing to about 1.0 mm/yr at the eastern end of the fault. The western segment of the West Qinling fault exhibits a minor east–west motion. Our result provides essential data for further study of the crustal deformation patterns.

Interseismic slip rate and fault geometry along the northwest Himalaya

SUMMARY Geodetic networks enable us to investigate interseismic crustal deformation along the northwest Himalaya. Using 144 GNSS surface velocities and a Bayesian inversion model, we estimate the slip rate and fault geometry of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) along six arc-normal transects in the northwest Himalaya. We consider that the fault plane consists of three sections along the décollement, namely the locking zone (0−12 km), the transition zone (10−22 km) and the creeping zone (≥22 km). The MHT is found to be completely locked from the surface down to an average depth of 6 ± 2 km. The locking-to-creeping transition zone along the décollement extends from the edge of the fully locked area to a deeper depth (14 ± 3 km) to the tip of the creeping zone of the MHT (17 ± 2 km) with a slip rate of 1.6 ± 0.9 to 3.7 ± 1.1 mm yr−1. Considering the range of uncertainties between 1−2 mm yr−1 for the GNSS velocities, the inverted slip rate along the transition zone of MHT turns out to be insignificant. Thus, the locking zone along the northwest Himalaya extends from the MFT to ∼111 ± 6 km in the north with a locking depth of ∼17 ± 2 km. The deeper part of the MHT is inferred to be creeping with an average slip rate of ∼19.1 ± 1.9 mm yr−1 along the northwest Himalaya. In addition, we have also illustrated a splay-fault model to account for the fault kinematics along the splay faults and the main décollement. The splay-fault model indicates a distributed slip rate at the locking-to-creeping transition zone and about ∼15 per cent smaller slip rate of the MHT than that of the single-fault model. Further, the checkerboard test and the uniform slip model exhibit the reliability of the current GNSS network and the inversion model (single- and splay-fault models). Overall, the updated fault kinematics inevitably contribute to the improvement of seismic hazard evaluation along the northwest Himalaya.

Revealing Crustal Deformation and Strain Rate in Taiwan Using InSAR and GNSS

AbstractInterseismic deformation describes the gradual accumulation of crustal strain within the tectonic plate and along the plate boundaries before the sudden release as earthquakes. In this study, we use 5 years of high spatial and temporal geodetic measurements, including Global Navigation Satellite System and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar to monitor 3‐dimension interseismic crustal deformation and horizontal strain rate in Taiwan. We find significant deformation (strain rate >8 10−6 yr−1) along the plate boundary between the Philippine Sea and the Eurasian Plates in east Taiwan. The high strain rate in the southern part of the Western Foothills is distributed along a few major fault systems, which reveals the geometry of the deformation front in west Taiwan. Our results help identify active faults in southwest and north Taiwan that were not identified before. These findings can be insightful in informing future seismic hazard models.

How Steady is Interseismic Crustal Deformation in Northeast Japan? Evidence From an Integrated Analysis of Centennial Geodetic Data

AbstractWe analyze conventional horizontal geodetic data (triangulation and trilateration) and GPS data from 1890 to 2009 in NE Japan to investigate interseismic deformation over a centennial time scale and to determine if a previously reported decadal strain rate decrease preceding the 2011 Tohoku‐oki earthquake had started prior to the beginning of GPS observations. Analysis of conventional geodetic data shows that the maximum shear strain rate was relatively constant from 1894 to 1984 within one standard deviation, and it is comparable to observations during the GPS era. The conventional geodetic data does not support extrapolation of the strain rate deceleration prior to the 2011 Tohoku‐oki earthquake to epochs before the beginning of GPS observations in the mid‐1990s. Our favored interpretation suggests a transient increase in strain rate followed by a return to the long‐term rate prior to the 2011 earthquake. However, poor temporal resolution and uncertainties in the conventional geodetic data allow for other interpretations, including the possibility of multiple decadal transients during the interseismic period prior to the 1990s. Integration of our results with observations of vertical deformation and physical modeling of mechanical processes at the subduction zone is essential to better understand the tectonic as well as seismological implications of the observations.

Influence of Shear Heating and Thermomechanical Coupling on Earthquake Sequences and the Brittle‐Ductile Transition

AbstractLocalized frictional sliding on faults in the continental crust transitions at depth to distributed deformation in viscous shear zones. This brittle‐ductile transition (BDT), and/or the transition from velocity‐weakening (VW) to velocity‐strengthening (VS) friction, are controlled by the lithospheric thermal structure and composition. Here, we investigate these transitions, and their effect on the depth extent of earthquakes, using 2D antiplane shear simulations of a strike‐slip fault with rate‐and‐state friction. The off‐fault material is viscoelastic, with temperature‐dependent dislocation creep. We solve the heat equation for temperature, accounting for frictional and viscous shear heating that creates a thermal anomaly relative to the ambient geotherm which reduces viscosity and facilitates viscous flow. We explore several geotherms and effective normal stress distributions (by changing pore pressure), quantifying the thermal anomaly, seismic and aseismic slip, and the transition from frictional sliding to viscous flow. The thermal anomaly can reach several hundred degrees below the seismogenic zone in models with hydrostatic pressure but is smaller for higher pressure (and these high‐pressure models are most consistent with San Andreas Fault heat flow constraints). Shear heating raises the BDT, sometimes to where it limits rupture depth rather than the frictional VW‐to‐VS transition. Our thermomechanical modeling framework can be used to evaluate lithospheric rheology and thermal models through predictions of earthquake ruptures, postseismic and interseismic crustal deformation, heat flow, and the geological structures that reflect the complex deformation beneath faults.

Total Variation Regularization of Geodetically Constrained Block Models in Southwest Taiwan

AbstractRapid convergence between the Eurasian plate and the Philippine Sea Plate makes Taiwan one of the most active tectonic regions in the world, and this strain is accommodated on a complex network of thrust and strike‐slip faulting. Here, we use ascending and descending Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data integrated with continuous GPS measurements to monitor interseismic deformation in southwest Taiwan. Geodetic observations show rapid (20–40 mm/year) southwestward motion in the Pingtung plain in south Taiwan and more than 10 mm/year uplift in the southern part of the Western Foothills. We use combined InSAR and CGPS measurements from 2004 to 2010 to constrain a block model of horizontal interseismic crustal deformation. Total variation regularization (TVR) serves as a tool for block model selection to algorithmically assess the block model geometry based on geodetic observations, simultaneously estimating block rotations and fault slip rates on block‐bounding faults. The block model results suggest that the margins of the Western Foothills accommodate most of the interseismic deformation in southwestern Taiwan. Thirty‐five independent blocks are required to explain interseismic crustal deformation with a mean residual velocity of 3.6 mm/year. Based on this horizontal model, we then forward predict vertical displacement and find good consistency between the predicted uplift and the geodetic observations. Our approach shows an efficient and objective way to estimate fault activities and seismic hazards in the interseismic period based on dense geodetic measurements and their uncertainties.

Earthquake potential in Costa Rica using three scenarios for the central Costa Rica deformed belt as western boundary of the Panama microplate

The Central Costa Rica Deformed Belt (CCRDB) is a diffuse faulting area that represents the western border of the Panama Microplate. Using the Markov Chain – Monte Carlo method and under three scenarios of the spatial distribution of the CCRDB, we analyzed the inter-seismic crustal deformation in Costa Rica and its surroundings based on the results of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. We assumed that the observed inter-seismic crustal deformation on the surface is a result of the kinematic effects of the rigid tectonic blocks motion, the elastic deformation due to the block interface interactions and the internal strain inside of the tectonic blocks. Assuming that the seismic moment in the subduction and inland interfaces is accumulated only as an elastic strain and is then released co-seismically, the resulting seismic moment accumulated rates reflect the capacity for producing earthquakes Mw > 8 along the Cocos Plate convergence and earthquakes Mw > 7 along the inland interfaces. Although these are the values that the modeling outputs, limited historical data suggests that this earthquake potential might be overestimated, but the historical seismicity in Costa Rica is still short for disesteeming higher earthquake potential levels.

Interseismic crustal deformation in and around the Atotsugawa fault system, central Japan, detected by InSAR and GNSS

The Atotsugawa fault system is one of the best-known active faults in Japan. However, revealing the interseismic velocity field in and around the Atotsugawa fault system with high spatial resolution is challenging because of dense vegetation, steep topography, and heavy snowfall in winter. To overcome these difficulties, we combined ALOS/PALSAR data and GNSS data from our original stations in addition to the nationwide station network (GEONET). First, we removed the height-dependent phase change in each interferogram using a digital elevation model. Next, we removed the long-wavelength phase trend using the GNSS velocity field. Finally, we applied an InSAR time-series analysis, known as small baseline subset analysis (SBAS), to all the corrected interferograms. The resultant mean velocity field shows a remarkable phase gradient around the Atostugawa fault system. We found a sharp velocity gradient across the Ushikubi fault, a major strand of the Atotsugawa faults system, rather than the main trace of the Atotsugawa fault. Using InSAR, we found that the interseismic deformation inside the strain concentration zone is spatially heterogeneous and different from what we expect from the fault traces.

Finite element modelling of stress field perturbations and interseismic crustal deformation in the Val d'Agri region, southern Apennines, Italy

The Val d'Agri area provides the opportunity to analyse active structures in a seismic region for which a large amount of subsurface data is available. This area, which was struck in 1857 by one of the most destructive earthquakes in Italy (MW=7.03), represents a unique natural laboratory to gain new insights into geometry, modes and rates of faulting controlling crustal deformation in an actively extending orogen. In this study, a crustal geological section through the southern Apennines is discretized into a finite element model (FEM). We present a 2D elastoplastic FEM that reproduces stress perturbations and strain field around the Val d'Agri active fault system. The influence of fault strand activity on interseismic crustal deformation is tested by a series of computer models, whose predictions are compared with the horizontal velocity components of continuous GPS sites in the region and with stress directions and geological data. The best fit with available geological and geophysical constraints is obtained with a 300km long, 29km deep model formed by a multilayer including three components having different rheological characteristics and including several shallow, locked fault segments, which branch into a freely slipping major basement fault at depth. Finite element modelling provides new insights into the controversial and widely debated active tectonic setting of the study area, pointing out the fundamental role played by a structural reactivation process involving inherited, long-lived, mature fault systems at depth. Our FEM, reconciling apparently contrasting geological and geophysical constraints from the study area, points to maximum stress build up and strain accumulation at a depth of 15±5km. Such a depth range is suggested as the most likely one for the nucleation of large events such as the 1857 Val d'Agri earthquake.

Biased geodetic inference on asperity distribution on a subducted plate interface: a quantitative study

The asperity model was developed to explain plate boundary behavior such as interplate earthquakes. Asperity is defined as a strongly-coupled region on the plate interface. Since interplate earthquakes are considered to occur on asperities, it is important to know the asperity distribution, which can be inferred from interseismic crustal deformation through estimation of the slip deficit distribution. Slip deficit is the difference between the long-term plate convergence rate and the actual relative displacement rate of the plate interface. It is a kinematic description of plate interaction. The relation between the estimated slip deficit and the asperity is still not clearly understood. We have conducted a quantitative comparison between them by combining a forward simulation of crustal deformation, as a result of plate subduction, and a geodetic data inversion. We found that the seismic moment accumulation rate is likely to be overestimated in most cases. The degree of overestimation increases in the case of small asperity areas. Conversely, if no slip deficit is detected by geodetic data inversion, it is highly probable that no asperity exists. Such a misinference may lead to an incorrect estimation of strong ground motion in future earthquakes, and appropriate measures should be taken to allow for this.

Interseismic crustal deformation of frontal thrust fault system in the Chiayi–Tainan area, Taiwan

We derive a velocity field using GPS data between 1993 and 2007 in the Chiayi–Tainan area located in the deformation front of the Taiwan mountain belt. The crustal motion with respect to Penghu shows large velocities of about 33–44mm/yr in the west-northwest to west directions in the Western Foothills and the velocities decrease westward to 0–5mm/yr in the coastal area. Significant uplift rates of 5–20mm/yr are observed at sites to the east of the Jiuchiunken–Muchiliao–Liuchia Fault (JMLF) system. We use a block model, a buried dislocation model, and a two-dimensional fault model to invert for fault geometries and slip rates on major frontal thrust faults. Modeling results from a block model show the inferred long-term slip rate of 42mm/yr in the direction of 280° and the maximum back-slip rate of 38mm/yr on a 23° east dipping fault extending to 13km at depth. On the other hand, the buried dislocation model results in a horizontal décollement at a depth of 8km with a uniform slip rate of 41.6mm/yr. If we connect the top edge of décollement to the surface trace of JMLF as a potential future rupture, a 22° east-dipping fault is required. Results from both block model and buried dislocation model suggest the JMLF is nearly fully locked. The results of two-dimensional fault models show the frontal thrust faults have slip rates of less than 2mm/yr at shallow depths and the inferred décollement is sub-horizontal (5°–7°) at a depth of 10km with slip rates of 44–46mm/yr. Results of various approaches show general agreement on fault geometries and slip rates and reveal that the frontal thrust fault system has a high potential for large earthquakes.

Optimal combination of InSAR and GPS for measuring interseismic crustal deformation

High spatial resolution measurements of interseismic deformation along major faults are critical for understanding the earthquake cycle and for assessing earthquake hazard. We propose a new remove/filter/restore technique to optimally combine GPS and InSAR data to measure interseismic crustal deformation, considering the spacing of GPS stations in California and the characteristics of interseismic signal and noise using InSAR. To constrain the longer wavelengths (>40 km) we use GPS measurements, combined with a dislocation model, and for the shorter wavelength information we rely on InSAR measurements. Expanding the standard techniques, which use a planar ramp to remove long wavelength error, we use a Gaussian filter technique. Our method has the advantage of increasing the signal-to-noise ratio, controlling the variance of atmosphere error, and being isotropic. Our theoretical analysis indicates this technique can improve the signal-to-noise ratio by up to 20%. We test this method along three segments of the San Andreas Fault (Southern section near Salton Sea, Creeping section near Parkfield and Mojave/Big Bend section near Los Angeles), and find improvements of 26%, 11% and 8% in these areas, respectively. Our data shows a zone of uplift to the west of the Creeping section of the San Andreas Fault and an area of subsidence near the city of Lancaster. This work suggests that after only 5 years of data collection, ALOS interferograms will provide a major improvement in measuring details of interseismic deformation.

Interseismic crustal deformation in the Taiwan plate boundary zone revealed by GPS observations, seismicity, and earthquake focal mechanisms

We use GPS-derived surface velocities, seismicity, as well as estimates of earthquake focal mechanisms from the time period before the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake to evaluate spatial variations of surface strain rate and crustal stress regime in the Taiwan plate boundary zone. We estimate strain rates with a new but simple approach that solves for surface velocity on a rectangular grid while accounting for the distance between observations and each grid node and the impact of a spatially variable density of observations. This approach provides stable and interpretable strain-rate estimates. In addition, we perform a stress tensor inversion using earthquake focal mechanisms determined by P waves first-motion polarities. Our estimates of the principal orientations of two-dimensional surface strain rate tensor generally agree with the inferred orientations of the stress axes. This agreement suggests that a large scale variation of stress orientations from the surface to the base of the crust is insignificant and the predicted faulting style is consistent with stress buildup during the interseismic loading. We find that the geometric configuration of the Chinese continental margin alone cannot fully explain the distribution of maximum contraction and compressive axes in Taiwan. Distribution of seismicity and focal mechanisms before and after the Chi-Chi mainshock suggest that the maximum principal stress axis is vertically-oriented in the Central Range; in contrast to the horizontal maximum principal stress axis in western Taiwan and the Longitudinal Valley. Extension in the Central Range reflects the consequence of exhumation and crustal thickening.

Dislocation models of interseismic deformation in the western United States

The GPS‐derived crustal velocity field of the western United States is used to construct dislocation models in a viscoelastic medium of interseismic crustal deformation. The interseismic velocity field is constrained by 1052 GPS velocity vectors spanning the ∼2500‐km‐long plate boundary zone adjacent to the San Andreas fault and Cascadia subduction zone and extending ∼1000 km into the plate interior. The GPS data set is compiled from U.S. Geological Survey campaign data, Plate Boundary Observatory data, and the Western U.S. Cordillera velocity field of Bennett et al. (1999). In the context of viscoelastic cycle models of postearthquake deformation, the interseismic velocity field is modeled with a combination of earthquake sources on ∼100 known faults plus broadly distributed sources. Models that best explain the observed interseismic velocity field include the contributions of viscoelastic relaxation from faulting near the major plate margins, viscoelastic relaxation from distributed faulting in the plate interior, as well as lateral variations in depth‐averaged rigidity in the elastic lithosphere. Resulting rigidity variations are consistent with reduced effective elastic plate thickness in a zone a few tens of kilometers wide surrounding the San Andreas fault (SAF) system. Primary deformation characteristics are captured along the entire SAF system, Eastern California Shear Zone, Walker Lane, the Mendocino triple junction, the Cascadia margin, and the plate interior up to ∼1000 km from the major plate boundaries.

Strain accumulation across the Gazikoy–Saros segment of the North Anatolian Fault inferred from Persistent Scatterer Interferometry and GPS measurements

We use a combination of Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and GPS observations to study interseismic crustal deformation on the Gazikoy–Saros segment (Ganos fault) of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) zone, northwestern Turkey. The data include 44 C-band radar images collected by the ERS1 and ERS2 satellites in descending orbits between 1992 and 2003 over the study area, and campaign GPS horizontal velocities from 7 stations. The resultant secular velocity field is inverted using a nonlinear minimization algorithm to estimate parameters of two interseismic deformation models: aseismic deep slip in a purely elastic earth model (elastic half-space rheology), and viscoelastic flow in an elastic–viscoelastic earth model (viscoelastic-coupling rheology). The following conclusions are drawn: (1) The fault locking depth is estimated in the range of ∼ 8–17 km (95% confidence interval) regardless of the rheological model. (2) The elastic half-space model implies an upper bound of 20–27 mm/yr for the slip rate on the Ganos fault. (3) Models incorporating viscoelastic rheology and seismic cycle effects suggest a lower slip rate of 18–24 mm/yr, which agrees more closely with geological estimates. However, these values are slightly sensitive to the assumed earthquake recurrence interval. (4) A bootstrap analysis of deformation data yields average crust-upper mantle viscosities of 1.3 × 10 19–3.6 × 10 20 Pa s for the Ganos area.

Seismic Crustal Deformation and its Relation to Quaternary Tectonic Movement on the Pacific Coast of Southwest Japan

The Pacific coast of Southwest Japan has been attacked by violent earthquakes accompanied by remarkable crustal deformation at intervals of 100 to 150 years in the historical period. At the most recent great earthquake in 1946, promontories protruding south into the Pacific Ocean were upheaved by about one meter, being tilted northwards, and inland mountainous regions were subsided. The mode of recent crustal deformation, including seismic one, of Shikoku has been revealed with precise levellings, as shown in Figs. 1-3.In the southern part of Shikoku runs a hinge line of the recent crustal deformation, which was subsided at the seismic time and upheaved in the inter-seismic periods. The coastal areas south of the hinge line were tilted southwards in the inter-seismic periods and remarkably northwards at the seismic time, while the mountainous region north of the line was quite reversely deformed.In the vicinity of Muroto Promontory, the southeastern tip of Shikoku, a characteristic process of post-seismic crustal deformation was clarified with precise levellings carried out seven times for six years after the great earthquake in 1946 (Okada et al., 1953). Immediately after the earthquake, Muroto Promontory was rapidly tilted southwards, and then the rate of southward tilting exponentially decreased to become as constant as in the pre-seismic period. The post-seismic crustal deformation (Fig. 3) is nearly reverse to the seismic one (Fig. 2) and is different in its mode from the pre-seismic one (Fig. 1), while similar minor features are found in their mode. It is, therefore, inferred that the post-seismic crustal deformation was chiefly caused by seismic after-effect and the pre-seismic crustal deformation resulted from secular tectonic movement and decelerated seismic after-effect.From this inference secular crustal deformation of Shikoku was tentatively estimated, by subtracting the post-seismic vertical displacement from the triplicated pre-seismic one. Although there is no definite reason for triplicating the latter, the estimated secular crustal deformation (Fig. 6) is nearly concordant with the patterns of geomorphological and geological structure of the mountains, and is negatively correlated with Bouguer's anomalies of gravity (Geogr. Surv. Inst., 1966).Resultant crustal deformation of Shikoku in the seismic and inter-seismic periods was also obtained from results of precise levellings (Fig. 7), assuming that great earthquakes accompanying crustal deformation of similar mode have occurred at intervals of about 120 years. Coastal terraces on the south coast descend northward and their heights have a positive correlation with the resultant deformation (Fig. 9). Topographic features of various types caused by subsidence are found along the hinge line, which is inferred to have been subsided as a result of the seismic and inter-seismic crustal deformation. Heights of the mountains north of the hinge line show positive correlations with the resultant deformation, except in the central part of the western Shikoku Mountains, and coefficients of regression are larger in higher mountains than in lower ones (Figs. 10 and 11). In the coastal areas south of the hinge line, however, correlation between heights of the mountains and the resultant deformation are negative (Figs. 9 and 11). This means that the mountains have been upheaved by tectonic movement of similar mode to the recent crustal deformation including seismic one, which probably dates from before the formation of coastal terraces and at least after the evolution of the lower mountains.A quite similar relation between the recent crustal deformation and the geomorphic features is also found in Kii Peninsula, east of Shikoku.