Contemporary crustal tectonic movement in the southern Sichuan-Yunnan block based on dense GPS observation data

We analyzed 360 permanent and campaign GPS data from 1999 to 2017 in the southern Sichuan-Yunan block, and obtained crustal horizontal deformation in this region.Then, we derived the strain rate using a multi-scale spherical wavelet method.Results reveal a complex pattern of tectonic movement in the southern Sichuan-Yunnan block.Compared to the stable Eurasian plate, the maximum rate of the horizontal deformation in the southern Sichuan-Yunnan block is approximately 22 mm/a.The Xiaojiang fault shows a significantly lower deformation—a left-lateral strike-slip movement of 9.5 mm/a.The Honghe fault clearly shows a complex segmental deformation from the north to south.The northern Honghe fault shows 4.3 mm/a right strike-slip with 6.7 mm/a extension; the southern Honghe fault shows 1.9 mm/a right strike-slip with 1.9 mm/a extension; the junction zone in the Honghe and Lijiang–Xiaojinhe faults shows an obvious clockwise-rotation deformation.The strain calculation results reveal that the maximum shear-strain rate in this region reaches 70 nstrain/a, concentrated around the Xiaojiang fault and at the junction of the Honghe and Lijiang–Xiaojinhe faults.We note that most of the earthquakes with magnitudes of 4 and above that occurred in this region were within the high shear strain-rate zones and the strain rate gradient boundary zone, which indicates that the magnitude of strain accumulation is closely related to the seismic activities.Comparison of the fast shear-wave polarization direction of the upper-crust with the upper-mantle anisotropy and the direction of the surface principal compressive strain rate obtained from the inversion of the GPS data reveals that the direction of the surface principal compressive strain is basically consistent with the fast shear-wave polarization direction of the upper crust anisotropy, but different from the polarization direction of the upper mantle.Our results support the hypothesis that the principal elements of the deformation mechanism in the southern Sichuan-Yunnan block are decoupling between the upper and lower crust and ductile flow in the lower crust.

Effects of Earth's curvature and radial heterogeneity in dislocation studies:Case studies of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the 2004 Sumatra earthquake

Recently, effects of Earth＇s curvature and radial heterogeneity on coseismic deformations are often investi- gated based on the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. However, such effects are strongly related to earthquake types. As a low dip angle event, the 2004 Sumatra earthquake is not a good seismic case for such a topic since the effects for moderate dip angle events are much bigger. In this study, the half-space and spherical dislocation theories are used, respectively, to calculate co- seismic displacements caused by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. Effects of Earth＇s curva- ture and stratification are investigated through the discrepancies of results calculated using the two dislocation theories. Re- sults show that the effects of Earth＇s curvature and stratification for the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake are much larger than those for the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. Ignoring the effects will cause errors up to 100%-200% in far field displacements for a moderate dip angle event like the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Such great effects are much bigger than those conclusions of previous studies. Besides, comparison with observations verifies that spherical dislocation theories yield better results than half-space ones in far fields.

Far-field deformations caused by the 2004 Sumatra earthquake

Theoretical horizontal displacements caused by the 2004 Sumatra earthquake in the Sichuan-Yunnan area have been calculated according to a spherical dislocation theory and an earthquake-fault model. The results show that the theoretical displacements are basically consistent with the GPS observations in situ. On this basis,we have calculated the co-seismic displacements, strains, changes of gravity and geoid of the whole Earth, including China mainland and vicinity, caused by this earthquake. Key wards：

Co-seismic Coulomb stress changes on the northern Tanlu fault zone caused by the Tohoku-Oki M_(W)9.0 earthquake

Based on the spherical earth dislocation theory and a fault slip model of the Tohoku-Oki M_(W)9.0 earthquake,the co-seismic Coulomb failure stress changes(ΔCFS)on the northern Tanlu fault zone at depths of 0–40 km are calculated.By comparing two sets of results from the spherical earth dislocation theory and the semi-infinite space one,the effect of earth curvature on the calculation results is analyzed quantitatively.First,we systematically summarize previous researches related to the northern Tanlu fault zone,divide the fault zone as detailed as possible,give the geometric parameters of each segment,and establish a segmented structural model of the northern Tanlu fault zone.Second,we calculate the Coulomb stress changes on the northern Tanlu fault zone by using the spherical earth dislocation theory.The result shows the Coulomb stress changes are no more than 0.003 MPa,which proves the great earthquake did not significantly change the stress state of the fault zone.Finally,we quantitatively analyze the disparities between the results of semi-infinite space dislocation theory and the spherical earth one.The average disparity between them is about 7.7%on the northern Tanlu fault zone and is 16.8%on the Fangzheng graben,the maximum disparity on this graben reaches up to 25.5%.It indicates that the effect of earth curvature can not be ignored.So it’s necessary to use the spherical earth dislocation theory instead of the semi-infinite space one to study the Coulomb stress change in the far field.

Lithospheric Equilibrium and Anisotropy around the 2021 Yangbi Ms 6.4 Earthquake in Yunnan,China

Using the gravity/GNSS data of 318 stations observed in 2020,this paper optimizes the Bouguer and free-air gravity anomalies around the 2021 Yangbi Ms 6.4 Earthquake,inverses the lithospheric density structure of the focal area,and obtains the distribution of isostatic additional force borne by the lithosphere.The results show that the Bouguer gravity anomaly in western Yunnan varies from-120 to-360 m Gal.As a whole the anomalies are large in the north and small in the south,and the value in the source area of the 2021 Yangbi Ms 6.4 Earthquake is about-260 m Gal.Significant lateral differences indicates that the crust around the great earthquake does not belong to a solid and stable tectonic unit.The lithosphere in the source area is basically in equilibrium,indicating that the occurrence of the great event is not relative to the lithospheric equilibrium,but to the differential movement of the crust in the horizontal direction.In addition,we obtain the teleseismic SKS phases of 51 stations.As a whole,the polarization direction of fast wave in western Yunnan is approximately vertical to the maximum gradient change direction of regional Bouguer gravity anomaly that reflects the change of Moho.

Significant isostatic imbalance near the seismic gap between the M8.0 Wenchuan and M7.0 Lushan earthquakes

A gravity network with 302 observation points has been established in the western Sichuan Foreland Basin(SFB) to explore Bouguer gravity anomalies(BGAs). Our observational results reveal that the BGAs are negative as a whole, with a maximum value of-220 m Gal(10-5m s-2)at the northwest region of the study area. The real Moho depths beneath the SFB revealed by BGA data change smoothly from 39.5 km in the southeast to 43.7 km in the northwest of the monitoring region. However, the isostatic ones deduced from Airy isostatic model and topographical data vary approximately 39.5–42.0 km. The maximum differences of 2.7 km between the real and isostatic Moho depths are found near the seismic gap between the M8.0Wenchuan and M7.0 Lushan earthquakes, where the crust is in the greatest isostatic imbalance of the monitoring region. Analysis of the isostatic state indicates that the deep dynamic environment near the seismic gap between these two earthquakes indicates an M C 7.0 earthquake in the future. This study indicates that we can use isostasy as a potential approach to study the dynamic process of crustalmaterial movement and to analyze regional potential seismic risks.