Geodetic constraints on contemporary three-dimensional crustal deformation in the Laji Shan—Jishi Shan tectonic belt

The Laji Shan—Jishi Shan tectonic belt(LJTB),located in the southern part of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau(NETP),is a tectonic window to reveal regional tectonic deformation in the NETP.However,its kinematics in the Holocene remains controversial.We obtain the latest and dense horizontal velocity field based on data collected from our newly constructed and existing GNSS stations.Combined with fault kinematics from geologic observations,we analyze the crustal deformation characteristics along the LJTB.The results show that:(1)The Laji Shan fault(LJF)is inactive,and the northwest-oriented Jishi Shan fault(JSF)exhibits a significant dextral and thrust slip.(2)The transpression along the arc-shaped LJTB accommodates deformation transformation between the dextral Riyue Shan fault and the sinistral west Qinling fault.(3)With the continuous pushing of the Indian plate,internal strains in the Tibetan Plateau are continuously transferred in the northeast via the LJTB as they are gradually dissipated near the LJTB and translated into significant crustal uplift in these regions.

Upper crustal deformation characteristics in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent areas revealed by GNSS and anisotropy data

The northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau is a region where different tectonic blocks collide and intersect,and large earthquakes are frequent.Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)observations show that tectonic deformation in this region is strong and manifests as non-uniform deformation associated with tectonic features.S-wave splitting studies of near-field seismic data show that seismic anisotropy parameters can also reveal the upper crustal medium deformation beneath the reporting station.In this paper,we summarize the surface deformation from GNSS observations and crustal deformation from seismic anisotropy data in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.By comparing the principal compressive strain direction with the fast S-wave polarization direction of near-field S-wave splitting,we analyzed deformation and its differences in surface and upper crustal media in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas.The principal compressive strain direction derived from GNSS is generally consistent with the polarization direction of fast S-waves,but there are also local tectonic regions with large differences between them,which reflect the different deformation mechanisms of regional upper crustal media.The combination of GNSS and seismic anisotropy data can reveal the depth variation characteristics of crustal deformation and deepen understanding of three-dimensional crustal deformation and the deep dynamical mechanisms underlying it.it.

Horizontal crustal deformation in Chinese Mainland analyzed by CMONOC GPS data from 2009-2013

In this study, we analyze the regional GPS data of Crustal Movement Observation Network of China （CMONOC） observed from 2009-2013 using the BERNESE GPS software, and then the preliminary results of horizontal velocity field and strain rate field are presented, which could reflect the overall deformation features in the Chinese mainland from 2009-2013. Besides, the velocity error and the probable factors that could influence the estimate of long-term deformation are also discussed.

Monitoring Crustal Deformation by GPS and InSAR in the Three Gorge Area

The on-going Three Gorges Project (TGP) aims to build one of the largest hydropower stations in the world. Previous investigations have concluded that the reservoir is likely to induce medium-to-intense earthquakes. 23 GPS stations have been established to maintain a geodetic and seismological monitoring network around the reservoir to monitor seismicity and crustal deformation, and to facilitate mitigation activities in case an intense earthquake occurs. The velocity of GPS site was derived from 3 repeated GPS surveys. Meanwhile, another effort has been made to investigate the feasibility of application of satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques in detecting crustal deformation possibly caused by impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir. It has been made to derive digital elevation models (DEM) using European Remote Sensing (ERS) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. Pairs of ERS SAR images in raw format are processed to generate digital elevation models. This effort will help us evaluate the accuracy of the InSAR techniques for further derivation of background deformation patterns and future detection of reservoir-induced crustal deformation in the area.

Study on scale dependence of strain value obtained from crustal deformation data

Using statistic analysis, the scale dependence of crustal stain value from crustal deformation data is studied. We found that there exists obvious correlation between strain value and computational figure scale. Along with increasing of figure element scale, the statistic mean value and mean square deviation of strain present power law attenuation. Based on this analysis, the necessity of strain value scale normalization is suggested for calculating strain field using crustal deformation data and the normalization method is proposed in this paper.

Research on present crustal deformation in the southern Tianshan (Jiashi) region by GPS geodesy

The pattern and range of present crustal movement as well as characteristic of deformation-strain play a key role in cognizing seismogenic mechanism in the Jiashi region, Xinjiang, northwestern China. Using GPS geodesy in 1994 and 1998, here we give geodetic evidence of rapid convergence of about 19 mm/a across the westem Tianshan, which is about 50% greater than the seismic moment solution (13 m/a) by assembling major enrthquake in the 20th century. The discrepancy of deformation rate between geodetic observation and seismic energy releasing indicates the possibilities that, there exists a lot of aseismic strain and strain during seismic interval in the westem Tianshan, or seismic fault slip in this century could not be enough to compensate the present deformation in the whole area. Whichever it maybe, from the view of accumulation of stress-strain, it suggests that there will be potential strong eathquakes in the western segment of Tianshan and the northeastern corner of Pamir in a long period.

Analysis of GAMIT/GLOBK in high-precision GNSS data processing for crustal deformation

The advances in satellite navigation and positioning technology and the worldwide establishment of continuoustracking stations have greatly promoted the development and application of the high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS).GAMIT/GLOBK,as a popular high-precision GNSS data-processing software,has been widely used in monitoring crustal deformation,tsunami,iceberg,etc.Based on the basic observations and various geophysical models processed by GAMIT/GLOBK,we analyze the influence of the correction of applied geophysical models,and describe the techniques of parameter estimation and accuracy assessment.In addition,taking the present crustal movement in the Chinese mainland and the MW7.8 earthquake in Nepal as examples,we discuss the applications of GAMIT/GLOBK in crustal deformation monitoring and its future prospect.

The effect of large reservoirs impoundment to the spatial and temporal variations of regional crustal deformation in Hubei Province, China

The total capacity of Three Gorges Reservoir（TGR） and Danjiangkou Reservoir（DJR） is large and has significant seasonal fluctuations, which give rise to crustal instability. In this research, we focus on studying the temporal and spatial variation of crustal deformation in Hubei Province caused by reservoir impoundment of TGR and DJR.The Digital Elevation Model, historical hydrological information, GPS monitoring data and load-induced deformation model are combined to monitor the crustal deformation. The modeled results indicate that in the trapezoidal area between the TGR and DJR, the average vertical deformations at different latitudes have different variation tendencies. The vertical deformation modulus and fluctuation amplitude are larger at the latitude of 33 N/32.5 N from 2003 to 2006 and at the latitude of 31 N/32.5 N from 2008 to 2014, while the latter are much larger than the former. Moreover, from2008 to 2014, the frequency and the intensity of seismic activities are all enhanced significantly in this region. The modeled results at the GPS sites are consistent with the vertical displacement of GPS monitoring results in trends and the waveform. It can be inferred that the seasonal deformation is elastic. The horizontal deformation components have the same variation trends with that at each GPS monitoring station,which demonstrates that the whole region is moving toward the southeast. The spatial variation of crustal deformation demonstrates that the impoundment of TGR in2003 causes significant vertical displacements, with the maximum modulus of 32 mm downward located in Xiangjiang River＇s estuary. When the water storage increases, the maximum value will become larger, and the location will move toward the upstream.Besides, the earthquakes occurred more frequently in the region with maximum deformation modulus.

Monitoring Crustal Deformations with Radar Interferometry: A Review

The crustal movements, probably motivating earthquakes, are considered as one of the main geodynamic sources. The quantitative measurements of ground surface deformations are vital for studying mechanisms of the buried faults or even estimating earthquake potential. A new space-geodetic technology, synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR), can be applied to detect such large-area deformations, and has demonstrated some prominent advantages. This paper reviews the capacity and limitations of InSAR, and summarises the existing applications including some of our results in studying the earthquake-related crustal motions. Finally it gives the outlook for the future development of InSAR.

GEODYNAMICAL MODELING OF CRUSTAL DEFORMATION OF THE NORTH CHINA BLOCK

The North China block,the western portion of the Sino- Korean Craton,is rounded byYanshanian in the north and Qinling- Dabie orogenic belts in the south.The widespread de-velopment of extensional basins in thisblock indicates horizontal extension or continued thin-ning of a previousely thickened,unstable lithosphere throughout the Mesozoic.In this pa-per,we attempt to simulate numerically the geodynamical process of the basin formation byusing the mountain- basin evolution system.We assume thatthe formation of numeroussedi-mentary basins in the North China block is the resultofthe crustal extension,which destruc-ts rapidly the previously thickened crust.The gravitational collapse of the thickened crust ispossibly triggered by the re- orientation of the far- field stress regime,or the relaxation of theboundary resistantstress.

The migration of the crustal deformation peak area in the eastern Himalayan Syntaxis inferred from present-day crustal deformation and morpho-tectonic markers

The present-day Global Positioning System(GPS)velocity field shows that the Indian Plate is not a complete rigid block,as its northeastern corner has been torn off and clockwise rotating relative to the main part.With the updated GPS velocity data,the Euler vector of the northeastern corner of the Indian Plate relative to the stable main plate is deduced as(89.566±0.06°E,26.131±0.05°N,1.34±0.11°/Myr).The peak area of the present-day crustal deformation is located in the Chayu deformation belt with the compressional dilation strain rate over 160 nanostrain/yr.However,the Namche-Barwa Syntaxis with the massive crustal thickening and intense surface erosion is generally considered to be the previous locus of the strongest compressional stress in the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis over long geological timescales.Thus,there is a discrepancy between the previous and present-day crustal deformation peak areas.We argue the migration of the crustal deformation peak area with a total distance of about 120 km and ascribe it to the variation of stress conditions caused by northeast India’s clockwise rotation.

Characteristics of regional crustal deformation before 2016 Menyuan Ms6.4 earthquake

On January 21, 2016, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of Ms6.4 happened at Menyuan, Qinghai Province of China. In almost the same place, there was another strong earthquake happened in 1986, with similar magnitude and focal mechanism. In this paper, we analyze the characteristics of regional crustal deformation before the 2016 Menyuan Ms6.4 earth- quake by using the data from 10 continuous Global Positioning System （GPS） stations and 74 campaign-mode GPS stations within 200 km of this event： （a） Based on the velocity field from over ten years GPS observations, a regional strain rate field is calculated. The results indicate that the crustal strain rate and seismic moment accumulation rate of the Qilian- Haiyuan active fault, which is the seismogenic tectonics of the event, are significantly higher than the surrounding regions. In a 20 km~ 20 km area around the seismogenic region, the maximum and minimum principal strain rates are 21.5 nanostrain/a （NW-SE extension） and -46.6 nanostrain/a （NE-SW compression）, respectively, and the seismic moment accumulation rates is 17.4 Nm/a. The direction of principal compression is consistent with the focal mechanism of this event. （b） Based on the position time series of the continuous GPS stations for a time-span of about 6 years before the event, we calculate the strain time series. The results show that the dilatation of the seismogenic region is continuously reduced with a ＂non-linear＂ trend since 2010, which means the seismogenic region has been in a state of compression. However, about 2-3 months before the event, both the dilatation and maximum shear strain show significant inverse trends. These abnormal changes of crustal deformation may reflect the non-linear adjustment of the stress-strain accumulation of the seismogenic region, when the accumulation is approaching the critical value of rupture.

A new capacitive borehole tiltmeter for crustal deformation measurement and its performance analysis

Borehole inclinometers are important observation instruments used to measure ground tilt movement and monitor crustal deformation of solid tides and geological landslide disasters.They are widely used in oil exploration,mineral resource drilling,well logging,exploration and other fields.There is potential for development of rock stress strain monitoring tools.Many types of tiltmeters have been installed,such as SQ-7,FSQ,VS and JB.However,these tiltmeters are generally installed in a deep cave to avoid the interference of temperature,humidity,and human activities.With the urbanization of human society,suitable installation locations are difficult to find.To solve the problem,a two-component borehole tiltmeter,named the CBT-type tiltmeter,is proposed in this paper.It can be installed in a borehole less than500 m deep to eliminate environmental influences.The tiltmeter is composed of two sophisticated gravitational swing and two capacitive transducers.From preliminary theory and experiment analysis,its linear correlation coefficient is higher than 0.99,its co-seismic response is rapid and its noise level is up to 10 4arc seconds in practice.

Study on the Relationship Between Recent Crustal Deformation and the Temporal-Spatial Distribution of Strong Earthquakes (M_s≥6.0) in the Sichuan-Yunnan Region

Analysis of deformation data measured across the faults, regional vertical deformation data and GPS measurements in the Sichuan-Yunnan region made since the 1980s permitted us to conclude that the crustal deformation in the region during this period of time was relatively weak and caused the occurrence of earthquakes (M S≥6.0), which were not distributed along the major boundary active faults in the region after the 1981 Dawu M S 6.9 earthquake and that the seismic activity is characterized by quasi-clockwise migration. Thus, it follows that earthquake prediction research should be focused on the central part of the Sichuan-Yunnan region in the coming years. Finally, a concept of temporal division of the region into active blocks is suggested and the preliminary result of the division is given in the paper.

A Preliminary Investigation of the Application of Modern Crustal Deformation Data in SeismicZonation

Using GPS observation data for the middle segment of the Fenwei seismic zone during the time period of 1996 ～ 2001, the velocity field of crustal movement is calculated. Thus, the vectors of relative horizontal movement between measuring points in the region are also obtained. Adopting a deformation model of homogeneous elastic body, the principal strain rate parameters of deformation units are calculated. A method is introduced to calculate the rate of seismic moment accumulation due to crustal deformation. The problems of using this rate to analyze the tendency of seismicity in the zone, and to estimate the recurrence interval of large earthquakes in the potential seismic source areas（PSSA） are discussed. The results show that the rate of seismic moment accumulation in the middle segment of the Fenwei zone is 4.22 x 1017 Nm/a, which is much higher than the average release rate of seismic moment in the current activity period. This means that the belt is now in a stage of seismic strain accumulation and that the seismicity would become stronger in the future than now. The results of estimation of the recurrence interval of large earthquakes in the Dingxiang and Huozhou PSSA are close to the results obtained from studying active faults. This implies that the use of the proposed estimation method is worthy of further investigation. In particular, it is of greater practical significance for those regions that have shorter history of earthquake records or lower degree of active structure study.

The Recent Crustal Deformation on the Sichuan-Yunnan Rhombic Block Boundaries

Based on data from an across-fault survey along the Sichuan-Yunnan rhombic block boundaries, the recent deformation characteristics on each fault have been analyzed. It was found that the rate of crustal deformation is slowing down along the northern segment and increasing along the southern segment. Each fault has different features of deformation. The horizontal deformation is mainly characterized by left-lateral strike-slip. The rate of vertical deformation is less than that of the horizontal deformation. The faults have the feature of upper wall uplifting alternated with descending. The anomaly changes of crustal deformation at some sites are closely related to the seismicities near the sites.

Crustal Deformation Background Simulation of the Kekexili M_S8.1 Earthquake Happening in 2001

Using the GPS velocity data from 27 stations around the Eastern Kunlun fault as constraints, we first invert the slip velocities of the Eastern Kuniun fault, the north boundary fault of the Qaidam basin, the Mani-Yushu fault and the Margai Caka fault before the Kekexili Ms 8.1 earthquake with a 3-D elastic half-space dislocation model. The deformation field calculated from the slip movement of these faults can be considered the deformation background field of the earthquake. Based on the deformation background field with tectonic implications, we have obtained the strain field and earthquake moment accumulation field. The results show that there are two obvious high moment accumulation rate regions, one of which is the Dongdatan- Xidatan segment of the Eastern Kuniun fault where the Ms8.1 earthquake occurred in 2001.

Discussion on Characteristics of Crustal Deformation along the Zhangjiakou-Bohai Sea Seismotectonic Zone

The Zhangjiakou-Bohai Sea fault zone located in the northern part of the North China region is a seismotectonic zone controlling the present-day strong earthquake activities. Under the effect of regional principal compressive stress with the direction of NEE-SWW, a series of NE-trending active tectonic zones have developed, which form a group of conjugated shear fracturing systems and control the occurrence of the present-day strong earthquakes. The feature of crustal deformation around this fault zone is studied in the paper. The long-term crustal deformation pattern from GPS measurements exhibits a relatively complete left-lateral strike-slip movement along the active fault zone. However, studies on crustal deformation by stages indicate that a series of NE-trending large-scale anomalous gradient zones have appeared along the Zhangjiakou-Bohai Sea fault zone before moderately strong earthquakes. They are represented respectively by the activities of the Tangshan-Hejian, the Sanhe-Laishui and the Yanhuai-Shanxi seismotectonic zones. This may indicate the occurrence of med-term precursors to moderately strong earthquakes along Zhangjiakou-Bohai Sea zone. The results in the paper show that the crustal deformation pattern before strong earthquake reveals the information of strain status in the deep seismogenic zone, while the chaotic pattern after the occurrence of strong earthquake represents the adjustment of the covering strata.

Crustal Deformation Derived from GPS in the Chinese Mainland from 1991-2004

Based on GPS data from 1991- 2004 and the least-squares collocation method,we analyze the crustal deformation in the Chinese mainland. The results show that the first-order crustal deformation is unchanged in different periods in the Chinese mainland,which reflects the background of regional tectonic activity. The strain rate is much higher in Western China,especially in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Sichuan-Yunnan area. The variations in different periods are related with seismicity of strong earthquakes during the same time. The GPS data after 2004 shows the post-seismic deformation of the 2001 Kunlun Mountains M S8. 1 earthquake.

Macro-Analysis on Across-Fault Crustal Deformation Measurement Data Along the Northern Edge of the Qinghai-Xizang Block

Based on the arrangement of the across-fault measurement data along the northern edge of the Qinghai-Xizang block,we divide the deformation into different types and probe the nature of various fault movements based on these types.The recent situation of tectonic movement of main structural belts and seismicity in this area are expounded.From the above,it is concluded that across-fault measurement can reflect not only the conditions of fault movement nearby but also the change of regional stress fields; not only is this a method to obtain regional seismogenic information and to conduct short-term prediction but it is also involved with large scale space-time prediction of moderate and strong earthquakes on the basis of the macro characteristics of fractures.