Interseismic deformation rate of the Haiyuan fault system based on the modified SBAS method

Radar interferograms are usually influenced by factors such as atmospheric artifacts,orbital errors,and terrain errors.It is difficult to reduce the influence by using the conventional small baseline subset(SBAS)method when determining the deformation rate.This study uses the adjustment model with systematic parameters to improve the conventional SBAS method and employs it to determine the interseismic deformation rate of the Haiyuan fault system,providing a data reference for exploring the locking depth,strain accumulation state,and potential seismic risk assessment of different segments of the Haiyuan fault system.The results are as follows:(1)the simulation experiment verifies the feasibility and robustness of the modified SBAS method.This method can effectively reduce the influence of residual signals such as atmospheric artifacts,orbital errors and terrain errors in the interferograms.The deformation rate map can be significantly improved;(2)the deformation rate field in the radar’s Line of Sight(LOS)direction shows that there are obvious differences between the north and south sides of Haiyuan fault system,which is consistent with the characteristics of the left-lateral strike-slip movement of the Haiyuan fault system.The deformation rate field and profiles reflect the complex trends among different segments of Haiyuan fault system in detail.(3)the deformation rate of the Jingtai pull-apart basin is higher than that of the surrounding areas,possibly indicating strong regional activity,which provides a reference for studying the seismic risk of the Jingtai pull-apart basin;and(4)the interseismic deformation rate and profiles across the fault show that the middle section of the Lao Hu Shan(LHS)segment and the western and middle sections of the Haiyuan segment are locked.

A joint InSAR-GNSS workfow for correction and selection of interferograms to estimate high-resolution interseismic deformations

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of interseismic deformations is essential to better understand earthquake cycles.The existing methods for improving the reliability of the obtained deformations often rely on visual inspection and prior model corrections that are time-consuming,labor-intensive,and do not consider the spatial distribution of interseismic deformations.Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar(InSAR)data provides wide-scale coverage for interseismic deformation monitoring over a wide area.However,the interseismic signal featured as millimeter-scale and long-wave deformations is often contaminated with noise.In the present study,a new workfow to correct the interferometric phase and quantitatively select interferograms is proposed to improve the accuracy of interseismic deformation measurements.Initially,the Generic Atmospheric Correction Online Service(GACOS),Intermittent Code for Atmospheric Noise Depression through Iterative Stacking(I-CANDIS),and plate model are combined to correct the atmospheric screen and long-wave ramp phase.Subsequently,the Pearson’s Correlation Coefcient(PCC)between the interferometric phase and the Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)constrained interseismic model as well as the STandard Deviation(STD)of the interferometric phase are introduced as criteria to optimize the selection of interferograms.Finally,the intermittent stacking method is used to generate an average velocity map.A comprehensive test using Sentinel-1 images covering the Haiyuan Fault Zone validate the efectiveness of our workfow in measuring interseismic deformations.This demonstrates that the proposed joint InSAR-GNSS workfow can be extended to study the subtle interseismic deformations of major fault systems in Tibet and worldwide.

Influences of across-strike heterogeneous viscosity on the earthquake cycle in a three-dimensional strike-slip fault model

Geodetic observations have shown that there exist large differences in the viscosity of the deep lithosphere across many large strike-slip faults.Heterogeneity in lithospheric viscosity structure can influence the efficiency of stress transfer and thus may have a significant effect on the earthquake cycle.Until now,how the lateral viscosity variation across strike-slip faults affects the earthquake cycles is still not well understood.Here,we investigate the effects of across-strike viscosity variation on long-term earthquake behaviors with a three-dimensional strike-slip fault model.Our model is a quasi-static model which is controlled by the slip-weakening friction law and powerlaw rheology.By comparing with the reference case,we find that low viscosity on one side of the fault results in a smaller rupture area but with a higher Coulomb stress drop on the ruptured fault region.In addition,low viscosity also leads to a small Coulomb stress accumulation rate.These combined effects increase the earthquake recurrence interval by approximately 10%and the earthquake moments by about 30%when the low viscosity is related to a geothermal gradient of 30 K/km.In addition,across-strike viscosity variation causes asymmetric interseismic ground surface deformation rate.As the viscosity contrast increases,the difference in the interseismic ground surface deformation rate between the two sides of the fault gradually increases,although the asymmetric feature is not pronounced.This asymmetry of interseismic ground deformation rate across a strike-slip fault is supposed to result in asymmetric coseismic deformation if the long-term plate motion velocity is invariant.As a result,this kind of asymmetry of interseismic deformation may influence the evaluation of potential earthquake hazards along large strike-slip faults with lateral viscosity contrast.

The 2008 Nura Mw6.7 earthquake: A shallow rupture on the Main Pamir Thrust revealed by GPS and In SAR

The 2008 Nura Mw6.7 earthquake occurred in front of the Trans-Alai Range, central Asia. We present Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar （InSAR） measurements of its coseismic ground deformation that are available for a major earthquake in the region. Analysis of the InSAR data shows that the earthquake ruptured a secondary fault of the Main Pamir Thrust for about 20 kin. The fault plane striking N46~E and dipping 48~SE is dominated by thrust slip up to 3 m, most of which is confined to the uppermost 2-5 km of the crust, similar to the nearby 1974 MwT.0 Markansu earthquake. The elastic model of interseismic deformation constrained by GPS measurements suggests that the two earthquakes may have resulted from the failures of two high-angle reverse faults that are about 10 km apart and rooted in a locked dScollement at depths of 5-6 kin. The elastic strain is built up by a freely creeping decollement at about 16 mm/a.