Monitoring absolute vertical land motions and absolute sea-level changes from GPS and tide gauges data over French Polynesia

In this study,we estimate the absolute vertical land motions at three tidal stations with collocated Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)receivers over French Polynesia during the period 2007-2020,and obtain,as ancillary results,estimates of the absolute changes in sea level at the same locations.To verify our processing approach to determining vertical motion,we first modeled vertical motion at the International GNSS Service(IGS)THTI station located in the capital island of Tahiti and compared our estimate with previous independent determinations,with a good agreement.We obtained the following estimates for the vertical land motions at the tide gauges:Tubuai island,Austral Archipelago-0.92±0.17 mm/yr,Vairao village,Tahiti Iti:-0.49±0.39 mm/yr,Rikitea,Gambier Archipelago-0.43±0.17 mm/yr.The absolute variations of the sea level are:Tubuai island,Austral Archipelago 5.25±0.60 mm/yr,Vairao village,Tahiti Iti:3.62±0.52 mm/yr,Rikitea,Gambier Archipelago 1.52±0.23 mm/yr.We discuss these absolute values in light of the values obtained from altimetric measurements and other means in French Polynesia.

Coseismic vertical deformation of the M_S8.0 Wenchuan earthquake from repeated levelings and its constraint on listric fault geometry

The devastating Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake ruptured two large parallel thrust faults along the middle segment of the Longmenshan thrust belt. Preseismic and postseismic leveling data indicated the hanging wall of the Yingxiu-Beichuan-Nanba thrust fault mainly presented coseismic uplift with respect to the reference point at Pingwu county town, and the observed maximum uplift of 4.7 m is located at Beichuan county （Qushan town） which is about 100 m west of the fault scarp. The foot wall of the Yingxiu-Beichuan-Nanba thrust fault mainly showed subsidence with maximum subsidence of 0.6 m near the rupture. By employing a listric dislocation model, we found that the fault geometry model of exponential dip angle δ=88°×[1-exp（-9/h）] with depth of 18 km and uniform thrust-slip of 5.6 m could fit the observed coseismic vertical deformation very well, which verifies the listric thrust model of the Longmenshan orogenic zone.

Comparative study on vertical deformation based on GPS and leveling data

The development of GPS(Global Positioning System) technology has led to increasingly widely and successful applications of GPS surveys for monitoring crustal movements. However, multi-period GPS survey solutions have not been applied in monitoring vertical crustal movements with normal backgrounds. In this paper, we carried out a comparative study on the vertical deformation of the comprehensive profile of the cross-fault zone in Shanyin, Shanxi province, China, based on GPS and precise leveling observation data for multiple time periods. The vertical deformation rates observed with repeating GPS survey are obviously different(over 20 mm/y at some sites) from those with repeating leveling survey within a relatively short period. However, the deviations in the vertical displacement between GPS and leveling in a long-term survey(over three years) showed good consistency at 3-4 mm/y at most sites, on GPS forced offset surveying and fixed survey instruments in a long-term survey(over three years). Therefore, GPS vertical displacement results can be applied to the study of vertical crustal movements.

Evaluation of vertical crustal movements and sea level changes around Greenland from GPS and tide gauge observations

To better monitor the vertical crustal movements and sea level changes around Greenland,multiple data sources were used in this paper,including global positioning system(GPS),tide gauge,satellite gravimetry,satellite altimetry,glacial isostatic adjustment(GIA).First,the observations of more than 50 GPS stations from the international GNSS service(IGS)and Greenland network(GNET)in 2007–2018 were processed and the common mode error(CME)was eliminated with using the principal component analysis(PCA).The results show that all GPS stations show an uplift trend and the stations in southern Greenland have a higher vertical speed.Second,by deducting the influence of GIA,the impact of current Gr IS mass changes on GPS stations was analysed,and the GIA-corrected vertical velocity of the GPS is in good agreement with the vertical velocity obtained by gravity recovery and climate experiment(GRACE).Third,the absolute sea level change around Greenland at 4 gauge stations was obtained by combining relative sea level derived from tide gauge observations and crustal uplift rates derived from GPS observations,and was validated by sea level products of satellite altimetry.The results show that although the mass loss of Gr IS can cause considerable global sea level rise,eustatic movements along the coasts of Greenland are quite complex under different mechanisms of sea level changes.

Current Vertical Motion Analysis of Northwestern Margin of Ordos Based on Precise Leveling

Ordos block was squeezed by the Qinghai-Tibetan block and North China block,and the tectonic activity was intense. In the periphery of Ordos block,there was a series of folds zones and compressed faults with complicate structures. This paper used three-phase data of 1980,1990 and 2014 to calculate vertical velocity of Northwestern margin of Ordos and the analytical results indicated that(1) the Hetao basin between the rise of Yinshan fault block and Ordos fault block showed relatively subsidence,in which Linhe basin was the most evident and the subsidence rate was about 2-4 mm/a. The subsidence rate of Jartai-Yinchuan rift zone on the western margin of Ordos block was about 2 mm/a;(2) the whole testing zone exhibited the evident inherited movement characterized by mountain rise and basin subsidence;(3) the two leveling section through the northern margin fault and Dengkou-Benjing fault showed that the difference between vertical velocities on two sides of the fault was less than 0. 5 mm/a.

Vertical deformation analysis based on combined adjustment for GNSS and leveling data

A method is proposed to fuse the velocity data of the global navigation satellite system(GNSS) and leveling height via combined adjustment with constraints. First, stable GNSS-leveling points are uniformly selected, and the constraints of the geodetic height change velocity and normal height change velocity are given. Then, the GNSS vertical velocities and leveling height difference are used as observations of combined adjustment, and robust least-squares estimation are used to estimate the velocities of the unknown points. Finally, a vertical movement model is established with the GNSS vertical velocities and leveling vertical velocities obtained via combined adjustment. Data from the second-order leveling network and GNSS control points in Shandong Province are taken as test data, and eight calculation schemes are used for discussion. One of the schemes, the bifactor robust combined adjustment method based on variance component estimation with two kinds of vertical velocity constraints achieves the optimal results. The method applied in the scheme can be recommended for data fusion of GNSS and leveling, further improving the reliability of vertical crustal movement in Shandong Province.

Numerical analysis of thermal process in the near field around vertical disposal of high-level radioactive waste

For deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste(HLW)in granite,the temperature on the HLW canisters is commonly designed to be lower than100fiC.This criterion dictates the dimension of the repository.Based on the concept of HLW disposal in vertical boreholes,thermal process in the nearfield(host rock and buffer)surrounding HLW canisters has been simulated by using different methods.The results are drawn as follows:(a)the initial heat power of HLW canisters is the most important and sensitive parameter for evolution of temperaturefield;(b)the thermal properties and variations of the host rock,the engineered buffer,and possible gaps between canister and buffer and host rock are the additional key factors governing the heat transformation;(c)the gaps width and thefilling by water or air determine the temperature offsets between them.

Determination of Geopotential of Local Vertical Datum Surface

This paper first develops the approaches to determine the geopotential of the local mean sea level,and then investigates the offset of the 1985 vertical datum surface defined by the mean sea level of Yellow Sea at the Dagang Tide Gauge in Qingdao city using the developed approaches and GPS/leveling data.It shows that the geopotential of the local mean sea level at the tide gauge is equal to 62 636 853.5±0.2 m2·s -2 and that the 1985 vertical datum surface is 24.6±5.4 cm above the geoid realized by the geopotential W 0= 62 636 856.0±0.5 m2·s -2.

Co- and post-seismic vertical displacements of Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake near Beichuan

Co- and post-seismic vertical displacements of the Wenchuan earthquake derived from two measurements in 2008 and 2010 along two partly-damaged leveling lines near the epicenter show the following features： Co-seismic displacement at Beichuan-Yingxiu fault was as large as 4. 711 m near Beichuan, where the maximum observed fault offset was 5.1 m. In contrast, the observed co-seismic offset of the Qingchuan fault in Pingwu County was only 0. 064 m. During 2008 - 2010, the post-seismic displacement rate was 5 - 27 mm/a near Beichuan-Yingxiu fault in Beichuan area, 20.6 mrn/a at Jiangyou-Guangyuan fault near Dakang, and only 0.2 - 1.3 mm/a at Qingehuan fault near Gucheng.

Unification of national surveying vertical datum

The vertical datum of China is composed of leveling datum for heights and chart datum for depths. The determination of national leveling datum and its disadvantages were discussed firstly. The local mean sea level and chart datum with its guarantee rate of navigation safety were studied secondly. The models of unification of national surveying vertical datum, such as optimization model of mean sea level, adoption of New Chinese quasi-geoid of 2000(CQG2000) and time-invariant global geoid were suggested finally.

Vertical and horizontal displacements of a reservoir slope due to slope aging effect,rainfall,and reservoir water

Landslides are common hazards in reservoir areas and significantly affect dam operation and human lives.For the prevention and management of landslides,accurate assessment of the factors influencing their generation is essential.This study evaluated the key external factors influencing horizontal and vertical displacements of Luobogang Reservoir Slope in Hanyuan County,China.Displacements had been monitored by a surface-displacement-monitoring system consisting of 118 GPS stations during 2012-2015.To identify the external driving factors,their influence zones,and slope responses,we analyzed 32 months of displacement measurements and other multi-source datasets using the empirical orthogonal function.Overall,the results show that slope aging effect,rainfall,and reservoir water levels are three main driving factors.For horizontal displacement,aging effect is the most critical factor and predominantly affects the edges of landslides,the gob cave,and the public building zones.The secondary factor is the reservoir water level,which mainly acts on the boundary between the slope and reservoir water surface.The closer the slope zone is to the reservoir water,the more significant the impact is.Regarding vertical displacement,the most important factor is rainfall.The vertical displacement caused by rainfall accounts for 56.76% of the total vertical displacements.However,rainfall induces elastic displacements that generally cause less damage to the slope.The secondary factor is aging effect,and the vertical displacement caused by aging effect accounts for 9.42%.However,seven individual zones are highly affected by slope aging effect,which is consistent with the distribution of public buildings.

Tests of relative vertical offsets for several types of GPS receiver antenna phase centers

The correction for antenna phase center is considered in processing Global Positioning System （GPS） data collected from a network of GPS ultra-short baselines. Compared with the leveling measurements, the GPS results show that the relative vertical offsets for the pairs of GPS receiver antenna phase centers still exist, although absolute calibration of the antenna phase center variations （PCVs） has been considered. With respect to the TPS CR.G3 antenna, the relative vertical offset for the LEI AT504 antenna is 8.4 mm, the offset for the ASH701945C_M antenna is 5.5 mm, and those for the ASHY00936E_C and ASH701945B_M antennas are approximately between 2 mm and -3 mm. The relative offsets for the same type of antennas are approximately 1 mm. By correcting the absolute PCVs, the existing relative offset becomes negligible for horizontal positioning.

Essential Features of Tectonic Movement Revealed by Crustal Vertical Deformations in the Mainland of China

Based on the precise reieveling data of more than 260,000 km carried out from 1950 to 1991 in the Chinese mainland,recent crustal vertical movement is studied.By means of some quantitative indices,such as the pattern of crustal vertical movement,the intensity of differential movement,the maximum gradient and its distribution,etc.,the properties of movements are analyzed on a large scale.The results suggest that all the properties have a profound tectonic background of their own and are closely related to the zoning and seismic activity of active subplates.The driving force for the movement comes mainly from the northward push of the India plate acting on the Eurasia plate.The effects of motions of the Pacific and Philippine Sea plates in the east are much less significant.

Mechanism of Surface Vertical Deformation in Parts of the Underground Gas Storage Reservoir of Hutubi, Xinjiang, China

The Underground Gas Storage( UGS) in Hutubi( HTB),Xinjiang is the largest gas storage reservoir in China and it has significance for coordinating the gas supply and demand relationship,peak-load regulation,implementation of strategic reserves,national security, and social economic sustainable development. Therefore, the deformation monitoring and simulation analysis of UGS operation has important technical support and reference value for the stability and safe operation of the underground gas storage. In this paper,we use the elevation data obtained from 7 periods of second-order leveling surveys in the Hutubi underground gas storage area in 2013- 2015 to analyze the influence of gas well pressure on the vertical deformation of the underground gas storage reservoir.Research has shown that the absolute vertical subsidence rate is approximately in the range from 11. 8mm to 16. 1mm and the relative subsidence change is about 4. 3mm,near the surface deformation of Hutubi underground gas storage area except for the annual subsidence rate of- 2. 86 mm by the basic influence of uplift of the Tianshan Mountains.Groundwater over-extraction in the Hutubi area also has an impact on the vertical variation of the surface in this region. The land surface change per unit pressure of gas storage has an impact of about 0. 625mm- 1. 125 mm. 17 scenes Terra SAR-X radar images acquired from August,2013 to August,2014 are exploited by Small Baseline Subset( SBAS) In SAR method to obtain the surface deformation time series during the operation of UGS in Hutubi,meanwhile combined with the pressure data of injection / productionwells,the multi-point source Mogi model is used to simulate the UGS deformation field in Hutubi. The results show that the deformation characteristics of the whole UGS area is a discontinuous distribution with the peak deformation value of 10 mm and- 8mm in the satellite line of sight( LOS) during gas injection and production,respectively and the retrieved deformation sequences correspond very well to the gas injection / production pressure changes. Based on the multi- point source Mogi model, we simulate the deformation process of UGS,HTB,and with the adaptive forward search method,the radius and depth of point source are obtained. The simulated results indicate that when the average injection / production pressure of UGS,HTB is 18 MPa and 15 MPa, LOS deformation is up to 7mm and- 4mm,respectively,and surface deformation is related to the density of gas injection( production) wells. The UGS gas distribution is not uniform,indicating that the structure of underground gas storage is complex. Thus using a more elaborate geomechanical model and other deformation observation data will be helpful for better simulating the UGS internal structure and explaining the mechanism of deformation.

IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF VERTICAL ANGLE OBSERVATIONS

The influences of instrumental errors, measurement errors, and the fluctuation of refraction angles, etc., on the observation accuracy of vertical angles are analysed. A new target used to observe the vertical angle was designed. Some measures are suggested to reduce the errors in observing vertical angles. They are proved to be effective by experiments.

Vertical deformation of the fault-crossing network around Baotou,observed by GPS

GPS data and precise leveling data of seismic network profiles across the fault in Baotou in 2006, 2009 and 2011 were processed and analyzed to test the feasibility of using GPS technology for fault-crossing vertical deformation monitoring. The results showed that high precision cross-fauh vertical deformation measurements can be obtained using appropriate GPS data processing strategies.

Vertical deformation and tectonic activity in Tianjin area

Vertical deformation in Tianjin area during 1992 -2008 was calculated from leveling data. The effect of large surface subsidence caused by extensive groundwater pumping was removed by fitting the data along each survey line with a polynomial function. The results are fitted with crustal blocks individually in this area. Vertical deformation rates are mapped, vertical rates of the main fault zones were calculated, and the activities of the blocks and fault zones were investigated. The observed vertical deformation shows that some of the blocks tilted and some blocks rose or subsided as a whole. The vertical rates at fault zones in the area vary within the range of 0. 13-0. 48 mm/a,with an average value of 0.29 mm/a.

Discovery and features of vertical zonations of tidal salt-marsh foraminifera in Jianchuan, North Jiangsu Province, China

Through densified surface sampling of foraminifera and accurate elevation measurement a-long three transect lines in open-coast tidal salt-marsh of Jianchuan, particular salt-marsh foraminifera assemblages were found. The salt-marsh foraminifera assemblages are distributed in well-defined vertical zonations with respect to elevation and closely parallel marsh floral zonations. At the top of the vertical zonation all foraminifera disappear abruptly which are accurately located at the highest high water datum. This distribution pattern can be used to relocate former sea levels accurately (to an accuracy of within ±5 cm). A modern regional criterion of foraminifera for relocating the former sea levels in high resolution in our country is provided, and deficiencies of studying the vertical zonation only in sheltered coast salt-marsh abroad are filled up.

Vertical deformation before and after the 2022 Menyuan Ms6.9 earthquake and analysis of earthquake precursors

This study analyzed the vertical deformation before and after the 2022 Menyuan Ms6.9 earthquake in Qinghai Province,China,using leveling profiles across faults measured from Minle County in Gansu Province to Menyuan County in Qinghai Province.Our results suggest the following:(1)The amplitude of regional vertical differential motion near the Sunna-Qilian and Lenglongling faults within the Qilian Shan increased before the 2022 Menyuan earthquake.It was accompanied by the emergence of high gradient deformation zones.Deformation at the Tongziba cross-fault leveling site near the Sunan-Qilian fault was considerable.In contrast,deformation at the Daliang cross-fault leveling site near the stepover region(adjacent to the epicenter)between the Lenglongling and Tuolaishan faults was minor.After 2018,vertical deformation at the Tongziba site notably accelerated,while that at the Daliang site was insignificant.(2)After the 2022 Menyuan earthquake,140—150 mm of subsidence deformation occurred near the Daliang site,while the Tongziba site did not experience significant deformation.(3)Vertical deformation before and after the 2022 Menyuan earthquake conforms with the elastic-rebound theory,and the evolution of pre-earthquake deformation was consistent with the strike-slip fault deformation pattern at different seismogenic stages,i.e.,the relative motion near the locked fault in the late seismogenic stage gradually weakened.The characteristics of strain accumulation and release derived from the vertical deformation before and after the Menyuan MS6.9 earthquake help understand the deformation process of earthquake preparation and earthquake precursors.

Static loading and vertical displacement at southern Siberia

Seismic method is usually used for elastic parametric estimation. This is why this method presents dynamic parameters of Earth. Frequency seismic range changes greatly from geodynamic modelling time. Now we have opportunity to use geodesy result for some years for elastic parameters estimation. Static solution from elastic theory may be used for the interpretation of long term results. It presents static elastic parameter. The inverse problem for different types of vertical surface loading on one year period is calculated. Two cases of loading with maximal and minimal area are presented. Results are determined by space geodesy and leveling methods. Current relation between atmospheric pressure and vertical displacements was estimated at the center of Siberian Anti Cyclone with size varied from 2000 km to 3000 kin. Pressure-displacement coefficients （PDC） can be achieved by three years obser- vation （0.997 mm/mbar for NVSK GPS station）. It is used for elastic module study of geology medium with maximum thickness up to 600 km. In the context of elastic model, the modulus of rigidity is estimated to be 113 GPa. Vast expanse of anti-cyclone may relate with rheology of crust and upper mantle. Smaller size of surface loading - local loading is seasonal variation of water reservoir. Annual vertical changes were obtained by leveling near the dam of the reservoir. PDC ratio was 1.15 mm/bar for these places. In elastic theory, the Young modulus E = 80 GPa （Poisson ratio = 0.25, the modulus of rigidity - 32 GPa） was calculated by sixteen years of leveling measurements. This result can effectively be represented for upper crust. Our results were checked by solution for coseismic displacement of Chyia- Altai earthquake （Sep. 27, 2003, M = 7.3）. Coseismic results calculated by static modules agree with experimental coseismic GPS data at 10% level.