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GPS constraints on vertical crustal motion in the northern Basin and Range
Author(s) -
Bennett Richard A.,
Hreinsdóttir Sigrún,
Velasco M. Soledad,
Fay Noah P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl031515
Subject(s) - geology , slipping , geodesy , basin and range province , fault (geology) , global positioning system , seismology , basin and range topography , range (aeronautics) , structural basin , geometry , geomorphology , mathematics , telecommunications , computer science , materials science , composite material
We estimated vertical velocities using an array of 12 continuous GPS stations forming part of the PBO NUCLEUS network. We analyzed data spanning the period 1996 through 2006. The array has an aperture ∼400 km and crosses a major active intracontinental normal fault system in the northern Basin and Range province. The root‐mean‐square (RMS) of vertical rates relative to a local “no net vertical” frame is 0.3 mm/yr, indicating high relative rate precision. The RMS difference between rates based on Δ t ≤ 7‐year sub‐strands of the total data set and the full ∼10‐year rate estimates varies as 2.4 Δ t −1.3 mm/yr. The net vertical rate observed across the greater Wasatch fault zone is consistent with the predictions of elastic half‐space dislocation models only when the deep slipping part of the fault has very shallow dip (<30°).