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Decadal Viscoelastic Postseismic Deformation of the 1964 Mw9.2 Alaska Earthquake
Author(s) -
Huang Kejing,
Hu Yan,
Freymueller Jeffrey T.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1029/2020jb019649
Subject(s) - geology , viscoelasticity , subduction , mantle wedge , mantle (geology) , seismology , aftershock , rheology , geophysics , tectonics , physics , thermodynamics
Viscoelastic postseismic deformation after the 1964 Mw9.2 Alaska earthquake extends thousands of kilometers from the rupture region and lasts for decades, providing unique opportunities to better understand the three‐dimensional rheological properties of the Alaska subduction zone. We have optimized a three‐dimensional viscoelastic finite element model to study processes that control the postseismic deformation of the 1964 event. The model includes an elastic continental plate and an elastic oceanic plate, a two‐layered viscoelastic oceanic upper mantle, and a uniform viscoelastic mantle wedge. Stress‐driven afterslip is simulated by a thin weak shear zone. The viscoelastic relaxation of the upper mantle and shear zone is represented by the bi‐viscous Burgers rheology. The model has determined the viscosities of the mantle wedge and shear zone to be 3 × 10 19 Pa s and 8 × 10 16 Pa s, respectively. The afterslip takes place mostly within the first 5 years after the earthquake and is up to 4 m, equivalent to a modeled earthquake of Mw8.5. Model results reveal a spatial and temporal correlation between the afterslip distribution and later slow slip events. The model predicts that the surface deformation about 200 years after the earthquake will be controlled mostly by the relocking of the fault. Further tests on the impact of lateral variation in the mantle wedge viscosity indicate that the viscosity in the continental upper mantle thousands of kilometers from the rupture area may be about an order of magnitude higher than that of the mantle wedge in the subduction zone.