Premium
Contemporary plate motion and crustal deformation
Author(s) -
Stein Ross S.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg025i005p00855
Subject(s) - geology , seismology , crust , geodetic datum , plate tectonics , deformation (meteorology) , slip (aerodynamics) , volcano , geodesy , magma , fault (geology) , geophysics , tectonics , oceanography , physics , thermodynamics
The measurement of relative plate velocities during the past few years is a signal accomplishment in earth science, leading to refinement of the precepts of steady motion of plate interiors and cyclic deformation along plate margins. Regrettably, deformation premonitory to an earthquake has yet to be detected with confidence. Delineation of the spatial and temporal buildup of strain between earthquakes, however, has put limits on models of the earthquake cycle. A diverse set of fault structures and crustal rheologic conditions can explain the pattern of surface strain accumulation and release along strike‐slip faults. In contrast, the geometry of thrusts and normal faults, revealed by earthquake deformation, has been found to differ markedly from expectations. Geodetic observations have proved vital to monitor the ascent of magma through the Earth's crust and to predict volcanic eruptions at the Earth's surface. Episodic vertical and horizontal deformation in southern California remains a subject of dispute; if anything, it is less certain than it once seemed.