Global Positioning System constraints on the active tectonics of NE Iran and the South Caspian region

Mousavi, Zahra; Walpersdorf, Andréa; Walker, Richard; Tavakoli, Farokh; Pathier, Erwan; Nankali, H.; Nilfouroushan, Faramarz; Djamour, Y.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.07.007

Cited by 63 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…that conclusion is that the profiles across the SFS are in good agreement with the local velocity measurements at existing GPS stations (red error bars in Figure 3) [Mousavi et al, 2013;Djamour et al, 2010], indicating that the removed ramp signal was essentially related to orbital error or atmospheric effect.…”

Section: 1002/2015gl064440supporting

confidence: 52%

“…Previous geodetic results based on a regional GPS network [Djamour et al, 2010;Mousavi et al, 2013] present 7 mm/yr of deformation accommodated between Central Iran and the SC basin along SFS and Khazar thrust at longitude 56°E. Rigid block modeling in those papers yielded 2.4 ± 1 and 3.3 ± 1 mm/yr of left-lateral motion absorbing across SFS and Khazar thrust, respectively, where as projection of GPS station velocities onto an across-fault profile appeared to yield a slip rate of 4-6 mm/yr of left-lateral motion on SFS and no significant strike-slip deformation on Khazar thrust [Mousavi et al, 2013].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the slip rates of the major faults in the eastern Alborz are not known, which are critical constraints for seismic hazard estimations, as well as being highly relevant for describing the kinematics of Iran and the SC [Jackson et al, 2002;Djamour et al, 2010;Mousavi et al, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using GPS measurements, Mousavi et al [2013] estimated between 2.5 ± 1 mm/yr and 4-6.5 mm/yr of summed left-lateral displacement rate across Jajarm and Cheshmeh-Nik faults. The lower value (2.5 ± 1 mm/yr) results from a block modeling approach, in which the SC rotates about an Euler pole located immediately NE of Iran, whereas the higher value (4-6.5 mm/yr) results from simply taking profiles of fault-parallel velocities across the eastern Alborz, from stations located in the Iranian plateau to those in the lowlands fringing the Caspian Sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The black rectangles show the coverage of the Envisat synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data analyzed in this study, with their track numbers (A for ascending, D for descending). The red vectors and their associated error ellipses present the GPS velocity field with respect to Eurasia from Djamour et al [2010] and Mousavi et al [2013]. The stars represent cities mentioned in the text.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Interseismic deformation of the Shahroud fault system (NE Iran) from space‐borne radar interferometry measurements

Mousavi

Pathier

Walker

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Shahroud fault system is a major active structure in the Alborz range of NE Iran whose slip rate is not well constrained despite its potential high seismic hazard. In order to constrain the slip rate of the eastern Shahroud fault zone, we use space‐borne synthetic aperture radar interferometry with both ascending and descending Envisat data to determine the rate of interseismic strain accumulation across the system. We invert the slip rate from surface velocity measurements using a half‐space elastic dislocation model. The modeling results are consistent with a left‐lateral slip rate of 4.75 ± 0.8 mm/yr on the Abr and Jajarm, strands of the Shahroud fault, with a 10 ± 4 km locking depth. This is in good agreement with the 4–6 mm/yr of left‐lateral displacement rate accumulated across the total Shahroud fault system obtained from GPS measurements.

show abstract

Section: 1002/2015gl064440supporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Interseismic deformation of the Shahroud fault system (NE Iran) from space‐borne radar interferometry measurements

Mousavi

Pathier

Walker

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Present-day kinematics and fault slip rates in eastern Iran, derived from 11 years of GPS data

Walpersdorf

Manighetti

Mousavi

et al. 2014

J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth

Self Cite

109

125

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We analyze new GPS data spanning 11 years at 92 stations in eastern Iran. We use these data to analyze the present-day kinematics and the slip rates on most seismogenic faults in eastern Iran. The east Lut, west Lut, Kuhbanan, Anar, Dehshir, and Doruneh faults are confirmed as the major faults and are found to currently slip laterally at 5.6 ± 0.6, 4.4 ± 0.4, 3.6 ± 1.3, 2.0 ± 0.7, 1.4 ± 0.9, and 1.3 ± 0.8 mm/yr, respectively. Slip is right-lateral on the~NS striking east Lut, west Lut, Kuhbanan, Anar, and Dehshir faults and left-lateral on the~EW Doruneh fault. The~NS faults slice the eastern Iranian crust into five blocks that are moving northward at 6-13 mm/yr with respect to the stable Afghan crust at the eastern edge of the collision zone. The collective behavior of the~NS faults might thus allow the Arabian promontory to impinge northward into the Eurasian crust. The~NS faults achieve additional NS shortening by rotating counterclockwise in the horizontal plane, at current rates up to 0.8°/Ma. Modeling the GPS and available geological data with a block rotation model suggests that the rotations have been going on at a similar rate (1 ± 0.4°/Ma) over the last 12 Ma. We identify large strains at the tips of the rotating east Lut, west Lut, and Kuhbanan faults, which we suspect to be responsible for the important historical and instrumental seismicity in those zones.

show abstract

A geodetic plate motion and Global Strain Rate Model

Kreemer

Blewitt

Klein

2014

Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst.

782

785

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present a new global model of plate motions and strain rates in plate boundary zones constrained by horizontal geodetic velocities. This Global Strain Rate Model (GSRM v.2.1) is a vast improvement over its predecessor both in terms of amount of data input as in an increase in spatial model resolution by factor of $2.5 in areas with dense data coverage. We determined 6739 velocities from time series of (mostly) continuous GPS measurements; i.e., by far the largest global velocity solution to date. We transformed 15,772 velocities from 233 (mostly) published studies onto our core solution to obtain 22,511 velocities in the same reference frame. Care is taken to not use velocities from stations (or time periods) that are affected by transient phenomena; i.e., this data set consists of velocities best representing the interseismic plate velocity. About 14% of the Earth is allowed to deform in 145,086 deforming grid cells (0.25 longitude by 0.2 latitude in dimension). The remainder of the Earth's surface is modeled as rigid spherical caps representing 50 tectonic plates. For 36 plates we present new GPS-derived angular velocities. For all the plates that can be compared with the most recent geologic plate motion model, we find that the difference in angular velocity is significant. The rigid-body rotations are used as boundary conditions in the strain rate calculations. The strain rate field is modeled using the Haines and Holt method, which uses splines to obtain an self-consistent interpolated velocity gradient tensor field, from which strain rates, vorticity rates, and expected velocities are derived. We also present expected faulting orientations in areas with significant vorticity, and update the no-net rotation reference frame associated with our global velocity gradient field.Finally, we present a global map of recurrence times for M w 57.5 characteristic earthquakes.

show abstract

Global Positioning System constraints on the active tectonics of NE Iran and the South Caspian region

Cited by 63 publications

References 48 publications

Interseismic deformation of the Shahroud fault system (NE Iran) from space‐borne radar interferometry measurements

Interseismic deformation of the Shahroud fault system (NE Iran) from space‐borne radar interferometry measurements

Present-day kinematics and fault slip rates in eastern Iran, derived from 11 years of GPS data

A geodetic plate motion and Global Strain Rate Model

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About