Does Long-Term GPS in the Western Alps Finally Confirm Earthquake Mechanisms?. Walpersdorf, A., Pinget, L., Vernant, P., Sue, C., & Deprez, A. 37(10):3721–3737. Number: 10
Does Long-Term GPS in the Western Alps Finally Confirm Earthquake Mechanisms? [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
The availability of GPS survey data spanning 22 years, along with several independent velocity solutions including up to 16 years of permanent GPS data, presents a unique opportunity to search for persistent (and thus reliable) deformation patterns in the Western Alps, which in turn allow a reinterpretation of the active tectonics of this region. While GPS velocities are still too uncertain to be interpreted on an individual basis, the analysis of range-perpendicular GPS velocity profiles clearly highlights zones of extension in the center of the belt (15.3 to 3.1 nanostrain/year from north to south), with shortening in the forelands. The contrasting geodetic deformation pattern is coherent with earthquake focal mechanisms and related strain/stress patterns over the entire Western Alps. The GPS results finally provide a reliable and robust quantification of the regional strain rates. The observed vertical motions of 2.0 to 0.5 mm/year of uplift from north to south in the core of the Western Alps is interpreted to result from buoyancy forces related to postglacial rebound, erosional unloading, and/or viscosity anomalies in the crustal and lithospheric root. Spatial decorrelation between vertical and horizontal (seismicity related) deformation calls for a combination of processes to explain the complex present-day dynamics of the Western Alps.
@article{walpersdorf_does_2018,
	title = {Does Long-Term {GPS} in the Western Alps Finally Confirm Earthquake Mechanisms?},
	volume = {37},
	rights = {©2018. The Authors.},
	issn = {1944-9194},
	url = {http://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018TC005054},
	doi = {10.1029/2018TC005054},
	abstract = {The availability of {GPS} survey data spanning 22 years, along with several independent velocity solutions including up to 16 years of permanent {GPS} data, presents a unique opportunity to search for persistent (and thus reliable) deformation patterns in the Western Alps, which in turn allow a reinterpretation of the active tectonics of this region. While {GPS} velocities are still too uncertain to be interpreted on an individual basis, the analysis of range-perpendicular {GPS} velocity profiles clearly highlights zones of extension in the center of the belt (15.3 to 3.1 nanostrain/year from north to south), with shortening in the forelands. The contrasting geodetic deformation pattern is coherent with earthquake focal mechanisms and related strain/stress patterns over the entire Western Alps. The {GPS} results finally provide a reliable and robust quantification of the regional strain rates. The observed vertical motions of 2.0 to 0.5 mm/year of uplift from north to south in the core of the Western Alps is interpreted to result from buoyancy forces related to postglacial rebound, erosional unloading, and/or viscosity anomalies in the crustal and lithospheric root. Spatial decorrelation between vertical and horizontal (seismicity related) deformation calls for a combination of processes to explain the complex present-day dynamics of the Western Alps.},
	pages = {3721--3737},
	number = {10},
	journaltitle = {Tectonics},
	author = {Walpersdorf, A. and Pinget, L. and Vernant, P. and Sue, C. and Deprez, A.},
	urldate = {2020-01-27},
	date = {2018},
	langid = {english},
	note = {Number: 10},
	keywords = {{GPS}, satellite geodesy, active tectonics, Alps, seismology}
}

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