Interseismic Deformation of the Altyn Tagh Fault Determined by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) Measurements

The Altyn Tagh Fault (ATF) is one of the major left-lateral strike-slip faults in the northeastern area of the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, the interseismic deformation across the ATF at 85°E was measured using 216 interferograms from 33 ENVISAT advanced synthetic aperture radar images on a descending track acquired from 2003 to 2010, and 66 interferograms from 15 advanced synthetic aperture radar images on an ascending track acquired from 2005 to 2010. To retrieve the pattern of interseismic strain accumulation, a global atmospheric model (ERA-Interim) provided by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast and a global network orbital correction approach were applied to remove atmospheric effects and the long-wavelength orbital errors in the interferograms. Then, the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) time series with atmospheric estimation model was used to obtain a deformation rate map for the ATF. Based on the InSAR velocity map, the regional strain rates field was calculated for the first time using the multi-scale wavelet method. The strain accumulation is strongly focused on the ATF with the maximum strain rate of 12.4 × 10−8/year. We also show that high-resolution 2-D strain rates field can be calculated from InSAR alone, even without GPS data. Using a simple half-space elastic screw dislocation model, the slip-rate and locking depth were estimated with both ascending and descending surface velocity measurements. The joint inversion results are consistent with a left-lateral slip rate of 8.0 ± 0.7 mm/year on the ATF and a locking depth of 14.5 ± 3 km, which is in agreement with previous results from GPS surveys and ERS InSAR results. Our results support the dynamic models of Asian deformation requiring low fault slip rate.

[1]  Pablo G. Silva,et al.  Geomorphology of active faulting and seismic hazard assessment : New tools and future challenges , 2015 .

[2]  Gianfranco Fornaro,et al.  A new algorithm for surface deformation monitoring based on small baseline differential SAR interferograms , 2002, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[3]  Marie-Pierre Doin,et al.  Corrections of stratified tropospheric delays in SAR interferometry: Validation with global atmospheric models , 2009 .

[4]  Tim J. Wright,et al.  A spatially variable power law tropospheric correction technique for InSAR data , 2015 .

[5]  P. Rosen,et al.  On the derivation of coseismic displacement fields using differential radar interferometry: The Landers earthquake , 1994, Proceedings of IGARSS '94 - 1994 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[6]  Peter Molnar,et al.  Active deformation of Asia : From kinematics to dynamics , 1997 .

[7]  Caijun Xu,et al.  New evidence for active tectonics at the boundary of the Kashi Depression, China, from time series InSAR observations , 2015 .

[8]  Rene Preusker,et al.  Advanced InSAR atmospheric correction: MERIS/MODIS combination and stacked water vapour models , 2009 .

[9]  J. Arrowsmith,et al.  Paleoseismology of the Xorxol Segment of the Central Altyn Tagh Fault, Xinjiang, China , 2003 .

[10]  Richard W. Allmendinger,et al.  Strain and rotation rate from GPS in Tibet, Anatolia, and the Altiplano , 2007 .

[11]  Wei Wenbo,et al.  Lithospheric Electrical Structure across the Eastern Segment of the Altyn Tagh Fault on the Northern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau , 2015 .

[12]  Alessandro Maria Michetti,et al.  Fault scarps and deformation rates in Lazio–Abruzzo, Central Italy: Comparison between geological fault slip-rate and GPS data , 2005 .

[13]  Brendan J. Meade,et al.  Present-day kinematics at the India-Asia collision zone , 2007 .

[14]  Frederick J. Ryerson,et al.  Rapid slip along the central Altyn Tagh Fault: Morphochronologic evidence from Cherchen He and Sulamu Tagh , 2004 .

[15]  P. Rosen,et al.  Updated repeat orbit interferometry package released , 2004 .

[16]  Philip England,et al.  Crustal thickening versus lateral expulsion in the Indian‐Asian continental collision , 1993 .

[17]  Peizhen Zhang,et al.  Present‐day crustal motion within the Tibetan Plateau inferred from GPS measurements , 2007 .

[18]  Zhong Lu,et al.  The utility of atmospheric analyses for the mitigation of artifacts in InSAR , 2013 .

[19]  James F. Dolan,et al.  Long-range and long-term fault interactions in Southern California , 2004 .

[20]  Zhong Lu,et al.  Magmatic activity beneath the quiescent Three Sisters volcanic center, central Oregon Cascade Range, USA , 2002 .

[21]  B. Burchfiel,et al.  Northwest-trending, middle Cenozoic, left-lateral faults in southern Yunnan, China, and their tectonic significance , 2003 .

[22]  J. C. Savage,et al.  Geodetic determination of relative plate motion in central California , 1973 .

[23]  J. Thepaut,et al.  The ERA‐Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system , 2011 .

[24]  Peter Molnar,et al.  Present‐day crustal thinning in the southern and northern Tibetan Plateau revealed by GPS measurements , 2015 .

[25]  Robert W. King,et al.  Global Positioning System measurements from eastern Tibet and their implications for India/Eurasia intercontinental deformation , 2000 .

[26]  Jean Chery,et al.  Nailing down the slip rate of the Altyn Tagh fault , 2013 .

[27]  P. Molnar,et al.  Cenozoic Tectonics of Asia: Effects of a Continental Collision: Features of recent continental tectonics in Asia can be interpreted as results of the India-Eurasia collision. , 1975, Science.

[28]  Peter J. Clarke,et al.  Atmospheric models, GPS and InSAR measurements of the tropospheric water vapour field over Mount Etna , 2002 .

[29]  Christophe Delacourt,et al.  Tropospheric corrections of SAR interferograms with strong topography. Application to Etna , 1998 .

[30]  Virginie Pinel,et al.  Presentation Of The Small Baseline NSBAS Processing Chain On A Case Example: The ETNA Deformation Monitoring From 2003 to 2010 Using ENVISAT Data , 2011 .

[31]  M. Doin,et al.  Ground motion measurement in the Lake Mead area, Nevada, by differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry time series analysis: Probing the lithosphere rheological structure , 2007 .

[32]  T. Wright,et al.  Constraining crustal velocity fields with InSAR for Eastern Turkey: Limits to the block‐like behavior of Eastern Anatolia , 2014 .

[33]  Wayne Thatcher,et al.  Microplate model for the present-day deformation of Tibet , 2007 .

[34]  David A. Seal,et al.  The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission , 2007 .

[35]  James Foster,et al.  Mitigating atmospheric noise for InSAR using a high resolution weather model , 2005 .

[36]  Xiaoli Ding,et al.  Correcting atmospheric effects on InSAR with MERIS water vapour data and elevation‐dependent interpolation model , 2012 .

[37]  Howard A. Zebker,et al.  Correction for interferometric synthetic aperture radar atmospheric phase artifacts using time series of zenith wet delay observations from a GPS network , 2006 .

[38]  Thomas R. Walter,et al.  Randomly iterated search and statistical competency as powerful inversion tools for deformation source modeling: Application to volcano interferometric synthetic aperture radar data , 2009 .

[39]  J. Avouac,et al.  Tropospheric phase delay in interferometric synthetic aperture radar estimated from meteorological model and multispectral imagery , 2007 .

[40]  Romain Jolivet,et al.  Thin‐plate modeling of interseismic deformation and asymmetry across the Altyn Tagh fault zone , 2008 .

[41]  Peter Molnar,et al.  Intracrustal detachment within zones of continental deformation , 1989 .

[42]  Jan-Peter Muller,et al.  Interferometric synthetic aperture radar atmospheric correction: Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar integration , 2006 .

[43]  Mark Simons,et al.  Temporal clustering of major earthquakes along individual faults due to post-seismic reloading , 2004 .

[44]  J. Freymueller,et al.  GPS measurements of present-day convergence across the Nepal Himalaya , 1997, Nature.

[45]  Peter Molnar,et al.  Late Quaternary and present‐day rates of slip along the Altyn Tagh Fault, northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau , 2007 .

[46]  Patience A. Cowie,et al.  Fault slip-rate variations during crustal-scale strain localisation, central Italy , 2002 .

[47]  C. Werner,et al.  Satellite radar interferometry: Two-dimensional phase unwrapping , 1988 .

[48]  Caijun Xu,et al.  Postseismic motion after the 2001 MW 7.8 Kokoxili earthquake in Tibet observed by InSAR time series , 2012 .

[49]  Danan Dong,et al.  Crustal deformation along the Altyn Tagh Fault system , 2001 .

[50]  Wang Xiaofeng,et al.  Low Quaternary slip rate reconciles geodetic and geologic rates along the Altyn Tagh fault, northwestern Tibet , 2009 .

[51]  R. Bilham,et al.  Inescapable slow slip on the Altyn Tagh fault , 2004 .

[52]  Zhenhong Li,et al.  Rapid strain accumulation on the Ashkabad fault (Turkmenistan) from atmosphere‐corrected InSAR , 2013 .

[53]  Tim J. Wright,et al.  InSAR slip rate determination on the Altyn Tagh Fault, northern Tibet, in the presence of topographically correlated atmospheric delays , 2008 .

[54]  Patience A. Cowie,et al.  A healing–reloading feedback control on the growth rate of seismogenic faults , 1998 .

[55]  M. Simons,et al.  A satellite geodetic survey of large-scale deformation of volcanic centres in the central Andes , 2002, Nature.

[56]  Patience A. Cowie,et al.  Implications of fault array evolution for synrift depocentre development: insights from a numerical fault growth model , 2000 .

[57]  Tim J. Wright,et al.  Interseismic strain accumulation across the North Anatolian Fault from Envisat InSAR measurements , 2011 .

[58]  J Ramón Arrowsmith,et al.  Late Holocene earthquake history of the central Altyn Tagh fault, China , 2001 .

[59]  C. Werner,et al.  Radar interferogram filtering for geophysical applications , 1998 .

[60]  An Yin,et al.  Is the North Altyn fault part of a strike-slip duplex along the Altyn Tagh fault system? , 2000 .

[61]  Andrew D. Hanson,et al.  Tectonic history of the Altyn Tagh fault system in northern Tibet inferred from Cenozoic sedimentation , 2002 .

[62]  Peter Molnar,et al.  Late Quaternary to decadal velocity fields in Asia , 2005 .

[63]  K. Moffett,et al.  Remote Sens , 2015 .

[64]  Eric Cowgill,et al.  Impact of riser reconstructions on estimation of secular variation in rates of strike-slip faulting: Revisiting the Cherchen River site along the Altyn Tagh Fault, NW China , 2007 .

[65]  Peizhen Zhang,et al.  Continuous deformation of the Tibetan Plateau from global positioning system data , 2004 .

[66]  Hans-Peter Plag,et al.  Contemporary uplift of the Sierra Nevada, western United States, from GPS and InSAR measurements , 2012 .

[67]  T. Wright,et al.  Multi-interferogram method for measuring interseismic deformation: Denali Fault, Alaska , 2007 .

[68]  Mathilde Vergnolle,et al.  Dynamics of continental deformation in Asia , 2007 .

[69]  T. Wright,et al.  Measurement of interseismic strain accumulation across the North Anatolian Fault by satellite radar interferometry , 2001 .

[70]  Jordi J. Mallorquí,et al.  Linear and nonlinear terrain deformation maps from a reduced set of interferometric SAR images , 2003, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[71]  Xu Caijun,et al.  Study on crustal deformation of Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake using wide-swath ScanSAR and MODIS , 2011 .

[72]  R. Hanssen.  Radar Interferometry: Data Interpretation and Error Analysis , 2001 .

[73]  Paul Lundgren,et al.  Southern San Andreas-San Jacinto fault system slip rates estimated from earthquake cycle models constrained by GPS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar observations , 2009 .

[74]  Masson,et al.  Tomographic evidence for localized lithospheric shear along the altyn tagh fault , 1998, Science.

[75]  Carl Tape,et al.  Multiscale estimation of GPS velocity fields , 2008 .

[76]  F. Webb,et al.  Surface deformation and coherence measurements of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, from SIR C radar interferometry , 1996 .

[77]  T. Wright,et al.  Broadscale interseismic deformation and fault slip rates in the central Tibetan Plateau observed using InSAR , 2013 .

[78]  J. Muller,et al.  Interferometric synthetic aperture radar atmospheric correction: GPS topography‐dependent turbulence model , 2006 .

[79]  Tim J. Wright,et al.  Post-seismic motion following the 1997 Manyi (Tibet) earthquake: InSAR observations and modelling , 2007 .

[80]  T. Wright,et al.  Statistical comparison of InSAR tropospheric correction techniques , 2015 .

[81]  R. Hoffman,et al.  Erratum: ``Height-integrated conductivity in auroral substorms, 1, Data'' , 2000 .

[82]  K. Feigl,et al.  The displacement field of the Landers earthquake mapped by radar interferometry , 1993, Nature.

[83]  Paul Tapponnier,et al.  Kinematic model of active deformation in central Asia , 1993 .

[84]  Yehuda Bock,et al.  Integrated satellite interferometry: Tropospheric noise, GPS estimates and implications for interferometric synthetic aperture radar products , 1998 .