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GPS-determination of along-strike variation in Cascadia margin kinematics: Implications for relative plate motion, subduction zone coupling, and permanent deformation

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Field Value
Title GPS-determination of along-strike variation in Cascadia margin kinematics: Implications for relative plate motion, subduction zone coupling, and permanent deformation
Names Miller, M. Meghan (creator)
Johnson, Daniel J. (creator)
Rubin, Charles M. (creator)
Dragert, Herb (creator)
Wang, Kelin (creator)
Qamar, Anthony (creator)
Goldfinger, Chris (creator)
Date Issued 2001-04 (iso8601)
Note Copyrighted by American Geophysical Union.
Abstract High-precision GPS geodesy in the Pacific
Northwest provides the first synoptic view of the along-strike
variation in Cascadia margin kinematics. These results constrain
interfering deformation fields in a region where typical
earthquake recurrence intervals are one or more orders of magnitude
longer than the decades-long history of seismic monitoring
and where geologic studies are sparse. Interseismic
strain accumulation contributes greatly to GPS station velocities
along the coast. After correction for a simple elastic dislocation
model, important residual motions remain, especially
south of the international border. The magnitude of northward
forearc motion increases southward from western Washington
(3-7 mm/yr) to northern and central Oregon (~9 mm/yr), consistent
with oblique convergence and geologic constraints on
permanent deformation. The margin-parallel strain gradient,
concentrated in western Washington across the populated
Puget Lowlands, compares in magnitude to shortening across
the Los Angeles Basin. Thus crustal faulting also contributes
to seismic hazard. Farther south in southern Oregon, northwestward
velocities reflect the influence of Pacific-North
America motion and impingement of the Sierra Nevada block
on the Pacific Northwest. In contrast to previous notions,
some deformation related to the Eastern California shear zone
crosses northernmost California in the vicinity of the Klamath
Mountains and feeds out to the Gorda plate margin.
Genre Article
Identifier Miller, M., D. Johnson, C. Rubin, H. Dragert, K. Wang, A. Qamar, and C. Goldfinger (2001), GPS‐determination of along‐strike variation in Cascadia margin kinematics: Implications for relative plate motion, subduction zone coupling, and permanent deformation, Tectonics, 20(2), 161-176.

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