Understanding Stress and Strain Accumulation at Subduction Zones Using a Web-Based Modeling Environment

Surface geodetic data can provide significant insights into the patterns of stress and strain accumulation at subduction zones. There are presently two primary limitations on studies utilizing this data. The first is the relative difficulty of obtaining suitable data to be used in an investigation. The second is the limited number of forward models available for evaluating the data. We attempt to address both of these limitations by providing a web-based modeling environment that provides a database of available surface geodetic data as well as a selection of at least two forward models. Our modeling environment allows users to select geodetic data for a particular region from our database, filtered by user-specified criteria. It is also possible to contribute data to the database. Two types of forward models are available: an enhanced elastic half-space dislocation (EHSD) model or a finite elastic plate (FP) model, both with user-specified elastic properties. After selecting a fault geometry, an appropriate finite element mesh is used to generate Green's functions for use in an inversion. Parameters controlling an inversion are then specified, including the option to determine the rotation poles of blocks that rotate with respect to the overriding plate. Once the inversion has been performed, we provide visualization facilities for viewing the results, or the user can simply download the desired results. We provide an overview of the modeling environment and provide a demonstration using Cascadia as an example.