Deformation and rotation in southern Baja California, MX
Abstract
We use velocity data from 16 campaign GPS stations to study the motion and deformation in southern Baja California. The GPS timeseries span a total time of eight years and have four data collection periods with each more than two days. Due to the campaign mode GPS uncertainties are relatively large with respect to the estimated deformation signal of ~2 mm/yr. Therefore we choose robust analysis of the regional and local strain. We calculate the rigid block motion, its residuals, and relative motions. We use triangulation for local estimates of rotations and strain rates. To better estimate the deformations within the Southern Baja rigid block, we calculate a local GPS reference frame. The residual motion within this block is of the order of 0.5 mm/yr. Due to the small extent and small number of station within the rigid Southern Baja block, the errors associated with the regional velocity field is comparable with studied signal. Nevertheless, the direction of the residual w.r.t the local reference frame is in good agreement with the observed slip motion of the local known faults (Busch et al., 2006; 2007; and P. Umhoefer, personal communications) with significant extension between the Baja California peninsula and islands in the Gulf of California. In accordance to results from geological mapping, a strain analysis of the data shows significant deformation in the southeastern region of Baja California. The rotations induced by this deformation are also compared with long-term paleomagnetic reconstructions to evaluate the history of deformation of the region.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUFM.T11A1855M
- Keywords:
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- 1209 Tectonic deformation (6924);
- 1525 Paleomagnetism applied to tectonics: regional;
- global;
- 8155 Plate motions: general (3040);
- 8164 Stresses: crust and lithosphere