Interseismic strain accumulation across the North Anatolian Fault from Envisat InSAR measurements

The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) is a major feature of Middle Eastern tectonics, and several previous InSAR studies have measured interseismic deformation across the fault. All previous studies, however, have used SAR data acquired from a single line‐of‐sight (LOS) direction, leading to large uncerta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2011-03, Vol.38 (5), p.np-n/a
Main Authors: Walters, R. J., Holley, R. J., Parsons, B., Wright, T. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Availability
Deformation
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Envisat
Exact sciences and technology
Faults
Geodetics
Geological faults
InSAR
interseismic strain accumulation
Locking
North Anatolian Fault
Plate tectonics
Radio
Rock deformation
Satellites
Slip
strike-slip
Synthetic aperture radar
Uncertainty
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Summary:The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) is a major feature of Middle Eastern tectonics, and several previous InSAR studies have measured interseismic deformation across the fault. All previous studies, however, have used SAR data acquired from a single line‐of‐sight (LOS) direction, leading to large uncertainties on model parameters and necessitating several modelling assumptions to be made. We have measured interseismic deformation across the NAF using both ascending and descending SAR data for the first time, an aim that has previously been limited by the availability of ascending data. By using SAR data from two look directions we have been able to reduce the range of uncertainties in slip rate and locking depth from previous studies by 60%, and by assuming no vertical motion across the fault, we estimate both fault‐normal and fault‐parallel motion. These results support other evidence for predominantly horizontal strike‐slip motion on the NAF. Our data are consistent with a slip rate of 20–26 mm/yr below a locking depth of 13.5–25 km for the NAF.
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2010GL046443