Contemporary deformation of the Wasatch Fault, Utah, from GPS measurements with implications for interseismic fault behavior and earthquake hazard: Observations and kinematic analysis

摘要

Contemporary strain accumulation rates of the 350-km-long Wasatch fault, Utah, have been determined by GPS measurements and provide key data for evaluating normal fault behavior and related earthquake hazard assessment. This paper presents a complete description of the Wasatch GPS network, data archiving and processing, and the measured ground deformation. The network spans the Wasatch fault in an area ～300-km long and ～200-km wide in north and central Utah and consists of 43 GPS sites surveyed in 1992, 1993, 1994,1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003, plus 8 permanent GPS stations operating continuously beginning 1997. Observations across a 65-km wide area centered on the Wasatch fault indicate the principal horizontal extension rate of 24 ± 6 nstrain/yr with the direction nearly perpendicular to the fault.