Strain rates estimated by geodetic observations in the Borborema Province, Brazil

The strain rates for the Borborema Province, located in northeastern Brazil, were estimated in this study. For this purpose, we used GNSS tracking stations with a minimum of two years data. The data were processed using the software GIPSY, version 6.2, provided by the JPL of the California Institute...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Marotta, Giuliano Sant'Anna, Franca, George Sand, Galera Monico, Joao Francisco [UNESP], Bezerra, Francisco Hilario R., Fuck, Reinhardt Adolfo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/129301
Acceso en línea:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981114001710
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/129301
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Borborema Province
Geodetic network
South American plate
Surface strains
Descripción
Sumario:The strain rates for the Borborema Province, located in northeastern Brazil, were estimated in this study. For this purpose, we used GNSS tracking stations with a minimum of two years data. The data were processed using the software GIPSY, version 6.2, provided by the JPL of the California Institute of Technology. The PPP method was used to process the data using the non-fiducial approach. Satellite orbits and clock were supplied by the JPL. Absolute phase center offsets and variations for both the receiver and the satellite antennaes were applied, together with ambiguity resolution; corrections of the first and second order effects of the ionosphere and troposphere models adopting the VMF1 mapping function; 100 elevation mask; FES2004 oceanic load model and terrestrial tide WahrK1 PolTid FreqDep-Love OctTid. From a multi annual solution, involving at least 2 years of continuous data, the coordinates and velocities as well as their accuracies were estimated. The strain rates were calculated using the Delaunay triangulation and the Finite Element Method. The results show that the velocity direction is predominantly west and north, with maximum variation of 4.0 +/- 1.5 mm/year and 4.1 +/- 0.5 mm/year for the x and y components, respectively. The highest strain values of extension and contraction were 0.109552 x 10(-6) +/- 3.65 x 10(-10)/year and -0.072838 x 10(-6) +/- 2.32 x 10(-10)/year, respectively. In general, the results show that the highest strain and variation of velocity values are located close to the Potiguar Basin, region that concentrates seismic activities of magnitudes of up to 5.2 mb. We conclude that the contraction direction of strain is consistent with the maximum horizontal stress derived from focal mechanism and breakout data. In addition, we conclude that the largest strain rates occur around the Potiguar Basin, an area already recognized as one of the major sites of seismicity in intraplate South America. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.