We present a new global model of plate motions and strain rates in plate boundary zones constrained by horizontal geodetic velocities. This Global Strain Rate Model (GSRM v.2.1) is a vast improvement over its predecessor both in terms of amount of data input as in an increase in spatial model resolution by factor of $2.5 in areas with dense data coverage. We determined 6739 velocities from time series of (mostly) continuous GPS measurements; i.e., by far the largest global velocity solution to date. We transformed 15,772 velocities from 233 (mostly) published studies onto our core solution to obtain 22,511 velocities in the same reference frame. Care is taken to not use velocities from stations (or time periods) that are affected by transient phenomena; i.e., this data set consists of velocities best representing the interseismic plate velocity. About 14% of the Earth is allowed to deform in 145,086 deforming grid cells (0.25 longitude by 0.2 latitude in dimension). The remainder of the Earth's surface is modeled as rigid spherical caps representing 50 tectonic plates. For 36 plates we present new GPS-derived angular velocities. For all the plates that can be compared with the most recent geologic plate motion model, we find that the difference in angular velocity is significant. The rigid-body rotations are used as boundary conditions in the strain rate calculations. The strain rate field is modeled using the Haines and Holt method, which uses splines to obtain an self-consistent interpolated velocity gradient tensor field, from which strain rates, vorticity rates, and expected velocities are derived. We also present expected faulting orientations in areas with significant vorticity, and update the no-net rotation reference frame associated with our global velocity gradient field.Finally, we present a global map of recurrence times for M w 57.5 characteristic earthquakes.

A burst of eight neutrino events preceding the optical detection of the supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud has been observed in a large underground water Cherenkov detector. The events span an interval of 6 s and have visible energies in the range 20-40 MeV.

More GPS stations, faster data delivery, and better data processing provide an abundance of information for all kinds of Earth scientists.

We provide a new analysis of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) with the goal of assembling the model uncertainty statistics required for rigorously extracting trends in surface mass from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. Such statistics are essential for deciphering sea level, ocean mass, and hydrological changes because the latter signals can be relatively small (≤2 mm/yr water height equivalent) over very large regions, such as major ocean basins and watersheds. With abundant new >7 year continuous measurements of vertical land motion (VLM) reported by Global Positioning System stations on bedrock and new relative sea level records, our new statistical evaluation of GIA uncertainties incorporates Bayesian methodologies. A unique aspect of the method is that both the ice history and 1‐D Earth structure vary through a total of 128,000 forward models. We find that best fit models poorly capture the statistical inferences needed to correctly invert for lower mantle viscosity and that GIA uncertainty exceeds the uncertainty ascribed to trends from 14 years of GRACE data in polar regions.

Our analysis of Global Positioning System (GPS) site coordinates in a global reference frame shows annual variation with typical amplitudes of 2 mm for horizontal and 4 mm for vertical, with some sites at twice these amplitudes. Power spectrum analysis confirms that GPS time series also contain significant power at annual harmonic frequencies (with spectral indices 1 < α < 2), which indicates the presence of repeating signals. Van Dam et al. [2001] showed that a major annual component is induced by hydrological and atmospheric loading. Unless accounted for, we show that annual signals can significantly bias estimation of site velocities intended for high accuracy purposes such as plate tectonics and reference frames. For such applications, annual and semiannual sinusoidal signals should be estimated simultaneously with site velocity and initial position. We have developed a model to calculate the level of bias in published velocities that do not account for annual signals. Simultaneous estimation might not be necessary beyond 4.5 years, as the velocity bias rapidly becomes negligible. Minimum velocity bias is theoretically predicted at integer‐plus‐half years, as confirmed by tests with real data. Below 2.5 years, the velocity bias can become unacceptably large, and simultaneous estimation does not necessarily improve velocity estimates, which rapidly become unstable due to correlated parameters. We recommend that 2.5 years be adopted as a standard minimum data span for velocity solutions intended for tectonic interpretation or reference frame production and that we be skeptical of geophysical interpretations of velocities derived using shorter data spans.