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Rock-mechanics experiments, geodetic observations of postloading strain transients, and micro-and macrostructural studies of exhumed ductile shear zones provide complementary views of the style and rheology of deformation deep in Earth's crust and upper mantle. Overall, results obtained in small-scale laboratory experiments provide robust constraints on deformation mechanisms and viscosities at the natural laboratory conditions. Geodetic inferences of the viscous strength of the upper mantle are consistent with flow of mantle rocks at temperatures and water contents determined from surface heat-flow, seismic, and mantle xenolith studies. Laboratory results show that deformation mechanisms and rheology strongly vary as a function of stress, grain size, and fluids. Field studies reveal a strong tendency for deformation in the lower crust and uppermost mantle in and adjacent to fault zones to localize into systems of discrete shear zones with strongly reduced grain size and strength. Deformation mechanisms and rheology may vary over short spatial (shear zone) and temporal (earthquake cycle) scales.

[1] We derive a detailed horizontal velocity field for the southeast borderland of the Tibetan Plateau using GPS data collected from the Crustal Motion Observation Network of China between 1998 and 2004. Our results reveal a complex deformation field that indicates that the crust is fragmented into tectonic blocks of various sizes, separated by strike-slip and transtensional faults. Most notably, the regional deformation includes 10-11 mm/yr left slip across the Xianshuihe fault, $7 mm/yr left slip across the Anninghe-Zemuhe-Xiaojiang fault zone, $2 mm/yr right slip across a shear zone trending northwest near the southern segment of the Lancang River fault, and $3 mm/yr left slip across the Lijiang fault. Deformation along the southern segment of the Red River fault appears not significant at present time. The region south and west of the XianshuiheXiaojiang fault system, whose eastward motion is resisted by the stable south China block to the east, turns from eastward to southward motion with respect to south China, resulting in clockwise rotation of its internal subblocks. Active deformation is detected across two previously unknown deformation zones: one is located $150 km northwest of and in parallel with the Longmenshan fault with 4-6 mm/yr right-slip and another is continued south-southwestward from the Xiaojiang fault abutting the Red River fault with $7 mm/yr left slip. While both of these zones are seismically active, the exact locations of faults responsible for such deformation are yet to be mapped by field geology. Comparing our GPS results with predictions of various models proposed for Tibetan Plateau deformation, we find that the relatively small sizes of the inferred microblocks and their rotation pattern lend support to a model with a mechanically weak lower crust experiencing distributed deformation underlying a stronger, highly fragmented upper crust.

Synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) from Earth-orbiting spacecraft provides a new tool to map global topography and deformation of the Earth’s surface. Radar images taken from slightly different viewing directions allow the construction of digital elevation models of meter-scale accuracy. These data sets aid in the analysis and interpretation of tectonic and volcanic landscapes. If the Earth’s surface deformed between two radar image acquisitions, a map of the surface displacement with tens-of-meters resolution and subcentimeter accuracy can be constructed. This review gives a basic overview of InSAR for Earth scientists and presents a selection of geologic applications that demonstrate the unique capabilities of InSAR for mapping the topography and deformation of the Earth.

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[1] We invert 115 differential interferograms derived from 47 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) scenes for a time-dependent deformation signal in the Santa Clara valley, California. The time-dependent deformation is calculated by performing a linear inversion that solves for the incremental range change between SAR scene acquisitions. A nonlinear range change signal is extracted from the ERS InSAR data without imposing a model of the expected deformation. In the Santa Clara valley, cumulative land uplift is observed during the period from 1992 to 2000 with a maximum uplift of 41 ± 18 mm centered north of Sunnyvale. Uplift is also observed east of San Jose. Seasonal uplift and subsidence dominate west of the Silver Creek fault near San Jose with a maximum peak-to-trough amplitude of $35 mm. The pattern of seasonal versus long-term uplift provides constraints on the spatial and temporal characteristics of water-bearing units within the aquifer. The Silver Creek fault partitions the uplift behavior of the basin, suggesting that it acts as a hydrologic barrier to groundwater flow. While no tectonic creep is observed along the fault, the development of a low-permeability barrier that bisects the alluvium suggests that the fault has been active since the deposition of Quaternary units.

Modern geodetic and seismologic observations describe the behavior of fault slip over a vast range of spatial and temporal scales. Slip at sub-seismogenic speeds is evident from top to bottom of lithospheric faults and plays an important role throughout the earthquake cycle. Where earthquakes and tremor accompany slow slip, they help illuminate the spatiotemporal evolution of fault slip. Geophysical subsurface imaging and geologic field studies provide information about suitable environments of slow slip. In particular, exhumed fault and shear zones from various depths reveal the importance of multiple deformation processes and fault-zone structures. Most geologic examples feature frictionally weak and velocity-strengthening materials, well-developed mineral fabrics, and abundant veining indicative of near-lithostatic fluid pressure. To produce transient slow slip events and tremor, in addition to the presence of high-pressure fluids a heterogeneous fault-zone structure, composition, and/or metamorphic assemblage may be needed. Laboratory and computational models suggest that velocityweakening slip patches smaller than a critical dimension needed for earthquake nucleation will also fail in slow slip events. Changes in fluid pressure or slip ratecan cause a fault to transition between stable and unstable fault slip behavior. Future interdisciplinary investigations of slow fault slip, directly integrating geophysical, geological and modeling investigations, will further improve our understanding of the dynamics of slow slip and aid in providing more accurate earthquake hazard characterizations.

Studies of the Earth's response to large earthquakes can be viewed as large rock deformation experiments in which sudden stress changes induce viscous flow in the lower crust and upper mantle that lead to observable postseismic surface deformation. Laboratory experiments suggest that viscous flow of deforming hot lithospheric rocks is characterized by a power law in which strain rate is proportional to stress raised to a power, n (refs 2, 3). Most geodynamic models of flow in the lower crust and upper mantle, however, resort to newtonian (linear) stress-strain rate relations. Here we show that a power-law model of viscous flow in the mantle with n = 3.5 successfully explains the spatial and temporal evolution of transient surface deformation following the 1992 Landers and 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes in southern California. A power-law rheology implies that viscosity varies spatially with stress causing localization of strain, and varies temporally as stress evolves, rendering newtonian models untenable. Our findings are consistent with laboratory-derived flow law parameters for hot and wet olivine--the most abundant mineral in the upper mantle--and support the contention that, at least beneath the Mojave desert, the upper mantle is weaker than the lower crust.