Ground deformation and gravity changes on the island of Pantelleria in the geodynamic framework of the Sicily Channel

Gravity changes and present-day dynamics of the island of Pantelleria (Sicily Channel—Italy)

We provide a present-day surface-kinematics model for the Alpine region and surroundings based on a high-level data analysis of about 300 geodetic stations continuously operating over more than 12 years. This model includes a deformation model, a continuous surface-kinematic (velocity) field, and a strain field consistently assessed for the entire Alpine mountain belt. Special care is given to the use of the newest Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) processing standards to determine high-precision 3-D station coordinates. The coordinate solution refers to the reference frame IGb08, epoch 2010.0. The mean precision of the station positions at the reference epoch is ± 1.1 mm in N and E and ±2.3 mm in height. The mean precision of the station velocities is ±0.2 mm a−1 in N and E and ±0.4 mm a−1 in height. The deformation model is derived from the point-wise station velocities using a geodetic least-squares collocation (LSC) approach with empirically determined covariance functions. According to our results, no significant horizontal deformation is detected in the Western Alps, while across the Southern and Eastern Alps the deformation vectors describe a progressive eastward rotation towards Pannonia. This kinematic pattern also makes evident an increasing magnitude of the deformation from 0.1 mm a−1 in the western part of Switzerland up to about 1.3 mm a−1 in the Austrian Alps. The largest shortening is observed along the southern front of the Eastern Alps (in the northern area of the Venetian-Friuli Basin) and in the northern part of the Apennine Peninsula, where rates reach 2 and 3 mm a−1, respectively. The average accuracy of the horizontal deformation model is ±0.2 mm a−1. Regarding the vertical kinematics, our results clearly show an ongoing average uplift rate of 1.8 mm a−1 of the entire mountain chain, with the exception of the southern part of the Western Alps, where no significant uplift (less than 0.5 mm a−1) is detected. The fastest uplift rates (more than 2 mm a−1) occur in the central area of the Western Alps, in the Swiss Alps, and in the Southern Alps in the boundary region between Switzerland, Austria, and Italy. The general uplift observed across the Alpine mountain chain decreases towards the outer regions to stable values between 0.0 and 0.5 mm a−1 and, in some cases, to subsidence like in the Liguro-Provençal and Vienna basins, where vertical rates of −0.8 and −0.3 mm a−1 are observed, respectively. In the surrounding region, three regional subsidence regimes are identified: the Rhône-Bresse Graben with −0.8 mm a−1, the Rhine Graben with −1.3 mm a−1, and the Venetian-Friuli Basin with −1.5 mm a−1. The estimated uncertainty of our vertical motion model across the Alpine mountain belt is about ±0.3 mm a−1. The strain field inferred from the deformation model shows two main contrasting strain regimes: (i) shortening across the south-eastern front of the Alps and the northern part of the Dinarides and (ii) extension in the Apennines. The pattern of the principal strain axes indicates that the compression directions are more or less perpendicular to the thrust belt fronts, reaching maximum values of 20× 10−9 a−1 in the Venetian-Friuli and Po basins. Across the Alpine mountain belt, we observe a slight dilatation regime in the Western Alps, which smoothly changes to a contraction regime in western Austria and southern Germany, reaching maximum shortening values of 6×10−9 a−1 in north-eastern Austria. The numerical results of this study are available at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.886889. Published by Copernicus Publications. 1504 L. Sánchez et al.: Present-day surface deformation of the Alpine region

Present-day surface deformation of the Alpine Region inferred from geodetic techniques (data)

We use a new satellite laser ranging/Global Positioning System (SLR/GPS) solution at seven sites in Anatolia and Aegea to obtain a better definition of the extrusion motion of the Anatolian-Aegean block with respect to Europe. We show that this motion can be described in a first approximation by a counterclockwise rotation which transfers most of the motion of Arabia to Anatolia. We combine 78 displacement vectors obtained at common points of two triangulation nets measured in central Greece in 1895 and 1975 with the SLR/GPS measurements to compute the velocity field over Greece with respect to Europe. These measurements indicate that central Greece is a zone of extension between the Anatolian-Aegean counterclockwise rotation to the south and the northern Greece clockwise rotation to the north. This extension is principally localized within the Gulf of Corinth to the east but is distributed to the west. We then extrapolate this velocity field to the whole Aegea and western Anatolia using recently published GPS results as well as the SLR results. The narrow dextral North Anatolian fault, which limits the velocity field to the north, progressively gives way to a much wider boundary zone where extension becomes dominant. We show that the collision between the Mediterranean Ridge and Africa began 3-6 Ma, and we describe the modifications that this collision has produced on the kinematic pattern both in Aegea and on the Mediterranean Ridge.

Geodetic determination of the kinematics of central Greece with respect to Europe: Implications for eastern Mediterranean tectonics

The convergent African/Eurasian plate boundary and associated crustal movements: GPS investigations in the Calabrian and West Hellenic arcs

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The convergent African/Eurasian plate boundary and associated crustal movements: GPS investigations in the Calabrian and West Hellenic arcs