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Science 2 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5753, pp. 1473 - 1476
DOI: 10.1126/science.1119798
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Reports

Postseismic Mantle Relaxation in the Central Nevada Seismic Belt

Noel Gourmelen* and Falk Amelung

Holocene acceleration of deformation and postseismic relaxation are two hypotheses to explain the present-day deformation in the Central Nevada Seismic Belt (CNSB). Discriminating between these two mechanisms is critical for understanding the dynamics and seismic potential of the Basin and Range province. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar detected a broad area of uplift (2 to 3 millimeters per year) that can be explained by postseismic mantle relaxation after a sequence of large crustal earthquakes from 1915 to 1954. The results lead to a broad agreement between geologic and geodetic strain indicators and support a model of a rigid Basin and Range between the CNSB and the Wasatch fault.

Division of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ngourmelen{at}rsmas.miami.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Tectonic models for Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
D. W. O'Leary (2007)
Geological Society of America Memoirs 199, 105-153
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)