| Most of the crustal deformation (i.e. continuous deformation and localized slip on active faults) is a response to deeper processes in the crust, lithosphere and mantle. Crustal deformation leads often to displacements of the Earth?s surface, both in vertical and in horizontal direction. Surface displacements in large regions can nowadays be acquired by a variety of space geodetic techniques. These observations impose important independent, in cases the only, constraints on crustal dynamics and underlying processes. Inspite of the great value of these observations, existing methods for the interpretation of surface displacement data generally fail to sensibly incorporate all important aspects of crustal deformation. Methods: Tomographic techniques, geophysical inversion, geodetic observation (e.g. GPS, INSAR) Aim: 1) development of new kinematic interpretation methods based on inversion of relative displacement data, and integration of different types of displacement observations in one interpretation scheme. 2) create a link between kinematic modelling under 1) with forward modeling of crustal deformation based on dynamical behavior of crustal materails and faults. 3).establish ?depth-to-surface? relations between deep geodynamic processes and surface deformation Present topics: Theoretical development of a new inversion method that interpretes surface displacements in terms of continuous deformation and fault slip without invoking bias to specific modes of crustal deformation;Testing and application of the method under development on existing GPS data sets (see PhD project of Drs. M. Nyst) |
