Present--Day Kinematics And Dynamics Of The Eastern Mediterranean/Caucasus: Interaction Of The Arabian, African, And Eurasian Plates

该项目是麻省理工学院与国际合作伙伴合作的延续，利用全球定位系统（GPS）定义地中海东部地区的板块运动和板块内部变形。这项工作将遵循三个主要方向，包括：1)继续使用GPS监测阿拉伯、非洲和欧亚板块相互作用区域的变形，重点关注特定的构造特征，如三重结、活动断层和土耳其东部/高加索碰撞带；2)结合其他地质和地球物理信息，确定当今变形与地质时间尺度上变形之间的关系；并描述驱动变形的主要力量和对这些力量作出反应的岩石圈的物理性质，3)开发详细的数值模型来测试不同的假设。预计这项研究将大大增加我们对控制活跃板块相互作用带大陆变形的基本原理的理解，并将为估计和减轻未来地震危害提供改进的物理基础。

Reilinger 9909730 This project is a continuation of MIT's collaboration with international partners to define plate motions and intra-plate deformations in the eastern Mediterranean region using the Global Positioning System (GPS). This work will follow three principal directions, including, 1) continuing to use GPS to monitor deformation in the zone of interaction of the Arabian, African, and Eurasian plates with a focus on specific tectonic features such as triple junctions, active faults, and the eastern Turkey/Caucasus collision zone, 2) incorporating other geological and geophysical information to determine the relationship between present-day deformation and deformation on geologic time scales, and to characterize the principal forces driving deformation and the physical nature of the lithosphere responding to these forces, and 3) developing detailed numerical models to test alternative hypotheses. It is anticipated that this research will add substantially to our understanding of the basic principles that govern continental deformation in zones of active plate interactions, and will provide an improved physical basis for estimating and mitigating future earthquake hazards.