Geodetic Constraints on the Kinematics and Dynamics of Active Rifting of the Northern and Central Red Sea

该项目使用全球定位系统（GPS）来测量红海裂谷边缘的活动变形。该项目正在与埃及、沙特阿拉伯、厄立特里亚和苏丹的伙伴机构合作开展。本研究的最终目的是更好地了解大陆裂谷的动力学，方法包括连续记录沿裂谷安装的GPS站和测量GPS观测，以确定沿裂谷系统和垂直于裂谷系统的变形样式的变化。GPS的结果为大陆裂谷的机制提供了新的约束，从而增加了我们对推动大陆变形的基本力量和大陆岩石圈流变特性的理解。此外，该项目正在帮助将全球定位系统技术转让给东道国伙伴，并提供关于板块运动和应变积累率的定量信息，这些信息对评估和减轻地震危险直接有用。

This project uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to measure active deformation along the rift margins of the Red Sea. The project is being undertaken in cooperation with partner institutions in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, and Sudan. The ultimate objective of this research is to understand better the dynamics of continental rifting The approach includes both continuously recording GPS stations installed along the rift and survey GPS observations to determine variations in deformation style along and normal to the rift system. The GPS results are providing new constraints on the mechanics of continental rifting thereby adding to our understanding of the basic forces driving continental deformation and the rheological character of the continental lithosphere. In addition, this project is helping to transfer GPS technology to the host-country partners and is providing quantitative information on plate motions and rates of strain accumulation that are directly useful for evaluating and mitigating earthquake hazards.