Kinematics of the India‐Eurasia collision zone from GPS measurements

Abstract

We use geodetic techniques to study the India‐Eurasia collision zone. Six years of GPS data constrain maximum surface contraction rates across the Nepal Himalaya to 18 ± 2 mm/yr at 12°N ±13° (1σ). These surface rates across the 150‐km‐wide deforming zone are well fitted with a dislocation model of a buried north dipping detachment fault striking 105°, which aseismically slips at a rate of 20 ± 1 mm/yr, our preferred estimate for the India‐to‐southern‐Tibet convergence rate. This is in good agreement with various geologic predictions of 18 ± 7 mm/yr for the Himalaya. A better fit can be achieved with a two‐fault model, where the western and eastern faults strike 112° and 101°, respectively, in approximate parallelism with the Himalayan arc and a seismicity lineament. We find eastward directed extension of 11 ± 3 mm/yr between northwestern Nepal Lhasa, also in good agreement with geologic and seismic studies across the southern Tibetan plateau. Continuous GPS sites are used to further constrain the style and rates of deformation throughout the collision zone. Sites in India, Uzbekistan, and Russia agree within error with plate model prediction.