ENVS388

Lecture 15
Elastic dislocation modelling:
Strike-slip faults
Modelling deformation due to slip on a fault

Elastic dislocation modelling is used to model deformation of the

crust resulting from slip on faults (e.g. earthquakes)

Assumptions:

Elastic, homogeneous Earth

Earth is at

Fault slip is a displacement discontinuity across a plane - this is

the dislocation

Occasionally a layered Earth will be implemented

Rectangular dislocations are most common

Triangular dislocations may also be used

Elastic rebound theory
After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake,
Henry Reid formulated his theory of
elastic rebound. According to this theory,
elastic strains build up during the
interseismic phase of an earthquake cycle
and are released during the coseismic
phase. Think of a fence post!
Fence offset that
occurred during the
1906 earthquake
Hedge offset that occurred during the 2010
Dareld earthquake, New Zealand
Railtrack offset that occurred
during the 2010 Baja earthquake,
California
Offset of ploughed eld that occurred during the
1979 Imperial Valley earthquake, California
Innitely long vertical strike-slip fault (ILVSF)

An innitely long strike-slip fault is the simplest scenario to model

There is an analytical solution for surface displacements (u) at distance x

from the fault due to slip between depths d
1
and d
2
:
u =
!s
"
tan
!1
x
d
1
#
$
%
&
'
(
! tan
!1
x
d
2
#
$
%
&
'
(
)
*
+
,
-
.
d
1
d
2
x
No displacement
discontinuity at the
surface since the fault
is buried
!50 !40 !30 !20 !10 0 10 20 30 40 50
!30
!20
!10
0
10
20
30
distance (km)
d
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
Since this case
considers an innitely
long strike-slip fault,
surface displacements
are horizontal and
parallel to the fault.
(
c
m
)
If the fault breaks the surface (d
2
!0), as frequently happens in earthquakes,
then a special form of the general ILVSF expression can be derived.
First note that
End-member scenario (i) for ILVSF: coseismic case
lim
d
2
!0
tan
"1
x
d
2
#
$
%
&
'
(
=
)
2
sgn(x)
Now apply the trig identity tan
!1
a ( ) + tan
!1
1
a
"
#
$
%
&
'
=
(
2
sgn(x)
which gives tan
!1
x
d
1
"
#
$
%
&
'
+ tan
!1
d
1
x
"
#
$
%
&
'
=
(
2
sgn(x)
and so
u =
!s
"
tan
!1
x
d
1
#
$
%
&
'
(
! tan
!1
x
d
2
#
$
%
&
'
(
)
*
+
,
-
.
GENERAL ILVSF EXPRESSION:
u =
s
!
tan
"1
d
1
x
#
$
%
&
'
(
!50 !40 !30 !20 !10 0 10 20 30 40 50
!100
!50
0
50
100
distance (km)
d
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
Now there is a
discontinuity at
zero distance
x
(
c
m
)
If the fault goes to innite depth (d
1
!"), then another special form of the
general ILVSF expression can be derived.
Since
End-member scenario (ii) for ILSF: interseismic case
lim
d
1
!"
tan
#1
x
d
1
$
%
&
'
(
)
= 0
the expression simply becomes
u =
!s
"
tan
!1
x
d
1
#
$
%
&
'
(
! tan
!1
x
d
2
#
$
%
&
'
(
)
*
+
,
-
.
GENERAL ILVSF EXPRESSION:
u =
s
!
tan
"1
x
d
2
#
$
%
&
'
(
x
locking depth
This arctan function is characteristic
of interseismic displacements. The
wavelength of the function is
related to the locking depth: deeper
locking depth gives a longer-
wavelength arctan curve.
!50 !40 !30 !20 !10 0 10 20 30 40 50
!80
!60
!40
!20
0
20
40
60
80
distance (km)
d
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
(
m
m
/
y
r
)
Note that s is often slip rate,
instead of just slip.
Elastic rebound theory revisited
The two end-member ILVSF expressions can be thought of as representing
the coseismic case (the earthquake itself) and the interseismic case (the slow
build-up of strain in between earthquakes). Over a complete cycle (coseismic
+ interseismic), the displacement at all distances should represent block
motion - which is the basis of elastic rebound theory.
!50 !40 !30 !20 !10 0 10 20 30 40 50
!100
!80
!60
!40
!20
0
20
40
60
80
100
distance (km)
d
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)


interseismic
coseismic
total
A nite but long strike-slip fault
X (km)
Y

(
m
)


150 100 50 0 50 100 150
60
40
20
0
20
40
60
u

(
c
m
)
15
10
5
0
5
10
15
For a long but nite strike-slip fault, a displacement prole through the centre
of the fault is a close approximation to the innitely long case, i.e.
displacements are primarily horizontal and parallel to the fault. Note that
there is also now a small amount of vertical displacement, particularly at the
ends of the fault.
MODEL
Y

(
k
m
)
A real earthquake

The 2001 Manyi earthquake on

the Tibetan Plateau ruptured a
200 km-long left-lateral strike-
slip fault.

The image on the right is a

collage of three InSAR images
(you can just see the diagonal
joins).

The blue and red curves in the

lower gure show displacements
extracted from two of the
images along the black line.

The grey curve is the

displacement modelled according
to elastic dislocation theory.

The elastic model shows a very

close t to the observed
displacements.
Peltzer et al. (1999)
X (km)
Y

(
m
)


50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50
50
40
30
20
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
u

(
c
m
)
20
15
10
5
0
5
10
15
20
Short strike-slip
faults
Shorter faults have more of a
rotational displacement eld
MODEL
GPS displacements in
Canterbury, New Zealand
resulting from the 2010
Dareld earthquake
Note that for the Dareld earthquake,
as for strike-slip earthquakes in
general, horizontal displacements are
si gni cantl y l arger than verti cal
displacements.
Y

(
k
m
)
A short, dipping strike-slip fault
While vertical strike-slip
faults result in symmetrical
displacements either side
of the fault, a dipping fault
introduces some
asymmetry into the
displacement eld. In this
example, the fault is
dipping 60 to the north.
X (km)
Y

(
k
m
)


50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50
50
40
30
20
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
u

(
c
m
)
60
40
20
0
20
40
60
MODEL
Wright et al. (2001)
Ryder & Brgmann (2008)
Interseismic strain accumulation
Interseismic
displacements
associated with
the North
Anatolian Fault
over a 7-year
period. The
locking depth of
the fault is
estimated to be
~18 km.
Interseismic
displacements
associated with the
central San
Andreas Fault.
over a 9-year
period. The locking
depth of the fault
is estimated to be
a few kilometres.
The fault is
therefore classed
as creeping.
Note the arctan-like
model function
Note the much shorter wavelength of the arctan function
in the creeping fault case compared the locked case.