OKHOTSK PLATE MODELING

PLEASE CITE: Apel, E. V., R. Bürgmann, G. Steblov, N. Vasilenko, R. King, and A. Prytkov (2006), Independent active microplate tectonics of northeast Asia from GPS velocities and block modeling, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L11303, doi:10.1029/2006GL026077. [PDF]

Independent Okhotsk and Amurian microplate motions are tested using velocities from 123 GPS sites (80 from within the proposed OKH and AMU plate boundaries) used to constrain the plate kinematics of northeast Asia. A block modeling approach is used to incorporate both rigid block rotation and near-boundary elastic strain accumulation effects in a formal inversion of the GPS velocities. Models include scenarios with and without independent OKH and AMU plate motion. Our modeling favors scenarios with independent OKH and AMU motion, based on the application of F-test statistics. The independent OKH plate rotates 0.231 deg/Myr clockwise with respect to North America about a pole located north of Sakhalin. The modeled AMU plate rotates 0.298 deg/Myr counterclockwise with respect to NAM about a pole located west of the Magadan region. The plate-motion parameters of the independent plates are consistent with the kinematics inferred from earthquake focal mechanism solutions along their boundaries.