Project Abstract
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The central objective of this project was to calculate uncertainties in stressing rates across California using a three-dimensional geodetically constrained block model. The two primary merits of this approach are: 1) avoids numerical differentiating of GPS velocities and 2) The model is consistent with Newton's second law. The result, which some may have anticipated, was that due to the stress singularity at the edges of dislocations in Somigliana dislocation theory the uncertainty estimates of stressing rates derived from these models could not be physically interpreted except in the far-field. This suggested an alternative course forward: The development of boundary element methods that allow for linear slip transitions (shape functions) over element surfaces rather than the uniform slip shape functions assumed in classical dislocation theory. While still in development these approaches eliminate the stress singularity at dislocation edges and allow for meaningful calculations of stresses in the presence of complex fault geometry. |
