C. Demets

University of Wisconsin–Madison | UW · Department of Geoscience

Recent structural and geodetic data define the Guatemala City graben region as the continental triple junction between the North American plate, Caribbean plate, and the Central American Forearc sliver. We present minor fault analysis, geochronological and geochemical analyses, and newly updated GPS velocities in western Guatemala, west of the Guat...

This paper introduces Version 0.3 of the TRANS4D software, where TRANS4D is short for Transformations in Four Dimensions. TRANS4D enables geospatial professionals and others to transform three-dimensional (3D) positional coordinates across time and among several popular terrestrial reference frames. Version 0.3 includes a crustal velocity model for...

Northeastward subduction of the oceanic Rivera and Cocos plates in western Mexico poses a poorly understood seismic hazard to the overlying areas of the North America plate. We estimate the magnitude and distribution of interseismic locking along the northern ∼500 km of the Mexico subduction zone, with a series of elastic half-space inversions that...

We invert ∼25 years of campaign and continuous Global Positioning System daily positions at 62 sites in southwestern Mexico to estimate coseismic and postseismic afterslip solutions for the 1995 Mw = 8.0 Colima-Jalisco and the 2003 Mw = 7.5 Tecomán earthquakes, and the long-term velocity of each GPS site. Estimates of the viscoelastic effects of bo...

We estimate India-Somalia plate motion at 45 times since 60 Ma from ∼9,000 crossings of Carlsberg and northern Central Indian Ridge magnetic reversals C1 to C26 and numerous fracture zone crossings. The new rotations reveal at least seven significant spreading rate changes since ∼60 Ma, some previously unknown. The largest changes occurred before 4...

We reconstruct the post-52 Ma seafloor spreading history of the Southwest Indian Ridge at 44 distinct times from inversions of ≈20,000 magnetic reversal, fracture zone, and transform fault crossings, spanning major regional tectonic events such as the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision, the Arabia Peninsula’s detachment from Africa, the arrival o...

The Jalpatagua fault in Guatemala accommodates dextral movement of the Central America forearc. We present new global positioning system (GPS) data, minor fault analysis, geochronological analyses, and analysis of lineaments to characterize deformation along the fault and near its terminations. Our data indicate that the Jalpatagua fault terminates...

Great Lakes water levels rose 0.7–1.5 m from 2013 to 2019, increasing surface water volume by 285 km³. Solid Earth's elastic response to the increased mass load is nearly known: The Great Lakes floor fell 8–23 mm, and the adjacent land fell 3–14 mm. Correcting GPS measurements for this predicted elastic loading (1) straightens position‐time series,...

Modern and historic seismic observations indicate that earthquake swarms, often with similar characteristics, have occurred within a few tens of kilometers of the San Salvador volcano, which poses a major active hazard to the San Salvador metropolitan area. Here, we evaluate whether the April–May 2017 earthquake sequence near the San Salvador volca...

We reconstruct the movement of the India plate relative to Eurasia at ≈1-Myr intervals from 20 Ma to the present from GPS site velocities and high-resolution sequences of rotations from the India-Somalia-Antarctic-Nubia-North America-Eurasia plate circuit. The plate circuit rotations, which are all estimated using the same data fitting functions, m...

We describe a new elastic-kinematic model for the present tectonics of northern Central America and southern Mexico, where the Motagua-Polochic fault zone, Middle America subduction zone and faults in the Central America volcanic arc pose significant seismic hazards. The new model, which consists of the angular velocities for eight plates and block...

From an inversion of ≈7,000 crossings of 37 magnetic reversals between chrons C1n (0.78 Ma) and C13 (33.7 Ma) and numerous crossings of 43 transform faults and fracture zones in the central and southern Atlantic basin, we estimate finite rotations and stage angular velocities that describe South America plate motion relative to Africa (Nubia), and...

The zone of interaction between the Cocos (CO), Caribbean (CA) and North America (NA) plates in Guatemala is defined by the sub-parallel Motagua and Polochic strike-slip faults, a series of north-south-trending extensional grabens immediately south of the Motagua Fault, the Middle America trench, and faults within the Middle America volcanic arc. H...

We use continuous and campaign measurements from 215 GPS sites in northern Central America and southern Mexico to estimate coseismic and afterslip solutions for the 2009 Mw = 7.3 Swan Islands fault strike-slip earthquake and the 2012 Mw = 7.3 El Salvador and Mw = 7.4 Guatemala thrust-faulting earthquakes on the Middle America trench. Our simultaneo...

The central Indian Ocean is considered the archetypal diffuse oceanic plate boundary. Data from seismic stratigraphy and deep-sea drilling indicate that the contractional deformation of the Indian Ocean lithosphere commenced at 15.4–13.9 Ma, but experienced a sharp increase at 8–7.5 Ma. This has been maintained through to the present day, with over...

The Trans-boundary, Land and Atmosphere Long-term Observational and Collaborative Network (TLALOCNet) is a network of continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) and meteorology stations in Mexico for the study of solid-earth and atmospheric processes. This recently completed network spans most of Mexico with a strong focus on southern and western M...

The standard against which VLBI measurements of continental drift and plate motions are compared are self-consistent global models of “present-day” plate motions determined from geophysical data: marine magnetic anomalies at oceanic spreading centers, azimuths of transform faults, and orientations of earthquake slip vectors on transform faults and...

The March 20, 2012 7.4 Ometepec earthquake in the Oaxaca region of Southern Mexico provides a unique opportunity to examine whether subtle changes in seismicity, tectonic tremor, or slow slip can be observed prior to a large earthquake that may illuminate changes in stress or background slip rate. Continuous Global Positioning System (cGPS) data re...

S U M M A R Y We use recently published, high-resolution reconstructions of the Southwest Indian Ridge to test whether a previously described systematic difference between Global Positioning System (GPS) and 3.16-Myr-average estimates of seafloor spreading rates between Antarctica and Africa is evidence for a recent slowdown in Southwest Indian Rid...

To further our understanding of the seismically hazardous Mexico subduction zone, we estimate the first time-dependent slip distributions and Coulomb failure stress changes for the six major slow slip events (SSEs) that occurred below Mexico between late 2005 and mid-2011. Slip dist ributions are the first to be estimated from all continuous GPS da...

Although patterns of interseismic strain accumulation above subduction zones are now routinely characterised using geodetic measurements, their physical origin, persistency through time, and relationships to seismic hazard and long-term deformation are still debated. Here, we use GPS and morphological observations from southern Mexico to explore po...

TLALOCNet is a network of continuous Global Positioning System (cGPS) and meteorology stations in Mexico for the interrogation of the earthquake cycle, tectonic processes, land subsidence, and atmospheric processes of Mexico. Once completed, TLALOCNet will span all of Mexico and link existing GPS infrastructure in North America and the Caribbean ai...

We present new rotations that describe the relative positions and velocities of the Pacific and North America plates at 22 times during the past 19.7 Myr, offering ≈1-Myr temporal resolution for studies of the geotectonic evolution of western North America and other plate boundary locations. Derived from ≈18,000 magnetic reversal, fracture zone, an...

Reconstructions of absolute plate motions underpin our understanding of the plate torque–balance, but are challenging due to difficulties in inferring well–dated rates and directions of plate movements from hotspot tracks. Useful information about plate dynamics can be inferred from rapid absolute plate–motion changes, as these are linked only to t...

Large gaps and inconsistencies remain in published estimates of Nubia-Somalia plate motion based on reconstructions of seafloor spreading data around Africa. Herein, we use newly available reconstructions of the Southwest Indian Ridge at ∼1-Myr intervals since 20 Ma to estimate Nubia-Somalia plate motion farther back in time than previously achieve...

Northwestern Mexico experiences large variations in water vapor on seasonal time scales in association with the North American monsoon, as well as during the monsoon associated with upper-tropospheric troughs, mesoscale convective systems, tropical easterly waves, and tropical cyclones. Together these events provide more than half of the annual rai...

Although patterns of interseismic strain accumulation above subduction zones are now routinely characterised using geodetic measurements, their physical origin, persistency through time, and relationships to seismic hazard and long-term deformation are still debated. Here, we use GPS and morphological observations from southern Mexico to explore po...

We present the first estimates of Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) plate motions at high temporal resolution during the Quaternary and Neogene based on nearly 5000 crossings of 21 magnetic reversals out to C6no (19.72 Ma) and the digitized traces of 17 fracture zones and transform faults. Our reconstructions of this slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge reve...

To further our understanding of the seismically hazardous Mexico subduction zone, we estimate the first time-dependent slip distributions and Coulomb failure stress changes for the six major slow slip events (SSEs) that occurred below Mexico between late 2005 and mid-2011. Slip dist ributions are the first to be estimated from all continuous GPS da...

Ground subsidence has affected Mexico City for over a century, as a result of its large urban expansion and aggressive groundwater extraction rates. The continuous subsidence results in severe damage to urban infrastructure and civil structures. This work is aimed towards a better recognition of subsidence as a major hazard in Mexico, assess the nu...

Reconstructions of the history of convergence between the Nubia and Eurasia plates constitute an important part of a broader framework for understanding deformation in the Mediterranean region and the closing of the Mediterranean Basin. Herein, we combine high-resolution reconstructions of Eurasia-North America and Nubia-North America Plate motions...

El proceso de subsidencia en la zona metropolitana de la Ciudad de México ha sido reconocido desde principios del siglo pasado y sus efectos tienen graves consecuencias para la operación y mantenimiento de la infraestructura de la ciudad. En este trabajo se presentan las velocidades de subsidencia del terreno obtenidas de Dispersores Persistentes (...

Subduction zones exhibit variable degrees of interseismic coupling as resolved by inversions of geodetic data and analyses of seismic energy release. The degree to which a plate boundary fault is coupled can have profound effects on its seismogenic behaviour. Here we use GPS measurements to estimate co- and post-seismic deformation from the 2012 Au...

The Laguna del Maule (LdM) volcanic field in the southern volcanic zone of the Chilean Andes exhibits a large volume of rhyolitic material erupted during postglacial times (20–2 ka). Since 2007, LdM has experienced an unrest episode characterized by high rates of deformation. Analysis of new GPS and InSAR data reveals uplift rates greater than 190...

Some estimates of GPS velocity uncertainties are very low, \( 0.1 mm/year with 10 years of data. Yet, residual velocities relative to rigid plate models in nominally stable plate interiors can be an order of magnitude larger. This discrepancy could be caused by underestimating low-frequency time-dependent noise in position time series, such as rand...

As the first large subduction thrust earthquake off the coast of western Guatemala in the past several decades, the 2012 November 7 Mw = 7.4 earthquake offers the first opportunity to study coseismic and postseismic behaviour along a segment of the Middle America trench where frictional coupling makes a transition from weak coupling off the coast o...

The Amazon Dense Global Navigational Satellite System (GNSS) Meteorological Network ((ADGMN) provides high spatiotemporal resolution, all-weather precipitable water vapor for studying the evolution of continental tropical and sea-breeze convective regimes of Amazonia. The ADGMN campaign consisted of two experiments: a 6-week campaign in and around...

The process of land subsidence in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area has been recognized since the beginning of the last century and poses severe challenges for the operation and maintenance of the city's infrastructure. In this work we present land subsidence velocity results from Persistent Scatterers (PSs) through a SqueeSAR interferometric analy...

The process of land subsidence in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area has been recognized since the beginning of the last century and poses severe challenges for the operation and maintenance of the city's infrastructure. In this work we present land subsidence velocity results from Persistent Scatterers (PSs) through a SqueeSAR interferometric analy...

The current rate of uplift at Laguna del Maule (LdM) volcanic field in Chile is among the highest ever observed geodetically for a volcano that is not actively erupting. Using data from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) recorded at five continuously operating stations, we measure the deformatio...

Explosive eruptions of large-volume rhyolitic magma systems are common in the geologic record and pose a major potential threat to society. Unlike other natural hazards, such as earth-quakes and tsunamis, a large rhyolitic volcano may provide warning signs long before a caldera-forming eruption occurs. Yet, these signs—and what they imply about mag...

Lower and upper bounds for present deformation rates across faults in central California between the San Andreas Fault and Pacific coast are estimated from a new Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity field for central, western California in light of geodetic evidence presented in a companion paper for slow, but significant deformation within the...

We combine new, well-determined GPS velocities from Clarion, Guadalupe and Socorro islands on young seafloor in the eastern Pacific basin with newly estimated velocities for 26 GPS sites from older seafloor in the central, western and southern parts of the Pacific Plate to test for deformation within the interior of the Pacific Plate and estimate t...

We use continuous GPS measurements from 31 stations in southern Mexico to model coseismic slip and post-seismic deformation from the 2012 March 20 Mw = 7.5 Ometepec earthquake, the first large thrust earthquake to occur below central Mexico during the modern GPS era. Coseismic offsets ranging from ∼280 mm near the epicentre to 5 mm or less at sites...

We estimate Eurasia-North America plate motion rotations at similar to 1-Myr intervals for the past 20 Myr from more than 11 000 crossings of 21 magnetic reversals from Chron 1n (0.78 Ma) to C6no (19.72 Ma) and flow lines digitized from the Charlie Gibbs, Bight and Molloy fracture zones and transform faults. Adjusted for outward displacement, the 2...

We model measurements from 19 continuous GPS stations to determine the location and magnitude of a slow slip event (SSE) below southern Mexico that began in late 2011 and remained active up to the 2012 March 20 Mw = 7.4 Ometepec earthquake. Modelling of the space–time evolution of the SSE indicates that it initiated in 2011 November, migrated westw...

Magnetic anomaly identifications underpin plate tectonic reconstructions and form the primary data set from which the age of the oceanic lithosphere and seafloor spreading regimes in the ocean basins can be determined. Although these identifications are an invaluable resource, their usefulness to the wider scientific community has been limited due...

Jamaica is located on a restraining bend on the E-trending, left-lateral plate boundary between the Gonave microplate and Caribbean plate. Deformation in southern Jamaica occurs on two reactivated and simultaneously active fault sets: NNW-striking reverse faults and E-striking strike-slip faults. Movement on NNW-striking reverse faults forms fault-...

The Laguna del Maule (LdM) volcanic field in Chile is an exceptional example of postglacial rhyolitic volcanism in the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes. By interferometric analysis of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired between 2007 and 2012, we measure exceptionally rapid deformation. The maximum vertical velocity exceeds 280 mm yr-1...

rhyolitic volcanism in the SouthernVolcanic Zone of theAndes.By interferometric analysis of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired between 2007 and 2012, we measure excep- tionally rapid deformation. The maximum vertical velocity exceeds 280 mm yr–1. Although the rate of deformation was negligible from 2003 January to 2004 February, it acce...

We present new, detailed estimates of Nubia-North America plate motion since 20 Ma based on 21 rotations that reconstruct seafloor spreading magnetic lineations and fracture zone flow lines between the two plates and an instantaneous angular velocity that best fits the velocities of 1343 GPS stations on the two plates. Total opening distances and o...

The Laguna del Maule (LdM) volcanic field is remarkable for its unusual concentration of post-glacial rhyolitic lava coulées and domes that erupted between 25 and 2 thousand years ago. Covering more than 100 square kilometers, they erupted from 24 vents encircling a lake basin approximately 20 km in diameter on the range crest of the Andes. Geodeti...

We use GPS, bathymetric/structural, and seismic data to define the pattern of present deformation along the northern half of the Azores plateau, where the Nubia-Eurasia plate boundary terminates at the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). New and existing campaign GPS velocities from the Azores islands reveal extension oblique to a series of en éc...

We test the suitability of short-occupation differential and absolute positioning methods using data from a 13 station global positioning system (GPS) network that spans the Santa Ana Volcano and Coatepeque caldera of western El Salvador for monitoring intereruptive activity and tectonic movements near these potentially hazardous features. Data spa...

The Laguna del Maule (LdM) volcanic field includes an unusual concentration of post-glacial rhyolitic lava coulees and domes, dated between 24 to 2 thousand years old that cover more than 100 square kilometers and erupted from 24 vents that encircle a 20-km-diameter lake basin on the range crest. The recent concentration of rhyolite is unparalleled...

We present new shear-wave splitting measurements of SKS, SKKS, PKS, and sSKS phases from eight stations in the northern Caribbean. Prior to this work, shear-wave splitting analysis of the northern Caribbean boundary was only evaluated at a station in Puerto Rico. Stations that lie within several tens of kilometers of microplate boundaries have mean...

We use measurements at 35 GPS stations in northern Central America and 25 seismometers at teleseismic distances to estimate the distribution of slip, source time function and Coulomb stress changes of the Mw = 7.3 2009 May 28, Swan Islands fault earthquake. This event, the largest in the region for several decades, ruptured the offshore continuatio...

We use elastic block modelling of 126 GPS site velocities from Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and other islands in the northern Caribbean to test for the existence of a Hispaniola microplate and estimate angular velocities for the Gônave, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands and two smaller microplates relative to each other and the Caribbean a...

We use block modelling of GPS site velocities from Jamaica and nearby islands, including Hispaniola, to test alternative plate boundary geometries for deformation in Jamaica and estimate slip rates along the island's major fault zones. Relative to the Caribbean Plate, GPS sites in northern Jamaica move 6.0 ± 0.5 mm yr-1 to the WSW, constituting a l...

1] NNR‐MORVEL56, which is a set of angular velocities of 56 plates relative to the unique reference frame in which there is no net rotation of the lithosphere, is determined. The relative angular velocities of 25 plates constitute the MORVEL set of geologically current relative plate angular velocities; the relative angular velocities of the other...

A GPS campaign network in the state of Jalisco was occupied for ~36 h per station most years between 1995 and 2005; we use data from 1998–2001 to investigate tectonic motion and interseismic deformation in the Jalisco area with respect to the North America plate. The twelve stations used in this analysis provide coverage of the Jalisco Block and ad...

We combine geologic and global positioning system (GPS) data to characterize the style and magnitude of off-fault deformation across the San Andreas fault system in central California. Geologic structures record ~12 km of both fault-parallel and fault-perpendicular displacements across creeping and locked portions of the San Andreas fault. Analysis...

We combine geodetic, structural, and paleomagnetic data from El Salvador with Global Positioning System (GPS) data from southern Honduras and Nicaragua to describe the motions of the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan forearcs and determine the location and style of faulting across the Gulf of Fonseca offset of the volcanic arcs of eastern El Salvador and w...

The far-field signature of the India-Asia collision and history of uplift in Tibet is recorded by sediment input into the Indian Ocean and the strain accumulation history across the diffuse plate boundary between the Indian and Capricorn plates. We describe the history of India-Capricorn convergence from updated estimates of India-Somalia-Capricorn...

We present several new global sets of angular velocities of the plates relative to the deeper mantle. A starting point for our estimate of plate motion relative to the hotspots is HS3, a hotspot data set developed by Gripp & Gordon [2002], which consists of two volcanic propagation rates and eleven segment trends from the Pacific, Nazca, South Amer...

Estimates of plate velocities from geodesy depend on the velocity of Earth's center, which is the point relative to which geodetic site motions are described. In GEODVEL [Argus et al. 2010], a set of estimates of the velocities of 11 plates from space observations from GPS, SLR, VLBI, and DORIS over 25 yr, we define Earth's center to be (CE) the ma...

We determine NNR-MORVEL56, a set of estimates of the velocities of 56 plates relative to the reference frame yielding no net rotation of the plates. We furthermore determine the full 168 by 168 covariance matrix describing uncertainties in the 56 velocities. 25 plate velocities are from geologically current plate motion model MORVEL [DeMets et al....

We describe a feasibility study of differential GPS measurements within a 13-station GPS network that spans the Santa Ana volcanic complex and Coatepeque Caldera. Caldera forming events occurred from 70-40 ka, and at Santa Ana/Izalco volcanoes eruptive activity occurred as recently as 2005. Twelve differential stations were surveyed for ~1-hour on...

The Oaxaca subduction zone is an ideal area for detailed studies of plate boundary deformation as rapid convergent rates, shallow subduction, and short trench-to-coast distances bring the thermally defined seismogenic and transition zones of the plate interface over 100 km inland. Previous analysis of slow slip events in southern Mexico suggests th...