| Abstract: | We obtain the preliminary result of crustal deformation velocity field for the Chinese con-tinent by analyzing GPS data from the Crustal Motion Observation Network of China (CMONOC), particularly the data from the regional networks of CMONOC observed in 1999 and 2001. We de-lineate 9 tectonically active blocks and 2 broadly distributed deformation zones out of a denseGPS velocity field, and derive block motion Euler poles for the blocks and their relative motionrates. Our result reveals that there are 3 categories of deformation patterns in the Chinese conti-nent. The first category, associated with the interior of the Tibetan Plateau and the Tianshan oro-genic belt, shows broadly distributed deformation within the regions. The third category, associatedwith the Tarim Basin and the region east of the north-south seismic belt of China, shows block-likemotion, with deformation accommodated along the block boundaries only. The second category, mainly associated with the borderland of the Tibetan Plateau, such as the Qaidam, Qilian, Xining(in eastern Qinghai), and the Diamond-shaped (in western Sichuan and Yunnan) blocks, has thedeformation pattern between the first and the third, i.e. these regions appear to deform block-like,but with smaller sizes and less strength for the blocks. Based on the analysis of the lithosphericstructures and the deformation patterns of the regions above, we come to the inference that thedeformation modes of the Chinese continental crust are mainly controlled by the crustal structure.The crust of the eastern China and the Tarim Basin is mechanically strong, and its deformationtakes the form of relative motion between rigid blocks. On the other hand, the northward indentation of the Indian plate into the Asia continent has created the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and the Tianshan Mountains, thickened their crust, and raised the temperature in the crust. The lower crust thus has become ductile, evidenced in low seismic velocity and high electric conductivity observed. The brittle part of the crust, driven by the visco-plastic flow of the lower crust, deforms extensively at all scales. The regions of the second category located at the borderland of the Tibetan Plateau are at the transition zone between the regions of the first and the third categories in terms of the crustal structure. Driven by the lateral boundary forces, their deformation style is also between the two, in the form of block motion and deformation with smaller blocks and less internal strength. |
