Distribution of present-day vertical deformation across the Southern Alps, New Zealand, from 10 years of GPS data

We use ten years of GPS data from nine continuous and six semi-continuous GPS stations in a transect across the Southern Alps to measure rates of relative vertical movement with typical 1 sigma uncertainties of 0.3-0.5 mm/yr. The estimated vertical rates define a fairly smooth profile across the range, with the highest rates of similar to 5 mm/yr found near the crest of the mountains and similar to 20-30 km southeast of the Alpine Fault. The distribution of vertical rates supports models based on horizontal velocities from GPS surveys in which interseismic coupling on the Alpine Fault decreases from 100% near the surface to zero by 13-18 km depth. Citation: Beavan, J., P. Denys, M. Denham, B. Hager, T. Herring, and P. Molnar (2010), Distribution of present-day vertical deformation across the Southern Alps, New Zealand, from 10 years of GPS data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L16305, doi:10.1029/2010GL044165.