Studies of co- and postseismic deformation of the lithosphere from numerical models and space geodetic data

In this dissertation, I study the co- and postseismic deformation of the lithosphere using numerical models of three-dimensional time-dependent deformation and space geodetic data. I derive an original approach to simulate the static deformation due to faulting and volcanic unrest in a heterogeneous half space with vertical and lateral variations in elastic moduli. The method is based on a semi-analytic elastic Green function in the Fourier domain. I extend the model to include time-dependent inelastic properties of the lithosphere. This approach can be used to model time series of poroelastic rebound, viscoelastic flow and fault creep, three important mechanisms thought to participate in postseismic transients. I use kinematic inversions and forward models of deformation to infer the postseismic mechanisms responsible for the transient that followed the 2003 Altai earthquake. I find that synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are most compatible with afterslip. The absence of an observable viscoelastic relaxation in the three years following the earthquake can be explained by an effective viscosity of the ductile substrate greater than 1019 Pa s. I use numerical models of coseismic deformation to explain anomalously strained areas in the East California Shear Zone imaged by SAR line-of-sight (LOS) data in the vicinity of the 1992 Landers and 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes. I find that the enhanced strain can be explained by compliant zones (CZs) surrounding long-lived faults in the Mojave desert. The LOS data is best explained by a 50% reduction of rigidity in volumes of the order of 1-2km thick around historical faults that extend from 5km depth for the Calico CZ to 9km depth for the Pinto Mountain CZ. Finally, I use kinematic inversion of GPS data and forward models to identify the location and rheology of the afterslip that followed the 2004 Parkfield earthquake. The time dependence and amplitude of GPS time series can be explained by slip on an asperity centered at 5km depth and governed by a rate-strengthening friction with parameter ( a--b) = 7x10--3, compatible with values obtained from laboratory experiment. The GPS observations show evidence of lateral variations in the frictional properties on the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas fault.