Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2001 Space Geodetic Constraints on Plate Rigidity and Global Plate Motions. Giovanni Federico Sella Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Sella, Giovanni Federico, "Space Geodetic Constraints on Plate Rigidity and Global Plate Motions." (2001). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 249. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/249 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the-deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the.original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SPACE GEODETIC CONSTRAINTS ON PLATE RIGIDITY AND GLOBAL PLATE MOTIONS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy m The Department of Geology and Geophysics by Giovanni Federico Sella B.S., University o f Wisconsin, Madison, 1990 M.S., Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 1994 May 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3010382 UMI___ ® UMI Microform 3010382 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My advisor Roy Dokka has supported me unconditionally and allowed me to tackle projects far from his main research area. His selflessness in allowing me to pursue my interests and his personal generosity is testimony to his abilities as an advisor. Tim Dixon at University of Miami., my unofficial advisor, without whose guidance and home (a total of over 8 months of my sleeping life was spent on the Dixon living room couch) this research would never have started or ended. Tim offered not only his house, lab and ideas, but above all his enthusiasm and encouragement at all times. Jackie and Ian Dixon made me laugh as I tried to keep up with Tim’s 15th idea of the day. My committee D. Henry, O. Huh, P. Bart and J. Hanor showed support, and most importantly flexibility, on my constantly evolving research project. Funding for this research was provided by: NSF, NASA, Louisiana Board of Regents, Shreveport Geological Society, GCAGS, and the Department of Geology and Geophysics. Chevron and BP offered me two excellent summer internships. At RSMAS I had three mentors: Fred Farina first taught me all the rudiments of GPS processing and script writing, and later had to find a tailor for adjusting my suit for my wedding. Lin Mao came to Louisiana for the first GULFNET episodic campaign at the end of which he swore he could not think of anything more boring and returned to writing all the scripts that allowed me to process my data; Edmundo Norabuena challenged my interpretations regularly and forced me to better articulate my ideas. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Without the SOPAC archive and all the organizations and individuals around the world that freely provide RINEX data to it, and hence to users like me, none of this project would have been possible. My deepest thanks to the team that keeps the archive running seamlessly, especially M. Scharber. Additional RINEX data was generously made available to me by the following people: Dr. S. Miyazaki and Y. Kikuta, GSI; Dr. T. Kato, University of Tokyo; P. Digney, AUSLIG; Dr. M. Sato, Hydrographic Department, Japan; J. Prieto-Moris, IGN-Spain; P. Nicolon, IGN- France; J. Pinto, IPCC; Dr. S. Wodwinski and S. Naman, University of Tel Aviv; Dr. K. Larson, University of Colorado-Boulder; G. Martin, City of Tucson; P. Colucci at GeoDAF; Dr. S. Yu and J. Ng, Academia Sinica; M. Caissy; GSD, J. Ozard, NYEC. Dr. Chris Harrison served not only as a sounding board for various off the wall ideas, but more importantly unreservedly made his knowledge of statistics and plate tectonics available to me during each of my stays in Miami. Dr. Ajoy Baksi for stimulating converstations, my only regret is that we did not talk more often. UNAVCO has helped me in many ways from my first days that I collected GPS data to now, and hopefully in the future. In particular, K. Conquest, K. Feaux, C. Guillemot, F. Boler, L. Esty, E. Manzaneres, and S. Fisher. Critical help and support was provided by Dr. D. Jefferson and Dr. K. Hurst at JPL, and J. Mader at NGS.. My friends helped me laugh through my days in Baton Rouge: Aline, Myriam, Maria Giulia, Barry, Jane, Stephanie, Charles, Jeremy, Troy, Emil, Hodge, Katie, Libo, Kris and Alex. Connie for bailing me out of endless tangles. Tommy Smith for extracating me from UNIX system black holes. Rick Young for holding me by the scruff of my neck from a roof top while I stood on the edge of the handrail of a forklift in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 40 feet off the ground to install a GPS site. In Miami the first days passed quicker thanks to the good humor of Alekandra, and the last ones were a hoot with Enrique, Julien, Pete, Xavier, and Sidonie. Episodic campaigns was collected with the help of Aline, Rick, Karen and Katie. My rather drawn out graduate career would not have ended successfully without the generous help of the department staff, especially, Sara Marchiafava, and also W. Bush, C. Duncan, L. Nichols, S. Nettels, R. Oubre, J. Payne, S. Purnell, L. Strain, S. Wilkes. The troika of MGG in Miami: K. Fleites, A. Miller, and T. Villamor, helped make each of my trips so much easier and obtained new equipment with a speed that still boggles my mind and makes me want to order more equipment! The support of my parents has been unflagging in this complicated period and my gratefulness to them cannot be put in words. Lastly and most importantly, Silvia there is no way to thank you for everything, and I mean everything, but especially for putting up with my exceptionally long hours and the heat of Baton Rouge. May I never ask you to repeat the experience again in our on going adventure. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........................................................................................ii LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................vii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: RIGIDITY OF NORTH AMERICA.................................................. 5 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 5 Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................................ 7 Results and Discussion ......................................................................................14 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 3: GULFNET AND DEFORMATION OF THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO..........................................................................................34