Preliminary SCEC Community Rheology Model

Wayne R. Thatcher, Elizabeth H. Hearn, Michael E. Oskin, Laurent G. Montesi, Greg Hirth, Whitney M. Behr, Andreas Plesch, & John H. Shaw

Published August 15, 2019, SCEC Contribution #9833, 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #317 (PDF)

The SCEC Community Rheology Model (CRM) is a three-dimensional description of the rheology of southern California’s lithosphere, based on an ongoing synthesis of data from a wide range of sources. These sources include but are not limited to seismic imaging studies, rock deformation experiments and theory, regional-scale geological mapping, detailed descriptions of rocks (petrology and fabric), and thermal modeling constrained by surface heat flow data and depth to the seismic LAB. During the SCEC5 period we have been assembling a preliminary version of the CRM that makes use of a simplified representation of the regional geologic and thermal structure. This preliminary CRM comprises a thermal model (CTM), a geologic framework model (GFM), and viscous rheologies for each of the GFM rock types. The preliminary CTM and GFM are depth profiles of temperature and lithology, respectively, assigned to geographic subregions. Viscous flow laws for each GFM rock type have been developed, based on mixing relationships and rheological information for the component minerals. We are in the process of integrating these components for distribution via the SCEC UVCM framework and other formats.

Key Words
CRM, community model

Citation
Thatcher, W. R., Hearn, E. H., Oskin, M. E., Montesi, L. G., Hirth, G., Behr, W. M., Plesch, A., & Shaw, J. H. (2019, 08). Preliminary SCEC Community Rheology Model. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
SCEC Community Models (CXM)