Modeling broadscale deformation in northern California and Nevada from plate motions and elastic strain accumulation

We present a first‐order method for modeling broadscale deformation consistent with both plate tectonic motions and elastic strain accumulation on plate boundary faults. Interseismic deformation is assumed to be a superposition of long‐term rigid‐body motions between faults, defined by angular velocities of spherical plates, and backslip on shallow locked portions of faults in an elastic half‐space. This method is applied to 1993–2000 continuous GPS data from 35 sites in a profile from the San Francisco Bay area, northern California, to eastern Nevada. Deformation is consistent, within the 1 mm yr −1 uncertainties of the estimated site velocities, with a simple 10‐parameter model using 6 rigid plates and 3 locked San Andreas system faults.