Insights into distributed plate rates across the Walker Lane from GPS geodesy

Contemporary geodetic slip rates are observed to be approximately two times greater than late Pleistocene geologic slip rates across the southern Walker Lane. Using a dense GPS network, we compare the present‐day crustal velocities to observed geologic slip rates in the region. We find that the Walker Lane is characterized by a smooth transition from westward extension in the Basin and Range to northwestward motion of the Sierra Nevada block. The GPS velocity field indicates that (1) plate parallel (N37°W) velocities define a velocity differential of 10.6 ± 0.5 mm/yr between the western Basin and Range and the Sierra Nevada block, (2) there is ~2 mm/yr of contemporary extension perpendicular to the normal faults of the Silver Peak‐Lone Mountain extensional complex, and (3) most of the observed discrepancy in long‐ and short‐term slip rates occurs across Owens Valley. We believe the discrepancy is due to distributed strain and underestimated geologic slip rates.