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Plate kinematics of Nubia–Somalia using a combined DORIS and GPS solution

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Abstract

We have used up to 12 years of data to assess DORIS performance for geodynamics applications. We first examine the noise characteristics of the DORIS time-series of weekly station coordinates to derive realistic estimates of velocity uncertainties. We find that a combination of white and flicker noise best explains the DORIS time-series noise characteristics. Second, weekly solutions produced by the Institut Géographique National/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (IGN/JPL) DORIS Analysis Centre are combined to derive a global velocity field. This solution is combined with two independent GPS solutions, including 11 sites on Nubia and 5 on the Somalia plate. The combination indicates that DORIS horizontal velocities have an average accuracy of 3 mm/year, with best-determined sites having velocity accuracy better than 1 mm/year (one-sigma levels). Using our combined velocity field, we derive an updated plate kinematics model with a focus on the Nubia–Somalia area. Including DORIS data improves the precision of the angular velocity vector for Nubia by 15%. Our proposed model provides robust bounds on the maximum opening rates along the East African Rift (4.7–6.7 mm/year). It indicates opening rates 15 and 7% slower than values predicted by NUVEL-1A for the southern Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean, respectively. These differences are likely to arise from the fact that NUVEL-1A considered Africa as a single non-deforming plate, while here we use a more refined approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR6526 Géosciences, Azur, 06560, France

    J. -M. Nocquet & S. Garcia

  2. Institut Geographique National, Direction Technique, 2 avenue Pasteur, BP 68, 94160, Saint-Mande, France

    P. Willis

  3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

    P. Willis

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  1. J. -M. Nocquet
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Correspondence to J. -M. Nocquet.

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Nocquet, J.M., Willis, P. & Garcia, S. Plate kinematics of Nubia–Somalia using a combined DORIS and GPS solution. J Geodesy 80, 591–607 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-006-0078-0

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