Abstract Title: Modeling Great Basin lithospheric deformation: Applications of 
EarthScope data

Abstract Author(s): Lowry, Anthony R. (Department of Physics, University of 
Colorado)  

Abstract: Better understanding the spatial distributions and temporal scales of 
continental deformation is a major goal of EarthScope. EarthScope data have the 
potential to improve constraints on models of lithospheric deformation in 
several important ways. For example, spatially dense estimates of crustal 
thickness and velocity structure expected from USArray data will significantly 
reduce parameter uncertainties in isostatic models of lithospheric deformation. 
Isostatic model parameters, particularly flexural rigidity of the lithosphere 
and three-dimensional density structure of the Earth, describe in turn the 
rheology and stress boundary conditions that define geodetically-observed 
kinematic velocities. Lithospheric flexural rigidity can be combined with 
surface heat flow measurements to estimate the geotherm and three-dimensional 
viscosity structure. Mapping these lithospheric rheology estimates to 
integrated effective viscosity yields estimates similar to independent studies 
of kinematic velocity. Monte Carlo modeling of the viscosity calculation 
suggests that uncertainties in the resulting estimates of three-dimensional 
viscosity structure are dominated by uncertainties in radiogenic heat 
production and thermal conductivity of the crust, coupled with uncertainties in 
the material parameters of power-law creep. However, all of these uncertainties 
can be greatly reduced if the compositional structure of the lithosphere can be 
independently constrained from seismic data.