Parameters of Common Relevance of Astronomy, Geodesy, and Geodynamics

VLBI, SLR, and GPS have been introduced and used to study geodesy and geodynamics in Japan as well as elsewhere in the world. The present article briefly overviews Japanese recent activities concerning the applications of these techniques. VLBI and SLR have been used mainly in international experiments such as the Monitor Earth Rotation and Intercompare Techniques (MERIT) campaign and the Crustal Dynamics Project (CDP). These projects have succeeded in determining the relative plate motions around the Japanese Islands. GPS, on the other hand, has been used mostly to monitor local crustal deformations for earthquake prediction research. The combination of these techniques may lead us to a unified view of crustal deformation and the dynamics of the upper mantle.

geodynamics

Very-long-baseline interferometry

Satellite geodesy

10.4294/jpe1952.43.629

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Citations (1)

Plate tectonics and convection in the Earth's mantle: toward a numerical simulation

Computing in Science & Engineering (2000)

Louis Moresi Michael Gurnis Shijie Zhong

Numerical models of mantle convection are starting to reproduce many of the essential features of continental drift and plate tectonics. The authors show how such methods can integrate a wide variety of geophysical and geological observations. The goal is to combine the Stokes and energy equations with a realistic rheology, thereby letting us understand the complex dynamic coupling that occurs in the mantle and that gives rise to plate tectonics and other surface features. This approach holds great promise because it makes a tremendous amount of data relevant to understanding Earth's dynamics. The challenge is that the computational models must be inherently realistic, particularly when predicting observed geography or plate history, so that the models can be connected with observations. The authors view this as one of the most exciting future directions of computational geodynamics.

geodynamics

Continental drift

Numerical models

Ocean surface topography

Hotspot (geology)

10.1109/5992.841793

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Citations (23)

Parameters of Common Relevance of Astronomy, Geodesy, and Geodynamics

Journal of Geodesy (2000)

E. Groten

geodynamics