基于相位空间相关性分析的PSInSAR技术在地面沉降监测中的研究与实践

PSInSAR技术克服了图像失相干和大气影响等限制因素,扩展了DInSAR在提取大面积微小形变上的应用,但基于亮度离散度和先验形变模型的PSInSAR有一定的局限性。基于相位空间相关性分析的PSInSAR技术通过分析相位各个组分的空间相关性,完成PS的选择和形变信息提取,可以在没有亮散射体的情况下选取PS点和提取各种地表形变信息,且不受先验的形变时间模型限制,可应用于各种形变研究。该文以天津地区地面沉降监测实践为例,描述了该方法的关键技术和工作流程,利用14幅ENVISAT SAR数据,得到了较好的监测结果。     

The influence of water on the stress supported by experimentally faulted Westerly granite

Summary. Fault zones in wet Westerly granite deformed at temperatures of 300° and 400°C require markedly lower shear stresses for sliding than when dry, even when the effective confining pressure is held constant between the wet and dry tests, provided that the strain rate is lower than 10⁻⁷s⁻¹. The rate of strength reduction is enhanced by increasing the pore water pressure. The deformation rate is a power function of the applied stress where the stress exponent is approximately 7 for pore water pressure of 100 MPa and 21 for pore water pressure of 20 MPa.
The experimental results are extrapolated to conditions believed to occur at depths of 10 km along the San Andreas Fault Zone. It is suggested that for slow tectonic deformation at strain rates of 10⁻¹¹ and 10⁻¹⁴s⁻¹ the shear stress for sliding on faults in granite would be approximately 60 and 20 MPa, respectively, at pore water pressures equal to the hydrostatic head. Fluid overpressures of c. 0.8 lithostatic pressure are required to lower the shear stress for sliding into the 10 MPa range at the slower strain rate.     

Coseismic deformation revealed by inversion of strong motion and GPS data: the 2003 Chengkung earthquake in eastern Taiwan

A moderate earthquake of   M _w= 6.8  occurred on 2003 December 10. It ruptured the Chihshang Fault in eastern Taiwan which is the most active segment of the Longitudinal fault as a plate suture fault between the Luzon arc of the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian plate. The largest coseismic displacements were 13 cm (horizontal) and 26 cm (vertical). We analyse 40 strong motion and 91 GPS data to model the fault geometry and coseismic dislocations. The most realistic shape of the Chihshang fault surface is listric in type. The dipping angle of the seismic zone is steep (about 60°–70°) at depths shallower than 10 km and then gradually decreases to 40°–50° at depths of 20–30 km. Thus the polygonal elements in Poly3D are well suited for modelling complex surfaces with curving boundaries. Using the strong motion data, the displacement reaches 1.2 m dip-slip on the Chihshang Fault and decreases to 0.1 m near surface. The slip averages 0.34 m, releasing a scalar moment of 1.6E26 dyne-cm. For GPS data, our model reveals that the maximal dislocation is 1.8 m dip-slip. The dislocations decrease to 0.1 m near the surface. The average slip is 0.48 m, giving a scalar moment of 2.2E26 dyne-cm. Regarding post-seismic deformation, a displacements of 0.5 m were observed near the Chihshang Fault, indicating the strain had not been totally released, as a probable result of near-surface locking of the fault zone.     

Syn‐kinematic sedimentation at a releasing splay in the northern Minwun Ranges,Sagaing Fault zone,Myanmar: significance for fault timing and displacement

The Sagaing Fault zone is the largest active fault in SE Asia, whose current displacement rate of around 1.8 cm year^?1 is well‐established from GPS data. Yet determining the timing of initiation and total displacement on the fault zone has proven controversial. The timing problem can potentially be resolved through a newly identified syn‐kinematic sedimentary section directly related to displacement on the Sagaing Fault in the northern Minwun Ranges. The northern part of the western strand of the Sagaing Fault has a releasing splay geometry that sets up a syn‐kinematic oblique‐extensional basin in its hangingwall, here called the North Minwun Basin. A series of thick ridges probably composed of alluvial fan and fluvial sandstones dipping between 20 and 70° to the north, and younging northwards comprise the basin fill over a distance of 40 km. Total stratigraphic thickness (not vertical thickness) is estimated at 25 km. The basin in terms of depositional geometries, large displacements, and large stratigraphic thickness and appearance on satellite images has parallels with the extensional Hornelen basin, Norway and the strike‐slip Ridge Basin, California. Minimum likely displacement on the fault strand is 40 km, and may possibly be in excess of 100 km. The remote and inaccessible basin has yet to be properly dated, likely ages range between Eocene and Miocene. When dated the basin will provide an important constraint on the timing of deformation. The potential for this basin to constrain the timing and displacement along the northern part of the Sagaing Fault has not been previously recognised.     

Strain accumulation along an oblique plate boundary: the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest Iceland

We use annual GPS observations on the Reykjanes Peninsula (RP) from 2000 to 2006 to generate maps of surface velocities and strain rates across the active plate boundary. We find that the surface deformation on the RP is consistent with oblique plate boundary motion on a regional scale, although considerable temporal and spatial strain rate variations are observed within the plate boundary zone. A small, but consistent increase in eastward velocity is observed at several stations on the southern part of the peninsula, compared to the 1993–1998 time period. The 2000–2006 velocities can be modelled by approximating the plate boundary as a series of vertical dislocations with left-lateral motion and opening. For the RP plate boundary we estimate left-lateral motion  18⁺⁴₋₃ mm yr⁻¹  and opening of  7⁺³₋₂ mm yr⁻¹  below a locking depth of  7⁺¹₋₂ km  . The resulting deep motion of  20⁺⁴₋₃ mm yr⁻¹  in the direction of  N(100⁺⁸₋₆)°E  agrees well with the predicted relative North America–Eurasia rate. We calculate the areal and shear strain rates using velocities from two periods: 1993–1998 and 2000–2006. The deep motion along the plate boundary results in left-lateral shear strain rates, which are perturbed by shallow deformation due to the 1994–1998 inflation and elevated seismicity in the Hengill–Hrómundartindur volcanic system, geothermal fluid extraction at the Svartsengi power plant, and possibly earthquake activity on the central part of the peninsula.     

Application of p-y approach in analyzing pile foundations in frozen ground overlying liquefiable soils

Two major earthquakes in Alaska, namely the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and the 2002 Denali Earthquake, occurred in winter seasons when the ground crust was frozen. None of the then-existing foundation types was able to withstand the force from the lateral spreading of frozen crust. This paper presents results from the analysis of pile foundations in frozen ground overlying liquefiable soil utilizing the Beam-on-Nonlinear-Winkler-Foundation (BNWF) (or p-y approach). P-multipliers were applied on traditional sandy soil p-y curves to simulate soil strength degradation during liquefaction. Frozen soil p-y curves were constructed based on a model proposed in a recent study and the frozen soil mechanical properties obtained from testing of naturally frozen soils. Pile response results from the p-y approach were presented along with those from fluid-solid coupled Finite Element (FE) modeling for comparison purpose. Finally, the sensitivity of pile response to frozen soil parameters was investigated and a brief discussion is presented.     

SRTM resample with short distance‐low nugget kriging

The shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM), was flow on the space shuttle Endeavour in February 2000, with the objective of acquiring a digital elevation model of all land between 60° north latitude and 56° south latitude, using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques. The SRTM data are distributed at horizontal resolution of 1 arc‐second (～30 m) for areas within the USA and at 3 arc‐second (～90 m) resolution for the rest of the world. A resolution of 90 m can be considered suitable for the small or medium‐scale analysis, but it is too coarse for more detailed purposes. One alternative is to interpolate the SRTM data at a finer resolution; it will not increase the level of detail of the original digital elevation model (DEM), but it will lead to a surface where there is the coherence of angular properties (i.e. slope, aspect) between neighbouring pixels, which is an important characteristic when dealing with terrain analysis. This work intents to show how the proper adjustment of variogram and kriging parameters, namely the nugget effect and the maximum distance within which values are used in interpolation, can be set to achieve quality results on resampling SRTM data from 3” to 1”. We present for a test area in western USA, which includes different adjustment schemes (changes in nugget effect value and in the interpolation radius) and comparisons with the original 1” model of the area, with the national elevation dataset (NED) DEMs, and with other interpolation methods (splines and inverse distance weighted (IDW)). The basic concepts for using kriging to resample terrain data are: (i) working only with the immediate neighbourhood of the predicted point, due to the high spatial correlation of the topographic surface and omnidirectional behaviour of variogram in short distances; (ii) adding a very small random variation to the coordinates of the points prior to interpolation, to avoid punctual artifacts generated by predicted points with the same location than original data points and; (iii) using a small value of nugget effect, to avoid smoothing that can obliterate terrain features. Drainages derived from the surfaces interpolated by kriging and by splines have a good agreement with streams derived from the 1” NED, with correct identification of watersheds, even though a few differences occur in the positions of some rivers in flat areas. Although the 1” surfaces resampled by kriging and splines are very similar, we consider the results produced by kriging as superior, since the spline‐interpolated surface still presented some noise and linear artifacts, which were removed by kriging.     

Results of recent Pacific-Arctic ice-ocean modeling studies at the Naval Postgraduate School

Summary of results from a high-resolution pan-Arctic ice-ocean model are presented for the northern North Pacific,Bering,Chukchi,and Beaufort seas. The main focus is on the mean circulation,communication from the Gulf of Alaska across the Bering Sea into the western Arctic Ocean and on mesoscale eddy activity within several important ecosystems.Model results from 1979-2004 are compared to observations whenever possible.The high spatial model resolution at 1/12o(or～9- km) in the horizontal and 45 levels in the vertical direction allows for representation of eddies with diameters as small as 36 km.However,we believe that upcoming new model integrations at even higher resolution will allow us to resolve even smaller eddies .This is especially important at the highest latitudes where the Rossby radius of deformation is as small as 10 km or less.     

Chronostratigraphic framework and evolution of the Fortuna basin (Eastern Betics) since the Late Miocene

ABSTRACT A Tortonian to Pliocene magnetostratigraphy of the Fortuna basin supports a new chronostratigraphic framework, which is significant for the palaeogeographical and geodynamic evolution of the Eastern Betics in SE Spain.
The Neogene Fortuna basin is an elongated trough which formed over a left-lateral strike-slip zone in the Eastern Betics in the context of the convergence between the African and Iberian plates. Coeval with other basins in the Alicante–Cartagena area (Eastern Betics), rapid initial subsidence in the Fortuna basin started in the Tortonian as a result of WNW–ESE stretching. This led to transgression and deposition of marine sediments over extensive areas in open connection with the neighbouring basins. Since the late Tortonian, N–S to NW–SE compression led to inversion of older extensional structures. The transpressional tectonics along the NE–SW-trending Alhama de Murcia Fault is related to the rising of a structural high which isolated the Fortuna basin from the open Mediterranean basin. The progression of basin confinement is indicated by the development of restricted marine environments and deposition of evaporites (7.8–7.6 Ma). The new basin configuration favoured rapid sediment accumulation and marine regression. The basin subsided rapidly during the Messinian, leading to the accumulation of thick continental sequences. During the Pliocene, left-lateral shear along the Alhama de Murcia Fault caused synsedimentary folding, vertical axis block rotations and uplift of both the basin and its margins. The overall sedimentary evolution of the Fortuna basin can be regarded as a developing pull-apart basin controlled by NE–SW strike-slip faults. This resembles the evolution that has taken place in some areas of the Eastern Alboran basin since the late Tortonian.     

Greening U.S. National Parks: Expanding Traditional Roles to Address Climate Change

The U.S. National Park Service has embarked on a new campaign to address climate change. This directive includes new programs to encourage visitors to change their behaviors once they return home. By becoming involved in issues that go beyond park boundaries, these changes mark a shift in how the National Park Service fulfills its mission. This article explores how these efforts evolved and the possible implications to the visitors being exposed to a new message. Visitors were surveyed in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The results revealed that the majority of those surveyed support these new efforts by the National Park Service.     

Seismic anisotropy in the core–mantle transition zone

Split S waves observed at Hockley, Texas from events in the Tonga–Fiji region of the southwest Pacific show predominantly vertically polarized shear-wave ( SV  ) energy arriving earlier than horizontally polarized ( SH ) energy for rays propagating horizontally through D" . After corrections are made for the effects of upper-mantle anisotropy beneath Hockley, a time lag of 1.5 to 2.0  s remains for the furthest events (93.9°–100.6° ), while the time lags of the nearer observations (90.5°–92.9° ) nearly disappear. At closer distances, the S waves from these same events do not penetrate as deeply into the lower mantle, and are not split. These observations suggest that a patch of D" beneath the central Pacific is anisotropic, while the mantle immediately above the patch is isotropic. The thickness of the anisotropic zone appears to be of the order of 100–200  km.
  Observations of shear-wave splitting have previously been made for paths that traverse D" under the Caribbean and under Alaska. SH leads SV , the reverse of the Hockley observations, but in these areas the fact that SV  leads SH in the HKT data shown here suggests a different sort of anisotropy under the central Pacific from that under Alaska and the Caribbean. The case of SH travelling faster than SV  is consistent with transverse isotropy with a vertical axis of symmetry (VTI) and does not require variations with azimuth. The case of SV  leading SH is consistent with transverse isotropy with a horizontal axis of symmetry (HTI), an azimuthally anisotropic medium, and with a VTI medium formed by a hexagonal crystal. Given that (Mg,Fe)SiO₃ perovskite appears unlikely to form anisotropic fabrics on a large scale, the presence of anisotropy may point to chemical heterogeneity in the lowermost mantle, possibly due to mantle–core interactions.     

The MARNET radiolinked seismometer network spanning the Marmara Sea and the seismicity of Western Turkey

Summary. The MARNET telemetered seismic network spanning the Marmara Sea supplements the ISK network of conventional seismic stations and increases the resolution for monitoring the seismicity in Western Turkey. Seismicity maps for the period 1976 to 1981 display pronounced swarm-type activity where small earthquakes cluster in the same locality. Three types of seismic activity can be identified and related to present-day tectonic deformation: normal earthquake episodes associated with the main line of the North Anatolian Fault; continuous swarm activity, but with marked fluctuations and bursts of activity in the tensional regime south of a line from Izmir to Adapazari; and continuous activity with only minor fluctuations within the Marmara region as it is sheared by the westward movement of the main Anatolian plate.     

基于SAR的拉合尔地面沉降监测与沉降因素评价（英文）

合理开发和管理自然资源对于实现可持续发展至关重要,地面沉降作为目前影响城市可持续发展的最重要地质灾害,其与人类活动有着紧密的关系,如地下水开采,基础设施开发导致的施工超载等。巴基斯坦第二大城市拉合尔出现了显著的地面沉降现象,与此同时,拉合尔也正在经历城市化过程中的人口密度急剧增加、大规模城市建设和地下水开采,通过分析拉合尔地面沉降的不同空间模式与人类活动的对应关系,将有助于合理规划拉合尔城市的发展。本文利用永久散射体合成孔径雷达干涉测量(PSI)技术对拉合尔2018年8月-2019年8月的Sentinel-1数据进行In SAR处理,获取了该城市的地表形变速率为-114-15毫米/年,并结合拉合尔的土地覆盖图、交通网络和水道、土壤类型、人口密度和现场点数据,分析各种因素在地面抬升或沉降发生中的作用。结果显示,沉降与各种参数（如地下水抽取和地下水位降低、土壤类型变化、土地覆盖变化、地表水通道和人口密度）之间建立了很强的相关性,其中拉合尔中部人口密集,地下水开采严重,使其成为该地区沉降最为严重的区域,而在拉维河附近人口较少的农村地区,由于通过运河系统,地下水得到河流补给,观察到了地表抬升。     

Lake Floor Morphology and Sediment Architecture of Lake Torneträsk,Northern Sweden

Here we present datasets from a hydroacoustic survey in July 2011 at Lake Torneträsk, northern Sweden. Our hydroacoustic data exhibit lake floor morphologies formed by glacial erosion and accumulation processes, insights into lacustrine sediment accumulation since the beginning of deglaciation, and information on seismic activity along the Pärvie Fault. Features of glacial scouring with a high‐energy relief, steep slopes, and relative reliefs of more than 50 m are observed in the large W‐basin. The remainder of the lacustrine subsurface appears to host a broad variety of well preserved formations from glacial accumulation related to the last retreat of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Deposition of glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments is focused in areas situated in proximity to major inlets. Sediment accumulation in distal areas of the lake seldom exceeds 2 m or is not observable. We assume that lack of sediment deposition in the lake is a result of different factors, including low rates of erosion in the catchment, a previously high lake level leading to deposition of sediments in higher elevated paleodeltas, tributaries carrying low suspension loads as a result of sedimentation in upstream lakes, and an overall low productivity in the lake. A clear off‐shore trace of the Pärvie Fault could not be detected from our hydroacoustic data. However, an absence of sediment disturbance in close proximity to the presumed fault trace implies minimal seismic activity since deposition of the glaciolacustrine and lacustrine sediments.     

Coercive force of single crystals of magnetite at low temperatures

The temperature dependence of coercive force H _c was studied on well-characterized and stoichiometric millimetre-sized single crystals of magnetite at a series of 16 temperatures from 300 to 10 K using a SQUID magnetometer. H _c decreases gradually with cooling to the isotropic temperature, T _i = 130 K, where the first magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant K ₁ becomes zero. H _c exhibits a sharp increase at the Verwey transition, T _v = 120 K, where the structure changes from cubic to monoclinic. In crossing the Verwey transition, H _c increases by more than two orders of magnitude, from 20 μT to 2.4 mT, and the shape of the hysteresis loops becomes wasp-waisted.
Observed coercivity between 300 K and 170 K varies with temperature as λ _s / M _s , where λ _s is the magnetostriction constant and M _s is the saturation magnetization, indicating that the coercivity in MD magnetite is controlled mainly by internal stress associated with dislocations or other crystal defects. It seems likely that the stable single-domain-like magnetic memory observed in large MD magnetite crystals is due to magnetoelastically pinned domain walls. The discontinuous change in H _c at the Verwey transition is controlled by abrupt changes in magnetocrystalline and magnetostriction constants due to crystal deformation from cubic to monoclinic structure.     

Large-scale velocity field and strain tensor in Iran inferred from GPS measurements: new insight for the present-day deformation pattern within NE Iran

A network of 26 GPS sites was implemented in Iran and Northern Oman to measure displacements in this part of the Arabia–Eurasia collision zone. We present the GPS velocity field obtained from three surveys performed in 1999 September, 2001 October and 2005 September and the deduced strain tensor. This study refines previous studies inferred from only the two first surveys. Improvements are significant in NE Iran. The present-day shortening rate across the mountain belts of NE Iran is estimated to 5 ± 1 mm yr⁻¹ at about N11°, 2 ± 1 mm yr⁻¹ of NS shortening across the eastern Kopet Dag and 3 ± 1 mm yr⁻¹ of NS shortening across Binalud and Kuh-e-Sorkh. Our GPS measurements emphasize the varying character of the Kopet Dag deformation between its southeastern part with prevailing thrusting at low rates and its northwestern part with dominant strike-slip activity at increasing rates. The principal axes of the horizontal strain tensor appears very homogeneous from the Zagros to the Alborz and the Kopet-Dag (N20°) and in eastern Iran (Makran and Lut block: N30°). Only NW Iran suffers a variable strain pattern which seems to wrap the Caspian basin. The strain tensor map underlines the existence of large homogeneous tectonic provinces in terms of style and amplitude of the deformation.     

Teleseismic shear wave splitting measurements in noisyenvironments

High noise levels hamper teleseismic shear wave splitting measurements, which bandpass filtering does not always help. To investigate how robust splitting measurements are to noise, we analysed a set of synthetic records with known splitting parameters and added fixed levels of noise. In the presence of weak anisotropy, single-waveform splitting measurements are unreliable when operating with noisy data sets. A practical rule in terms of S/N ratio and splitting delay time parameters is that splitting is confidently detectable at S/N > 8, regardless of the wave's original polarization orientation. However, for the evidence of weak anisotropy to be detectable and measurable at an S/N value of 4, the backazimuth separation of the phases from the fast polarization direction needs to be higher than 20°. Stacks of individual measurements consistently yield reliable results down to S/N values of 4. Applying stacking to data from DSB (Dublin, Ireland), the fast polarization direction φ and lag time δt are 58° and 0.95  s. This orientation reflects surface trends of deformation in the area, as found elsewhere in the UK. Our result thus reinforces the proposed model that the detected anisotropy in the British Isles originates from lithospheric coherent deformation preserved from the last main tectonic episode.     

平面影像到QTM像元的转换算法及精度分析

平面影像数据到四元三角网(Quaternary Triangular Mesh,QTM)像元的转换是实现全球QTM格网影像无缝建模的首要任务。提出基于面积权的数据转换方法,给出不同类型的权重及格网值的计算,并利用ArcGIS中256级灰度的Wsiearth.tif图像数据分析了转换精度。结果表明:将4 km分辨率的影像数据转换到12层的QTM像元时,转换误差在0~2灰度内占96.27%,对一般应用的影响可以忽略不计。     

The Canary Islands swell: a coherence analysis of bathymetry and gravity

The Canary Archipelago is an intraplate volcanic chain, located near the West African continental margin, emplaced on old oceanic lithosphere of Jurassic age, with an extended volcanic activity since Middle Miocene. The adjacent seafloor does not show the broad oceanic swell usually observed in hotspot-generated oceanic islands. However, the observation of a noticeable depth anomaly in the basement west of the Canaries might indicate that the swell is masked by a thick sedimentary cover and the influence of the Canarian volcanism. We use a spectral approach, based on coherence analysis, to determine the swell and its compensation mechanism. The coherence between gravity and topography indicates that the swell is caused by a subsurface load correlated with the surface volcanic load. The residual gravity/geoid anomaly indicates that the subsurface load extends 600 km SSW and 800 km N and NNE of the islands. We used computed depth anomalies from available deep seismic profiles to constrain the extent and amplitude of the basement uplift caused by a relatively low-density anomaly within the lithospheric mantle, and coherence analysis to constrain the elastic thickness of the lithosphere ( T_e ) and the compensation depth of the swell. Depth anomalies and coherence are well simulated with T_e =28–36 km, compensation depth of 40–65 km, and a negative density contrast within the lithosphere of ∼33 kg m⁻³. The density contrast corresponds to a temperature increment of ∼325°C, which we interpret to be partially maintained by a low-viscosity convective layer in the lowermost lithosphere, and which probably involves the shallower parts of the asthenosphere. This interpretation does not require a significant rejuvenation of the mechanical properties of the lithosphere.     

The interplay between deformation,erosion and sedimentation in the deep‐water Mexican Ridges foldbelt,western Gulf of Mexico basin

We analyse a regional 2D seismic section of the Mexican Ridges foldbelt (MRFB), western Gulf of Mexico, and construct excess‐area diagrams for each of the structures comprising the foldbelt to estimate shortening, the onset of folding and the degradation of the folded seafloor. From the chronostratigraphy, we derive rates of tectonic and superficial mass transport and illustrate how they change across the MRFB. The resulting tectonic transport in the MRFB is 11.8 km forming a train of twelve buckle folds above a detachment at a depth of ca. 6 s of two‐way travel time, with an average strain of ca. 10%. The fold train grew at a mean uplift rate of ca. 0.21 mm year^?1. Cross‐sectional balancing demonstrates that shortening balances the down‐slip motion of the Quetzalcoatl extensional system (QES), suggesting that horizontal compaction, volume loss and other penetrative deformation mechanisms are negligible. By assuming steady‐state denudation, we are able to distinguish sediments derived locally from sediments transported from distant sources. The constant of mass diffusivity, a parameter controlling the degradation rate, is ca. 0.42 m² year ^?1, which is characteristic of rapid, episodic, superficial mass movements. The combined sedimentation rate from both, local and distal sources is ca. 0.23 mm year ^?1. Those values are not constant; structures proximal to the continental shelf are rising rapidly and are being degraded more intensely than those in the distal part of the MRFB, where sedimentation outweighs tectonic uplift. Our results indicate deformation initiated up to 3 Myr earlier than estimated from stacking patterns. Moreover, we find deformation started synchronously during the Late Miocene throughout the MRFB and not in two episodes as the stacking relations suggest. The discrepancy can be explained by a delay in the sedimentary response to folding. During early fold growth, nearly constant thickness strata are deposited before a progressive unconformity and other converging geometries develop. The development of growth strata is fast in the folds near the QES, which are being uplifted rapidly and degraded vigorously. Under these conditions, the stratigraphic relations give only a broad estimate of the pretectonic/syntectonic limit when compared to the excess‐area method. On the other hand, the development of growth strata took twice as much time for folds near the abyssal plain, which are being uplifted at a slower rate and where degradation is less intense. Consequently, the delay takes more time, and the use of stratigraphic relations introduces an even more pronounced bias towards younger ages in the identification of the onset of folding.