A strain rate model for Europe from a dense network of GNSS

Strain rates are an important factor to find areas that are under stress. Higher strain rates are usually observed along plate boundaries, while lower strain rates are found in intraplate regions. The increased availability of velocity solutions from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for entire Europe allows a 2D strain rate to be estimated at high resolution. Thus, regions of high and low strain become clearly visible. Here, we will present a new strain rate model, which is based on a recent velocity field solution by the EUREF Permanent Network Densification (EPND2100). This velocity field is obtained by the combination of weekly position SINEX solutions generated by 28 EPND Analysis Centres. More details on EPND can be found in the www.epnd.sgo-penc.hu website. The homogenized and quality checked velocity field is then interpolated via a least-square collocation using a fixed scale length of 135 km. In addition, the effect of known plate boundaries is considered during the interpolation to avoid a smoothing of nearby velocities on different tectonic plates. We also apply a moving variance approach to avoid effects of non-stationarity, which arise due to the variable station densities. The interpolated velocity model is then used to estimate a 2D strain rate covering most of Europe. We will highlight the situation in intraplate areas with very low strain rates but dense GNSS networks.