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[1] Measurements at~400 campaign-style GPS points and another 14 continuously recording stations in central Asia define variations in their velocities both along and across the Kyrgyz and neighboring parts of Tien Shan. They show that at the longitude of Kyrgyzstan the Tarim Basin converges with Eurasia at 20 [+ or -] 2 mm/yr, nearly two thirds of the total convergence rate between India and Eurasia at this longitude. This high rate suggests that the Tien Shan has grown into a major mountain range only late in the evolution of the India-Eurasia collision. Most of the convergence between Tarim and Eurasia within the upper crust of the Tien Shan presumably occurs by slip on faults on the edges of and within the belt, but 1-3 mm/yr of convergence is absorbed farther north, at the Dzungarian Alatau and at a lower rate with the Kazakh platform to the west. The Tarim Basin is thrust beneath the Tien Shan at ~4-7 min/yr. With respect to Eurasia, the Ferghana Valley rotates counterclockwise at -0.7[degrees] [Myr.sup.-1] about an axis at the southwest end of the valley. Thus, GPS data place a bound of ~4 mm/yr on the rate of crustal shortening across the Chatkal and neighboring ranges on the northwest margin of the Ferghana Valley, and they limit the present-day slip rate on the right-lateral Falas-Ferghana fault to less than ~2 mm/yr. GPS measurements corroborate geologic evidence indicating that the northern margin of the Pamir overthrusts the Alay Valley and require a rate of at least 10 and possibly 15 mm/yr. Citation: Zubovich, A. V., et al. (2010), GPS velocity field for the Tien Shan and surrounding regions, Tectonics, 29, TC6014, doi: 10.1029/2010TC002772.

The 2015 M7.2 Sarez (Pamir) earthquake occurred at the north‐west margin of the Tibetan Plateau. We use Sentinel‐1 and ALOS‐2 Synthetic Aperture Radar and Global Navigation Satellite System data to investigate coseismic and postseismic deformation due to the Sarez earthquake. Kinematic inversions show that the earthquake ruptured a ∼80 km long, sub‐vertical fault producing the maximum surface offset of 3–4 m on the south‐west and central fault segments. In contrast, the largest postseismic displacements are observed at the north‐east end of the earthquake rupture, predominantly on the west (hanging wall) side of the fault with an average rate of 20–30 mm/yr in the satellite line of sight. We use the derived coseismic and postseismic slip models to investigate mechanisms of time‐dependent relaxation, stress transfer and possible triggering relationships between the Sarez earthquake and a sequence of strong M6+ events that occurred within ∼100 km of the 2015 earthquake. We find that the near‐field postseismic displacements are best explained by shallow afterslip driven by the coseismic stress changes. The data also allow some contribution from poroelastic rebound, but do not show a clear signature of viscoelastic relaxation in the lower crust and upper mantle during the observation period, suggesting a lower bound on the effective viscosity of ∼1019 Pa s. A pair of M6+ events that occurred within 100 km and several months of the 2015 mainshock have experienced near‐zero and in some cases negative static Coulomb stress changes, suggesting either delayed dynamic triggering, or no relation to the mainshock. Plain Language Summary: Large earthquakes are often followed by slow deformation that results from redistribution and relaxation of coseismic stress changes in the host rocks. The patterns and rates of postseismic deformation can be used to learn about the properties of rocks at depth. We analyzed surface deformation that occurred during and after a major (magnitude 7.2) earthquake that occurred in the Pamir orogen at the north‐west margin of Tibet. We used radar imagery from satellites of the European and Japanese space agencies, as well as data from the Global Navigational Satellite System to measure subtle (centimeter‐scale) displacements of the Earth's surface that occurred within 100 km from the earthquake epicenter. A combination of coseismic and postseismic displacement data reveals that the earthquake rupture split into two branches as it was propagating from south‐west to north‐east. We found evidence of slow aseismic creep ("afterslip") at the north‐east end of the earthquake rupture. In contrast, we do not observe a broad pattern of displacements expected from enhanced viscous flow in the lower crust and/or upper mantle. The lack of the respective signal argues for a relatively strong "ductile" portion of the Tibetan lithosphere. Key Points: Near‐field postseismic deformation is dominated by shallow afterslip and poroelastic relaxation at the NE end of the earthquake ruptureData do not show a clear signal expected of viscoelastic relaxation, indicating effective viscosity of the lower crust >1019 Pa sWe investigate triggering relationships between the M7.2 and subsequent M6+ events that occurred within 1 year and 100 km of the mainshock [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional research network Water in Central Asia (CAWa) funded by the German Federal Foreign Office consists of 18 remotely operated multi-parameter stations (ROMPSs) in Central Asia. These stations were installed by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany, in close cooperation with the Central-Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; the national hydrometeorological services in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; the Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; and the Kabul Polytechnic University, Afghanistan. The primary objective of these stations is to support the establishment of a reliable data basis of meteorological and hydrological data especially in remote areas with extreme climate conditions for applications in climate and water monitoring in Central Asia. Up to now, 10 years of data have been provided for an area of scarce station distribution and with limited open-access data which can be used for a wide range of scientific or engineering applications. The data described in this paper are made publicly available with the digital object identifier (DOI) 10.5880/GFZ.1.2.2020.002 (Zech et al., 2020) or via the Sensor Data Storage System (SDSS) at http://sdss.caiag.kg (last access: 22 February 2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Regional Research Network „Water in Central Asia“ (CAWa) funded by the German Federal Foreign Office consists of 18 remotely operated multi-parameter stations (ROMPS) in Central Asia. These stations were installed by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany in close cooperation with the Central-Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the national hydrometeorological services in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and the Kabul Polytechnic University, Afghanistan. The primary objective of these stations is to support the establishment of a reliable data basis of meteorological and hydrological data especially in remote areas with extreme climate conditions in Central Asia for applications in climate and water monitoring. Up to now ten years of data are provided for an area of scarce station distribution and with limited open access data which can be used for a wide range of scientific or engineering applications. he data described in this manuscript will be made publicly available with the DOI https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.1.2.2020.002 (Zech et al., 2020) after final acceptance. In the meantime, find data via this temporary link: https://dataservices.gfz-potsdam.de/panmetaworks/review/084165424ac07f9ccb5391ab452e4dc9fff92076e265ee8bc86acc90a6ea287b/ or via the Sensor Data Storage System (SDSS) at http://sdss.caiag.kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]