Theory and Application of Geophysical Geodesy for Studying Earth Surface Deformation

摘要

An interdisciplinary approach at the interface between geodesy and geophysics has recently resolved several Earth science problems at regional and global scales. I use the term "geophysical geodesy" to distinguish the technical and theoretical aspect of geodesy from geophysical applications of geodetic techniques. Using a wide range of Earth observation data, I study the spatio-temporal characteristics of Earth surface deformation in the United States associated with several geophysical processes, including natural and anthropogenic subsidence and uplift, regional relative sea-level rise, and continental hydrological loading. The theoretical portion of this dissertation applies loading theory and develops a new hybrid method to improve the estimate of hydrologically-induced vertical deformation at time scales from sub-annual to multi-annual. The application part of this dissertation benefits from GPS and other geodetic and geologic data sets to study and model Earth's surface uplift due to CO2 injection at an oil reservoir in coastal Texas, and coastal subsidence and nuisance flooding along the Mississippi River Delta and eastern seaboard of the United States.