New evidence for active tectonics at the boundary of the Kashi Depression, China, from time series InSAR observations

• Derive a high-precision rate map for Kashi Depression area from 8 years of InSAR data
• Determine the main active fault in block boundary region between the TianShan Orgonic Belt and Tarim Basin
• Estimate the kinematic parameters of the South Atushi Fault using a simple edge dislocation model

Kashi Depression is one of the most complex active tectonic areas in the southern flank of Tianshan, China. Due to the lack of ground observations, the boundary of basin mountain transition zone and the interseismic activity of the Tianshan have not been clearly determined. In this study, 48 Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) imagery acquired from 2003 to 2010 are used to construct interferograms for measuring high-resolution interseismic deformation in the Kashi Depression area. A global atmospheric model ERA-Interim provided by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) and a global network orbital correction are applied to remove atmospheric effect, and the long-wavelength orbital errors, respectively, for the interferograms. Interferometric SAR time series with Atmospheric Estimation Model (InSAR TS + AEM) are then used to obtain a deformation rate map for the Kashi Depression area. The InSAR rate map indicates that the north part of South Atushi Fault has ~ 3 mm/year uplift relative to that of the south part. This result manifests the main tectonic deformation potentially occurs along the Southern Atushi Fault. Based on a simple edge dislocation model, the dip angle of 31 ± 0.6°, slip rate of 2.3 ± 0.1 mm/year, and locking depth of 10.6 ± 0.4 km for the Southern Atushi Fault between Tianshan Orogenic Belt and the Kashi Depression are obtained. This modeling result shows in good agreement with the InSAR derived rates. Our results show that the Southern Atushi Fault is the main active fault in block boundary region between the south of Tianshan and the Tarim Basin.