title: Continuous deformation versus faulting through the continental lithosphere of new zealand
abstract: Seismic anisotropy and P-wave delays in New Zealand imply widespread deformation in the underlying mantle, not slip on a narrow fault zone, which is characteristic of plate boundaries in oceanic regions. Large magnitudes of shear-wave splitting and orientations of fast polarization parallel to the Alpine fault show that pervasive simple shear of the mantle lithosphere has accommodated the cumulative strike-slip plate motion. Variations in P-wave residuals across the Southern Alps rule out underthrusting of one slab of mantle lithosphere beneath another but permit continuous deformation of lithosphere shortened by about 100 kilometers since 6 to 7 million years ago.
authors.affiliation: Quaternary Research Center and Geophysics Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-1360, USA, and Department of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, US.
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Audoine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eberhart-Phillips
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Gledhill
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Klosko
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: McEvilly
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Okaya
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Wu