Adjoint Slip Inversion under a Constrained Optimization Framework:
Revisiting the 2006 Guerrero Slow Slip Event
Abstract
Understanding the interaction between tectonic plates from geodetic data
is relevant to the assessment of seismic hazard. To shed light on that
prevalently slow aseismic interaction, we developed a new static-slip
inversion strategy, the ELADIN (ELastostatic ADjoint INversion) method,
that uses the adjoint elastostatic equations to compute the gradient of
the cost function. To handle plausible slip constraints, ELADIN is a
2-step inversion algorithm. First it finds the slip that best explains
the data without any constraint, and then refines the solution by
imposing the constraints through a Gradient Projection Method. To obtain
a selfsimilar, physically-consistent slip distribution that accounts for
sparsity and uncertainty in the data, ELADIN reduces the model space by
using a von Karman regularization function that controls the wavenumber
content of the solution, and weights the observations according to their
covariance using the data precision matrix. Since crustal deformation is
the result of different concomitant interactions at the plate interface,
ELADIN simultaneously determines the regions of the interface subject to
both stressing (i.e., coupling) and relaxing slip regimes. For
estimating the resolution, we introduce a mobile checkerboard that
allows to determine lower-bound fault resolution zones for an expected
slip-patch size and a given stations array. We systematically test
ELADIN with synthetic inversions along the whole Mexican subduction zone
and use it to invert the 2006 Guerrero Slow Slip Event (SSE), which is
one of the most studied SSEs in Mexico. Since only 12 GPS stations
recorded the event, careful regularization is thus required to achieve
reliable solutions. We compared our preferred slip solution with two
previously published models and found that our solution retains their
most reliable features. In addition, although all three SSE models
predict an upward slip penetration invading the seismogenic zone of the
Guerrero seismic gap, our resolution analysis indicates that this
penetration might not be a reliable feature of the 2006 SSE.