Pattern of Stress Accumulation Due To a Sudden Movement across a Long Vertical Strike-Slip Fault in a Three-Layered Elastic/ Viscoelastic Model

The lithosphere-asthenosphere system has been represented by multi-layered model consisting of two parallel layers, the first one is elastic and the second one is viscoelastic, overlying a viscoelastic half-space and they are assumed to be in welded contact. A vertical buried strike-slip fault is taken to be situated in the viscoelastic layer. The fault undergoes a sudden slip under the action of tectonic forces such as mantle convection. Analytical expressions for displacements, stresses and strains are calculated for both layers and half-space by using modified Green’s function technique and correspondence principle. Numerical computations have been carried out to find the effect of fault movement in change of surface shear stress. The contour map for the stress pattern in both of the first layer and second layer have been prepared.