Surface deformation and influence of hydrological mass over Himalaya and North India revealed from a decade of continuous GPS and GRACE observations

Abstract

The India‐Eurasia collision, driven by tectonic forcing, is modulated by nontectonic forcing allied to seasonal variations in the neighboring regions. To decipher the ground deformation in response to hydrological mass variations of the Himalaya and North India, we analyzed continuous Global Positioning System (cGPS) observations from 50 sites together with Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data for the period 2004–2015. Vertical components of surface deformation derived from GPS and GRACE show moderate to high‐level amplitude correlation with a slope value of 0.76 and a level of phase delay from ±25° to ±30°. The average weighted root‐mean‐square reduction (WRMS) of 17.72% suggests the prominence of hydrological mass variations particularly over the sub‐Himalaya and Indo‐Gangetic Plain (IGP). GPS‐derived vertical deformation after correcting the hydrological effects utilizing GRACE observations suggests that the sub‐Himalaya and IGP are undergoing subsidence and the surrounding areas show uplift. In addition to the tectonic and nontectonic forcings, an unsustainable consumption of groundwater associated to irrigation and other anthropogenic uses influence the subsidence rate in the IGP and sub‐Himalaya. Further, 2‐D elastic dislocation modeling suggests that GRACE correction to the GPS vertical velocity causes a reduction in the subsurface slip rate estimation over the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) system by 12.06% and improves the chi‐square misfit by 20.32%.