InSAR and GPS measurements of crustal deformation due to seasonal loading of Tehri reservoir in Garhwal Himalaya, India

We report unique observations of crustal deformation caused by the seasonal water level changes of Tehri reservoir in the Garhwal region of NW Himalaya from GPS measurements and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) analysis. All GPS sites along the Himalaya are strongly influenced by seasonal hydrological and atmospheric loading. However, the GPS site KUNR located near the reservoir additionally exhibits anomalous variations due to seasonal water loading and unloading by the reservoir. Our InSAR analysis confirms that the seasonal filling of the reservoir causes measurable subsidence in its neighbourhood. In addition to the elastic deformation caused by the seasonal reservoir loading and the negligible poroelastic deformation caused by associated fluid pressure changes, there is an unaccounted biannual deformation in the east component of the GPS time-series which we suspect to be caused by altered hydrological conditions due to the reservoir operations. Understanding crustal deformation processes due to such anthropogenic sources helps in separating deformation caused by tectonic, hydrological and atmospheric effects from that caused by these activities.