Constraints from GPS measurements on the dynamics of the zone of convergence between Arabia and Eurasia

We investigate the dynamics of deformation in the zone of convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian plates using a physical model that treats the lithosphere as a thin fluid sheet deforming in response to lateral variations in gravitational potential energy (GPE). This model has two free material parameters, the power law exponent, n, of the vertically averaged rheology of the lithosphere and the Argand number, Ar, which expresses the relative importance of GPE and stresses required to deform the lithosphere. With boundary conditions described by three additional free parameters, the model fits the observed deformation, as measured by 367 GPS velocities, with a root-mean-square residual of