简介：Significantpostseismicdeformationofthe2008MW7.9WenchuanearthquakehasbeenobservedfromGPSdataofthefirst14daysaftertheearthquake.Thepossiblemechanismsfortherapidpostseismicdeformationareassumedtobeafterslipontheearthquakeruptureplaneandviscoelasticrelaxationofcoseismicllystresschangeinthelowercrustoruppermantle.WefirstlyusetheconstrainedleastsquaresmethodtofindanafterslipmodelwhichcanfittheGPSdatabest.Theafterslipmodelcanexplainnear-fielddataverywellbutshowsconsiderablediscrepanciesinfittingfar-fielddata.Toestimatetheeffectduetotheviscoelasticrelaxationinthelowercrust,wethenignorethecontributionfromtheafterslipandattempttoinverttheviscositystructurebeneaththeLongmenshanfaultwheretheWenchuanearthquakeoccurredfromthepostseismicdeformationdata.Forthispurpose,weuseaviscoelasticmodelwitha2DgeometrybasedonthegeologicalandseismologicalobservationsandthecoseismicslipdistributionderivedfromthecoseismicGPSandInSARdata.Bymeansofagridsearchwefindthattheoptimumviscosityis9×1018Pa·sforthemiddle-lowercrustintheChengduBasin,4×1017Pa·sforthemiddle-lowercrustintheChuanxiPlateauand7×1017Pa·sforthelowvelocityzoneintheChuanxiplateau.Theviscoelasticmodelexplainsthepostseismicdeformationobservedinthefar-fieldsatisfactorily,butitisconsiderablyworsethantheafterslipmodelinfittingthenear-faultdata.Itsuggeststhereforeahybridmodelincludingbothafterslipandrelaxationeffects.Sincetheviscoelasticmodelproducesmainlythefar-fieldsurfacedeformationandhasfewerdegreeoffreedoms(threeviscosityparameters)thantheafterslipmodelwithahugenumberofsourceparameters,wefixtheviscositiystructureasobtainedbeforebutredeterminetheafterslipdistributionusingtheresidualdatafromtheviscoelasticmodeling.Theredeterminedafterslipdistributionbecomesphysicallymorereas