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The fundamental geological structure, geodynamics, and rheology of the Tibetan Plateau have been debated for decades. Two end-member models have been proposed:(1) the deformation of Tibet is broadly distributed and associated with ductile flow in the mantle and middle or lower crust,(2) the Tibetan Plateau formed during interactions between rigid lithospheric blocks with localization of deformation along major faults. The nature and distribution of continental deformation are governed by the varying rheology of rocks and faults in the lithosphere. Insights into lithospheric rheology can be gained from observations of postseismic deformation, which represents the response of the Earth's interior to coseismic stress changes. Here we use up to 2 years of InSAR and GPS measurements to investigate postseismic displacements following the 2008 M w 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake in eastern Tibet and probe the …