Plate Kinematics – studying how tectonic plates move and deform
Finding Euler poles Transform faults Spreading center rates Slip vectors from earthquakes along the boundary Geodetic measurements (GPS, VLBI)
Euler poles JF North America Pacific CA Cocos South America Nazca
Plate Motion Model Results
“Geological” Global Plate Motion Model plate boundaries DeMets et al., 1991
GPS measurement of plate motions Mid-plate - Poland Near Plate Boundary – Fairbanks Alaska Prawirodirdjo & Bock, 2004
North American Plate Deformation from GPS Sella et al., 2007
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Distance between Massachusetts and Germany
Geodetic Plate Motion Model plate boundaries
Comparison of “Geological” and Instantaneous Results
The search for a plate motion reference frame – Hotspots?
Defining the Hotspot Reference Frame
Global plate motions wrt “hotspot reference frame”
No-net rotation plate motion model Argus et al., 2011