Plate tectonic accelerations hidden in the noise
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/2428Abstract
Iterative filtering of the quaternion history for the Euler poles that define absolute plate
motion history for the past 68 million years has revealed an unprecedented precision for plate
angular rotation variations with time at 2-million year intervals. These consistent velocity
variations yield, in turn, consistent estimates of plate accelerations, and therefore. indicate that
conservation of plate angular momentums’ must be globally conserved. Accordingly, if a plate
decelerates, other plates must increase their angular momentums to compensate. Plate
accelerations support the contention that Plate Tectonics is a product of forces that most likely
are sustained by the sinking of positive density anomalies due to phase changes in subducted
gabbroic lithosphere at depth in the upper lower mantle. The tectonic plates are pulled along by
the sinking positive mass anomalies, rather that moving at near constant velocity on the crests of
convection cells driven by rising heat. In this interpretation, spreading centers become passive
reactive features, and fracture zones (and wedge-shaped sites of seafloor spreading) are
adjustment zones that relieve strains in the lithosphere.
This report summarizes processing results for 12 of the 14 major tectonic plates of the Earth
(except for the Juan de Fuca and Philippine Plates) and presents estimates of the changes in
magnitude and location of the Earth’s axis of total plate tectonic angular momentum for the past
62 million years.