Are the Pacific and Indo–Atlantic hotspots fixed? Testing the plate circuit through Antarctica ...
It is often assumed that hotspots are fixed relative to one another and thus constitute a global reference frame for measuring absolute plate motions and true polar wander. But it has long been known that the best documented hotspot track, the Hawaiian–Emperor chain, is inconsistent with the interna...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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Columbia University
1999
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8d2274w https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8D2274W |
| Summary: | It is often assumed that hotspots are fixed relative to one another and thus constitute a global reference frame for measuring absolute plate motions and true polar wander. But it has long been known that the best documented hotspot track, the Hawaiian–Emperor chain, is inconsistent with the internally coherent tracks left by the Indo–Atlantic hotspots. This inconsistency is due either to unquantified motions within the plate circuit linking the Pacific with other plates, for example, between East and West Antarctica, or relative motion between the Hawaiian–Emperor and Indo–Atlantic hotspots. Analysis of recent paleomagnetic results from Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica confirms that there has been post-100 Ma motion between West Antarctica (Marie Byrd Land) and East Antarctica. However, incorporation of this motion into the plate circuit does not account for the Cenozoic hotspot discrepancy. Comparison of an updated inventory of Pacific and non-Pacific paleomagnetic data does not show a significant ... |
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