Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate
The Pacific covers around a third of Earth’s surface and is the largest body of water on the planet; the origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate is a known plate tectonic mystery. Based on current plate tectonics understanding, the relative position of the Pacific plate to other plates is kn...
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ftunivhouston:oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/3763 2023-07-30T03:59:19+02:00 Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate Runyon, Brook Wu, Jonny 2018 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10657/3763 en_US eng Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship http://hdl.handle.net/10657/3763 The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s). Poster 2018 ftunivhouston 2023-07-15T22:07:57Z The Pacific covers around a third of Earth’s surface and is the largest body of water on the planet; the origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate is a known plate tectonic mystery. Based on current plate tectonics understanding, the relative position of the Pacific plate to other plates is known since 85 million years ago, based on a connection to the Antarctica plate. Prior to connection with the Antarctic plate, the past location of the Pacific is unknown since its origin about 185 million years ago. My aim was to understand the missing 100 million years of plate tectonic evolution of the Pacific using tomography. I projected subducted plates, known as slabs, to the surface. This revealed the location of ancient plates that once filled the Panthalassa Ocean (i.e. the ocean the existed prior to the Pacific). To map the subducted plates, I analyzed published seismic tomography from the velocity of seismic waves that originated from earthquakes and were recorded by receivers placed around the world. Traditionally, analysis of tomography was done using 2D analysis of depth slices. I mapped subducted slabs in 3D and assessed their 3D continuity. My mapped slab were input into global plate modeling software GPlates that tracks plate movements through time to compare the slabs present locations with known uncertainties in global plate tectonics. This method has the potential to define the origin of the Pacific and be integrated into mantle convection models. Honors College Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Still Image Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica University of Houston Institutional Repository (UHIR) Antarctic Pacific The Antarctic |
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Open Polar |
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University of Houston Institutional Repository (UHIR) |
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ftunivhouston |
language |
English |
description |
The Pacific covers around a third of Earth’s surface and is the largest body of water on the planet; the origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate is a known plate tectonic mystery. Based on current plate tectonics understanding, the relative position of the Pacific plate to other plates is known since 85 million years ago, based on a connection to the Antarctica plate. Prior to connection with the Antarctic plate, the past location of the Pacific is unknown since its origin about 185 million years ago. My aim was to understand the missing 100 million years of plate tectonic evolution of the Pacific using tomography. I projected subducted plates, known as slabs, to the surface. This revealed the location of ancient plates that once filled the Panthalassa Ocean (i.e. the ocean the existed prior to the Pacific). To map the subducted plates, I analyzed published seismic tomography from the velocity of seismic waves that originated from earthquakes and were recorded by receivers placed around the world. Traditionally, analysis of tomography was done using 2D analysis of depth slices. I mapped subducted slabs in 3D and assessed their 3D continuity. My mapped slab were input into global plate modeling software GPlates that tracks plate movements through time to compare the slabs present locations with known uncertainties in global plate tectonics. This method has the potential to define the origin of the Pacific and be integrated into mantle convection models. Honors College Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of |
author2 |
Wu, Jonny |
format |
Still Image |
author |
Runyon, Brook |
spellingShingle |
Runyon, Brook Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate |
author_facet |
Runyon, Brook |
author_sort |
Runyon, Brook |
title |
Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate |
title_short |
Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate |
title_full |
Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate |
title_fullStr |
Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Origin and early evolution of the Pacific plate |
title_sort |
origin and early evolution of the pacific plate |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10657/3763 |
geographic |
Antarctic Pacific The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Pacific The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship http://hdl.handle.net/10657/3763 |
op_rights |
The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s). |
_version_ |
1772810083595452416 |