Effect of recent revisions to the geomagnetic reversal time scale on estimates of current plate motions

Charles DeMets*, Richard G. Gordon, Donald F. Argus, Seth Stein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3041 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent revisions to the geomagnetic time scale indicate that global plate motion model NUVEL‐1 should be modified for comparison with other rates of motion including those estimated from space geodetic measurements. The optimal recalibration, which is a compromise among slightly different calibrations appropriate for slow, medium, and fast rates of seafloor spreading, is to multiply NUVEL‐1 angular velocities by a constant, α, of 0.9562. We refer to this simply recalibrated plate motion model as NUVEL‐1A, and give correspondingly revised tables of angular velocities and uncertainties. Published work indicates that space geodetic rates are slower on average than those calculated from NUVEL‐1 by 6±1%. This average discrepancy is reduced to less than 2% when space geodetic rates are instead compared with NUVEL‐1A.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2191-2194
Number of pages4
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume21
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 1994

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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