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A no‐net‐rotation model of present‐day surface motions
Author(s) -
Kreemer Corné,
Holt William E.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl013232
Subject(s) - geology , rotation (mathematics) , deformation (meteorology) , geodesy , surface (topology) , angular velocity , boundary (topology) , vector field , geometry , physics , mathematics , classical mechanics , mathematical analysis , oceanography
A significant portion of the Earth's surface consists of zones of diffuse deformation. The interior regions of these diffuse zones of deformation move at distinctly different velocities from that of adjacent plates, and, because of their complexities, have been ignored in previous no‐net‐rotation (NNR) models. We have calculated a new NNR model from a continuous velocity field that incorporates both rigid plate motion and velocity gradients within plate boundary zones. When compared with earlier NNR models we find significantly different angular velocities for many plates. Differences between the NNR model presented here and earlier NNR models can be attributed to the effect of including velocity gradients in diffuse plate boundary zones as well as to the actual differences between geodetically derived surface motions and geologic estimates.