Quantification of Plate Motion Relative to the Hotspots

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Gordon 0527375 This project is an investigation of the motions of the plates relative to the hotspots and of the uncertainties in those motions. The project will build on previous results and will: incorporate more hotspot tracks, construct models of seafloor isochrons for modeling hotspot tracts that have interacted with mid-ocean ridges, simultaneously invert global hotspot tracks for five key anomalies, apply the models further back in time, test the fixity of Pacific hotspots relative to Atlantic hotspots for three ages using paleomagnetic data, and test alternative global relative plate motion circuits. Broader impacts include graduate and undergraduate education and making techniques and computer programs freely available to the community, which are fairly average.