Plate kinematic constraints on driving forces associated with the Reunion plume head

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

In the 1960s the advent of plate tectonics revolutionized our understanding of how the Earth works ? why earthquakes and volcanoes occur where they do, and much about metal deposits, among other things. The primary force that moves plates is known to be gravity tugging on plates where the plunge into the Earth?s interior, but it has long been suspected that rising columns of mantle material (mantle plumes) in the interior also affect plate motions. The proponents of this proposal have uncovered evidence that that the plume that gave rise to the Reunion hotspot in the Indian Ocean also produced forces that affected the motions of India and Africa. This project takes a novel approach to analyzing the history plate motions, particularly Africa, to assess the influence of the plume. The principal broader impacts of this work will be a better understanding of the forces that shape the Earth in general and the tectonic evolution of Africa and southern Asia in particular.