Geologically current motion of 56 plates relative to the no-net-rotation reference frame

NNR-MORVEL56, which is a set of angular velocities of 56 plates relative to the unique reference frame in which there is no net rotation of the lithosphere, is determined. The relative angular velocities of 25 plates constitute the MORVEL set of geologically current relative plate angular velocities; the relative angular velocities of the other 31 plates are adapted from Bird (2003). NNR-MORVEL, a set of angular velocities of the 25 MORVEL plates relative to the no-net rotation reference frame, is also determined. Incorporating the 31 plates from Bird (2003), which constitute 2.8% of Earth's surface, changes the angular velocities of the MORVEL plates in the no-net-rotation frame only insignificantly, but…

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  National Aeronautics and Space Administration