Geologically current plate motions

We describe best-fitting angular velocities and MORVEL, a new closure-enforced set of angular velocities for the geologically current motions of 25 tectonic plates that collectively occupy 97 per cent of Earth's surface. Seafloor spreading rates and fault azimuths are used to determine the motions of 19 plates bordered by mid-ocean ridges, including all the major plates. Six smaller plates with little or no connection to the mid-ocean ridges are linked to MORVEL with GPS station velocities and azimuthal data. By design, almost no kinematic information is exchanged between the geologically determined and geodetically constrained subsets of the global circuit-MORVEL thus averages motion over geological intervals…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 0453219, 0453113, 0735156, EAR-0735156
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Awards: EAR-0735156, 0735156