Klein EM, Smith DK, Williams CM, Schouten H. Counter-rotating microplates at the Galapagos triple junction.
Nature 2005;
433:855-8. [PMID:
15729339 DOI:
10.1038/nature03262]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2004] [Accepted: 11/30/2004] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
An 'incipient' spreading centre east of (and orthogonal to) the East Pacific Rise at 2 degrees 40' N has been identified as forming a portion of the northern boundary of the Galapagos microplate. This spreading centre was described as a slowly diverging, westward propagating rift, tapering towards the East Pacific Rise. Here we present evidence that the 'incipient rift' has also rifted towards the east and opens anticlockwise about a pivot at its eastern end. The 'incipient rift' then bounds a second microplate, north of the clockwise-rotating Galapagos microplate. The Galapagos triple junction region, in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, thus consists of two counter-rotating microplates partly separated by the Hess Deep rift. Our kinematic solution for microplate motion relative to the major plates indicates that the two counter-rotating microplates may be treated as rigid blocks driven by drag on the microplates' edges3.
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