The Malpelo Plate Hypothesis and implications for nonclosure of the Cocos-Nazca-Pacific plate motion circuit

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dc.citation.firstpage8213en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber16en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleGeophysical Research Lettersen_US
dc.citation.lastpage8218en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber44en_US
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Tuoen_US
dc.contributor.authorGordon, Richard G.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMishra, Jay K.en_US
dc.contributor.authorWang, Chengzuen_US
dc.date.accessioned2017-10-27T15:22:49Zen_US
dc.date.available2017-10-27T15:22:49Zen_US
dc.date.issued2017en_US
dc.description.abstractUsing global multiresolution topography, we estimate new transform-fault azimuths along the Cocos-Nazca plate boundary and show that the direction of relative plate motion is 3.3° ± 1.8° (95% confidence limits) clockwise of prior estimates. The new direction of Cocos-Nazca plate motion is, moreover, 4.9° ± 2.7° (95% confidence limits) clockwise of the azimuth of the Panama transform fault. We infer that the plate east of the Panama transform fault is not the Nazca plate but instead is a microplate that we term the Malpelo plate. With the improved transform-fault data, the nonclosure of the Nazca-Cocos-Pacific plate motion circuit is reduced from 15.0 mm a−1 ± 3.8 mm a−1 to 11.6 mm a−1 ± 3.8 mm a−1 (95% confidence limits). The nonclosure seems too large to be due entirely to horizontal thermal contraction of oceanic lithosphere and suggests that one or more additional plate boundaries remain to be discovered.en_US
dc.identifier.citationZhang, Tuo, Gordon, Richard G., Mishra, Jay K., et al.. "The Malpelo Plate Hypothesis and implications for nonclosure of the Cocos-Nazca-Pacific plate motion circuit." <i>Geophysical Research Letters,</i> 44, no. 16 (2017) Wiley: 8213-8218. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073704.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073704en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/97825en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherWileyen_US
dc.rightsArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.en_US
dc.titleThe Malpelo Plate Hypothesis and implications for nonclosure of the Cocos-Nazca-Pacific plate motion circuiten_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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