Marine Science Faculty Publications
Intratransform Origins of Mid-ocean Ridge Microplates
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1994
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022%3C0987:IOOMOR%3E2.3.CO;2
Abstract
We present evidence that the Easter and Juan Fernandez microplates originated by rift propagation from within transform fault zones at locations far from ridge-transform intersections. An intratransform spreading center may have served as the focal point for each new propagation. Both events appear coincident with a circum-Pacific plate reorganization dated at 5.6 Ma, which may have been related to a change in Pacific absolute plate motion and a counterclockwise rotation of Pacific-Nazca relative plate motion. This intratransform model may be applicable to the generation of other microplates and may thus serve as a general model for microplate origins.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Geology, v. 22, issue 11, p. 987-990
Scholar Commons Citation
Bird, Robert T. and Naar, David F., "Intratransform Origins of Mid-ocean Ridge Microplates" (1994). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 2253.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/2253
