Current Absolute Plate Velocities Inferred from Hotspot Tracks, Comparison with Absolute Velocities Inferred from Seismic Anisotropy, and Bounds on Rates of Motion Between Groups of Hotspots

Abstract:

 Hotspot tracks have been widely used to estimate the velocities of the plate relative to the lower mantle. Here we analyze the hotspot azimuth data set of Morgan and Phipps Morgan [2007] and show that the errors in plate velocity azimuths inferred from hotspot tracks in any one plate are correlated with the errors of other azimuths in the same plate. We use a two-tier analysis to account for this correlated error. First, we determine an individual best-fitting pole for each plate. Second, we determine the absolute plate velocity by minimizing the misfit while constrained by the MORVEL relative plate velocities [DeMets et al. 2010]. Our preferred model, HS4-MORVEL, uses azimuths from 9 major plates, which are weighted equally. We find that the Pacific plate rotates 0.860.016°Ma^-1 right handed about 63.3°S, 96.1°E. Angular velocities of four plates (Amur, Eurasia, Yangtze and Antarctic) differ insignificantly from zero. The net rotation of the lithosphere is 0.24°±0.014° Ma^-1 right handed about 52.3S, 56.9E. The angular velocities differ insignificantly from the absolute angular velocities inferred from the orientation of seismic anisotropy [Zheng et al. 2014]. The within-plate dispersion of hotspot track azimuths is 14°, which is comparable to the within-plate dispersion found from orientations of seismic anisotropy. The between-plate dispersion is 6.9±2.4° (95% confidence limits), which is smaller than that found from seismic anisotropy.

The between-plate dispersion of 4.5° to 9.3° can be used to place bounds on how fast hotspots under one plate move relative to hotspots under another plate. For an average plate absolute speed of ≈50 mm/yr, the between-plate dispersion indicates a rate of motion of 4 mm/yr to 8 mm/yr for the component of hotspot motion perpendicular to plate motion. This upper bound is consistent with prior work that indicated upper bounds on motion between Pacific hotspots and Indo-Atlantic hotspots over the past 48 Ma of 8−13 mm/yr [Koivisto et al. 2014], but differs in giving a non-zero lower bound on the rate of motion between hotspots.