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Klein EM, Smith DK, Williams CM, et al. Counter-rotating microplates at the Galapagos triple junction. Nature. 2005;433(7028):855-8doi: 10.1038/nature03262.
Klein, E. M., Smith, D. K., Williams, C. M., & Schouten, H. (2005). Counter-rotating microplates at the Galapagos triple junction. Nature, 433(7028), 855-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03262
Klein, Emily M, et al. "Counter-rotating microplates at the Galapagos triple junction." Nature vol. 433,7028 (2005): 855-8. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03262
Klein EM, Smith DK, Williams CM, Schouten H. Counter-rotating microplates at the Galapagos triple junction. Nature. 2005 Feb 24;433(7028):855-8. doi: 10.1038/nature03262. PMID: 15729339.
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Nature. 2005 Feb 24;433(7028):855-8. doi: 10.1038/nature03262.

Counter-rotating microplates at the Galapagos triple junction.

Nature

Emily M Klein, Deborah K Smith, Clare M Williams, Hans Schouten

Affiliations

  1. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0227, USA. [email protected]

PMID: 15729339 DOI: 10.1038/nature03262

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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