The N Plate problem of plate tectonics
Open accessAbstract
Plate tectonics theory is used to develop a least squares method for finding all the relative motions of any n interacting plates simultaneously. The method ensures internal consistency of results and allows full use to be made of data on relative movement of plates. The least squares fitting criteria are chosen to avoid ambiguity. Relative motions of eight major plates of the world are calculated in preliminary form, and regional and global rates of creation and destruction of lithosphere are derived from these motions.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In a three-dimensional model of relative angular velocities, plates without attached slabs lie close to each other in angular velocity space and are joined by short vectors, whereas the Indian, Pacific and Nasca vertices are distant from each other and from the other major plates.
“If a three-dimensional model of the relative angular velocities between the major plates is constructed from the values given by Chase (1972) or by Minster et al. (1974), plates without slabs attached lie close to each other in anguIar veIocity space and are joined by short vectors, whereas the Indian, Pacific and Nasca vertices are all distant from both each other and the other major plates (McK”
From Speculations on the Thermal and Tectonic History of the Earth (2007) · cites this paper as Chase (1972)
Sclater and Francheteau obtained a value of about 4 x 10^13 W, agreeing with a more accurate estimate using Chase's plate creation rate of 2.9 km^2 per year.
“ScIater & Francheteau (1970) obtained a value of about 4 x 10”
From Speculations on the Thermal and Tectonic History of the Earth (2007) · cites this paper as Chase's (1972)
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Sea-floor spreading and continental drift
Pichon, X. L. (1968) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jb073i012p03661 · Cited by 1,529 · see citing works
Rises, trenches, great faults, and crustal blocks
Morgan, W. J. (1968) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jb073i006p01959 · Cited by 1,293 · see citing works
Heirtzler, J. R., Dickson, G. O., Herron, E. M., Pitman, W. C., & Pichon, X. L. (1968) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jb073i006p02119 · Cited by 1,196 · see citing works
The evolution of the Indian Ocean since the late Cretaceous
McKenzie, D., & Sclater, J. G. (1971) · Geophysical Journal International · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1971.tb02190.x · Cited by 929 · see citing works
The North Pacific: an Example of Tectonics on a Sphere
McKenzie, D., & Parker, R. L. (1967) · Nature · doi:10.1038/2161276a0 · Cited by 856 · see citing works
Tectonic History of the Fiji Plateau
Chase, C. G. (1971) · Geological Society of America Bulletin · doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1971)82[3087:thotfp]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Deffeyes, K. S., 1970. The axial valley, a steady-state feature of the terrain, The Megatectonics of Continents and Oceans, p. 194, eds H. Johnson and B. L. Smith, Rutgers University Press.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Numerical Modelling of Instantaneous Plate Tectonics
Minster, J. B., Jordan, T. H., Molnar, P., & Haines, E. (1974) · Geophysical Journal International · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1974.tb00613.x · Cited by 795 · see citing works
Speculations on the Thermal and Tectonic History of the Earth
McKenzie, D., & Weiss, N. (2007) · Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1975.tb05855.x · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Gravity, bathymetry and convection in the Earth
Anderson, R. N., McKenzie, D., & Sclater, J. G. (1973) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(73)90095-2 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
- Authors
- Chase, C. G.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chase, C. G.
- Venue
- Geophysical Journal International
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1972-08-01
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 117-122
- ISSN
- 0956-540X (ISSN-L)
- 1365-246X
- OpenAlex
- W2105684256
- Cited by
- 211
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 13.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Geophysical Journal International (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › earthquake and tectonic studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geophysical Studies Worldwide
- Keywords
- plate tectonics, relative plate motion, least squares fitting, internal consistency, plate motion
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
