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Cited by 1,673earthquake and tectonic studiesGeological and Geophysical StudiesHigh-pressure geophysics and materials

On the relative importance of the driving forces of plate motion

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Forsyth, D., Uyeda, S.·1975·Geophysical Journal International
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1975.tb00631.x
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Abstract

A number of possible mechanisms have recently been proposed for driving the motions of the lithospheric plates, such as pushing from mid-ocean ridges, pulling by downgoing slabs, suction toward trenches, and coupling of the plates to flow in the mantle. We advance a new observational method of testing these theories of the driving mechanism. Our basic approach is to solve the inverse problem of determining the relative strength of the plausible driving forces, given the observed motions and geometries of the lithospheric plates. Since the inertia of the plates is negligible, each plate must be in dynamic equilibrium, so that the sum of the torques acting on a plate must be zero. Thus, our problem is to determine the relative sizes of the forces that minimize the components of net torque on each plate. The results indicate that the forces acting on the downgoing slab control the velocity of the oceanic plates and are an order of magnitude stronger than any other force. Namely, all the oceanic plates attached to substantial amounts of downgoing slabs move with a ‘terminal velocity’ at which the gravitational body force pulling the slabs downward is nearly balanced with the resistance acting on the slab; regardless of the other features of the trailing horizontal part of the plates. The drag on the bottom of the plates which resist motion is stronger under the continents than under the oceans.

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  • The gravitational pull of subducting slabs is the dominant driving force for surface plate motion.

    “with the gravitational pull of subducting slabs now understood to be the dominant driving force for surface plate motion”

    From Secular change and the onset of plate tectonics on Earth (2020) · cites this paper as Forsyth and Uyeda, 1975

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Alexander, S. S., 1974. Comparison of crust and mantle structure beneath shields and the influence of shields on the dynamics of plate motions, EOS, Trans. Am. geophys. Un., 55,358-359.
  2. S . K. Runcorn, Wiley-Interscience, New York.
  3. McKenzie, D. P., 1972. Plate tectonics in The Nature of the Solid Earth, 323-360, ed. E. C. Robertson, McGraw-Hill, New York.
  4. Tullis, T. E. & Chapple, W. M., 1973. What makes the plates go, Trans. Am. geophys. Un., 54, 468 (abstfact only).
  5. Wilson, J. T. & Burke, K., 1973. Plate tectonics and plume mechanics, EOS, Trans. Am. geophys. Un., 54, 238-239.

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Authors
Forsyth, D., & Uyeda, S.
Affiliations
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
  • Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (US)
ORCID
Forsyth, D.
Venue
Geophysical Journal International
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1975-10-01
Volume
43
Issue
1
Pages
163-200
ISSN
  • 0956-540X (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-246X
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-246x.1975.tb00631.x
OpenAlex
W2011893217
Cited by
1,673
References
86
Citations by year
2026: 33 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 78 · 2022: 64 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 73 · 2017: 60 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 50 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 37
FWCI
23.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Geophysical Journal International (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Office of Naval Research (N00014)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › earthquake and tectonic studies
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › High-pressure geophysics and materials
Keywords
plate motion, plate driving forces, slab pull, inverse problems, plate tectonics

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