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On the Relative Importance of the Driving Forces of Plate Motion
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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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“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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Funiciello, F., Faccenna, C., Giardini, D., & Regenauer‐Lieb, K. (2003) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2001jb000896 · Cited by 279
On the evolution of marginal basins
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Observations of flexure and the geological evolution of the Pacific Ocean basin
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Mantle circulation and the lateral migration of subducted slabs
Garfunkel, Z., Anderson, C. A., & Schubert, G. (1986) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jb091ib07p07205 · Cited by 268
Thermal evolution models for the Earth
Christensen, U. R. (1985) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jb090ib04p02995 · Cited by 262
Magnetic Field Reversals, Polar Wander, and Core-Mantle Coupling
Courtillot, V. E., & Besse, J. (1987) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.237.4819.1140 · Cited by 261
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“, 2007; Doglioni and Panza, 2015), slab pull and ridge push forces (Forsyth and Uyeda, 1975; Stadler et al., 2010), the dynamics driven by mantle drag (Conrad and Lithgow-Bertelloni, 2006), and radial (Phillips and Bunge, 2005) and lateral viscosity contrasts (Stadler et al.”
BackgroundExtensional processes in continental lithosphere
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Developing plate tectonics theory from oceanic subduction zones to collisional orogens
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“At that time, there were different viewpoins on the driving mechanisms of plate motion (Runcorn, 1962; Elsasser, 1971; Forsyth and Uyeda, 1975), including the convection of asthenospheric mantle, pulling by downgoing slabs, pushing from mid-ocean ridges, and suction toward trench.”
BackgroundEffects of plate bending and fault strength at subduction zones on plate dynamics
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The role of magma in the development of the Afro-Arabian Rift System
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Metadata
- 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
- 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
- bronze
- doi.org
- 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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