1994/10/01 by Charles DeMets, Richard G. Gordon, Donald F. Argus +1 · 3,486 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #earthquake and tectonic studies #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Geology #Geodetic datum #Earth's magnetic field #Geodesy #Plate tectonics #Seismology #Geomagnetic reversal #Geophysics #Tectonics #Magnetic field #Physics
paper · doi:10.1029/94gl02118
published in Geophysical Research Letters 21(20), 2191-2194 (American Geophysical Union)
openalex publication_date 1994/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Recent revisions to the geomagnetic time scale indicate that global plate motion model NUVEL‐1 should be modified for comparison with other rates of motion including those estimated from space geodetic measurements. The optimal recalibration, which is a compromise among slightly different calibrations appropriate for slow, medium, and fast rates of seafloor spreading, is to multiply NUVEL‐1 angular velocities by a constant, α, of 0.9562. We refer to this simply recalibrated plate motion model as NUVEL‐1A, and give correspondingly revised tables of angular velocities and uncertainties. Published work indicates that space geodetic rates are slower on average than those calculated from NUVEL‐1 by 6±1%. This average discrepancy is reduced to less than 2% when space geodetic rates are instead compared with NUVEL‐1A.