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Tectonic microplates in a wax model of sea-floor spreading

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Published 1 February 2005 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
, , Citation Richard F Katz et al 2005 New J. Phys. 7 37DOI 10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/037

1367-2630/7/1/37

Abstract

Rotating, growing microplates are observed in a wax analogue model of sea-floor spreading. Wax microplates are kinematically similar to sea-floor tectonic microplates in terms of spreading rate and growth rate. Furthermore, their spiral pseudofault geometry is quantitatively consistent with Schouten's oceanic microplate model. These results suggest that Schouten's edge-driven microplate model captures the kinematics of tectonic microplate evolution on Earth. Based on the wax observations, a theory for the nucleation of overlapping spreading centres, the precursors of tectonic microplates, is developed.

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10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/037
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