The Nazca-South America Euler vector and its rate of change

Authors

Eric Kendrick, School of Ocean and Earth Science and TechnologyFollow
Michael Bevis, School of Ocean and Earth Science and TechnologyFollow
Robert Smalley, University of Memphis
Benjamin Brooks, School of Ocean and Earth Science and TechnologyFollow
Rodrigo Barriga Vargas, Instituto Geográfico Militar
Eduardo Lauría, Instituto Geográfico Militar de Argentina
Luiz Paulo Souto Fortes, Inst. Bras. de Geogr./Estat.Follow

Abstract

We present velocities relative to the South American plate for five GPS stations on the Nazca plate and use these measurements to estimate the modern Euler vector. We find a pole at 55.8°N, 92.5°W with a rotation rate of 0.60 °/Myr. Because the GPS station at Easter Island appears to be moving at approximately 6.6 mm/yr relative to the other Nazca stations, we repeat our analysis with this station excluded from the inversion to obtain a second and preferred result (called CAP10) with a pole at 61.0°N, 94.4°W and a rate of 0.57 °/Myr. We compare these results with published finite rotation vectors and infer that during the past 10-20 Myrs, the Nazca-South America rotation rate has decelerated by 0.04°-0.06 °/Myr2. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Publication Title

Journal of South American Earth Sciences

Recommended Citation

Kendrick, E., Bevis, M., Smalley, R., Brooks, B., Vargas, R., Lauría, E., & Fortes, L. (2003). The Nazca-South America Euler vector and its rate of change. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 16 (2), 125-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0895-9811(03)00028-2