C. Demets et al., EFFECT OF RECENT REVISIONS TO THE GEOMAGNETIC REVERSAL TIME-SCALE ON ESTIMATES OF CURRENT PLATE MOTIONS, Geophysical research letters, 21(20), 1994, pp. 2191-2194
Recent revisions to the geomagnetic time scale indicate that global pl
ate motion model NUVEL-1 should be modified for comparison with other
rates of motion including those estimated from space geodetic measurem
ents. 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 co
nstant, alpha, of 0.9562. We refer to this simply recalibrated plate m
otion model as NUVEL-1A, and give correspondingly revised tables of an
gular velocities and uncertainties. Published work indicates that spac
e geodetic rates are slower on average than those calculated from NUVE
L-1 by 6+/-1%. This average discrepancy is reduced to less than 2% whe
n space geodetic rates are instead compared with NUVEL-1A.