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Pacific plate motion change caused the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend

Author

Listed:
  • Trond H. Torsvik

    (Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo
    Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ
    NGU Geodynamics
    School of Geosciences, University of Witwatersrand)

  • Pavel V. Doubrovine

    (Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo)

  • Bernhard Steinberger

    (Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo
    Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ)

  • Carmen Gaina

    (Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo)

  • Wim Spakman

    (Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo
    University of Utrecht)

  • Mathew Domeier

    (Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo)

Abstract

A conspicuous 60° bend of the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain in the north-western Pacific Ocean has variously been interpreted as the result of an abrupt Pacific plate motion change in the Eocene (∼47 Ma), a rapid southward drift of the Hawaiian hotspot before the formation of the bend, or a combination of these two causes. Palaeomagnetic data from the Emperor Seamounts prove ambiguous for constraining the Hawaiian hotspot drift, but mantle flow modelling suggests that the hotspot drifted 4–9° south between 80 and 47 Ma. Here we demonstrate that southward hotspot drift cannot be a sole or dominant mechanism for formation of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend (HEB). While southward hotspot drift has resulted in more northerly positions of the Emperor Seamounts as they are observed today, formation of the HEB cannot be explained without invoking a prominent change in the direction of Pacific plate motion around 47 Ma.

Suggested Citation

  • Trond H. Torsvik & Pavel V. Doubrovine & Bernhard Steinberger & Carmen Gaina & Wim Spakman & Mathew Domeier, 2017. "Pacific plate motion change caused the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15660
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15660
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