Improving Earth Models (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Improving Earth Models

Caption

Simulated tectonic plate motion (arrows) was computed from a global flow model of the earth's interior. Shown are the Pacific and the Australian plate, as well as micro-plates in the southwest Pacific. The model shows rapid trench roll-back of the New Hebrides and Tonga micro-plate (center of the plot), as observed in measurements. Trench rollback is caused by a complex interplay of forces caused by slabs descending into the mantle. This image relates to an article that appeared in the Aug. 27, 2010, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Georg Stadler of The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, and colleagues was titled, "The Dynamics of Plate Tectonics and Mantle Flow: From Local to Global Scales."

Credit

Image by Georg Stadler, University of Texas at Austin

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