New Model for Simulating Plate Tectonics (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

New Model for Simulating Plate Tectonics

Caption

This shows the mechanisms for the recent Virginia and Oklahoma earthquakes that occurred within the North American plate, and the 2010 Haiti Earthquake that occurred on the plate boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. Crustal stresses predicted by our models, which account for both shallow and deeper density sources, are consistent with the directions of crustal compression experienced in these earthquakes. These stress solutions provide clues about the sources of deformation within the plate boundary zones, and about the ultimate causes of crustal strain within plates. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the Feb. 17, 2012, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by A. Ghosh at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, NY, and colleagues was titled, “Plate Motions and Stresses from Global Dynamic Models.”

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