Abstract
The northward rates of motion for the central equatorial Pacific during the past 24 Myr vary between ∼20–30 mm yr−1 based on the migration of sedimentary facies, ∼30 mm yr−1 based on the age and orientation of the Hawaiian ridge, and ∼50–60 mm yr−1 based on palaeomagnetically determined sediment and basalt palaeolatitudes. To resolve the differences between hot spot and palaeomagnetic results we may need to invoke a long-term drift in the orientation of the geomagnetic field, or a northerly component of motion of the Hawaiian hot spot relative to the Earth's spin axis.
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Hammond, S., Epp, D. & Theyer, F. Neogene relative motion between the Pacific plate, the mantle, and the Earth's spin axis. Nature 278, 309–312 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/278309a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/278309a0
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