Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A New Determination Of Pacific-Kula Relative Motions, Harold J. (Harold John) Cashman

WWU Graduate School Collection

A new method is presented and used to determine estimates of instantaneous relative motion vectors for the Pacific plate relative to the Farallon and Kula plates between magnetic chrons 34 and 24 (84 to 56 Ma). A weighted chi-square minimization technique was employed that has as input sequential magnetic anomaly picks taken from original ship-track profiles, and fracture-zone azimuths estimated from bathymetric control and offsets in magnetic lineations. Assignment of errors to the input data allows the use of critical chi-square limits to obtain confidence intervals on pole locations and their angular rates. Eleven distinctive magnetic anomalies chosen as control …