The relative motion between Africa and Eurasia as derived from ITRF2000 and GPS data

[1] Studies of intra- and inter-plate deformation typically need a model describing the motions of the stable part of the tectonic plates for reference purposes. We have developed DEOS2k, a model for the current motion of seven major tectonic plates derived from space-geodetic observations. This paper focuses on relative motion between Africa and Eurasia. In the past, this motion has been poorly established because of poor data coverage for Africa. DEOS2k is based on ITRF2000 [Altamimi et al., 2002] and new African GPS observations. It is an improvement over the NUVEL-1A model for predicting the present-day relative motions of these two plates. DEOS2k predicts in northeastern Africa that Africa-Eurasia relative motion is about 40% smaller in magnitude than NUVEL-1A and trends more to the northwest. This is consistent with independent local geodetic observations. A similar shift in orientation, clockwise, is observed at the western tip of the plate boundary.

[1]  G. Westbrook,et al.  A seismic reflection and GLORIA study of compressional deformation in the Gorringe Bank region, eastern North Atlantic , 1999 .

[2]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  No-net-rotation model of current plate velocities incorporating plate motion model NUVEL-1 , 1991 .

[3]  J. Zumberge,et al.  Precise point positioning for the efficient and robust analysis of GPS data from large networks , 1997 .

[4]  Demitris Paradissis,et al.  Global Positioning System constraints on plate kinematics and dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean and Caucasus , 2000 .

[5]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  Current plate motions , 1990 .

[6]  Wen-yao Zhu,et al.  Global plate motion models incorporating the velocity field of ITRF96 , 1999 .

[7]  C. Vigny,et al.  Observing plate motions in S.E. Asia: Geodetic results of the GEODYSSEA Project , 1999 .

[8]  Jeffrey T. Freymueller,et al.  Global Plate Velocities from the Global Positioning System , 1997 .

[9]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  Evidence for motion between Nubia and Somalia along the Southwest Indian ridge , 1999, Nature.

[10]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  Effect of recent revisions to the geomagnetic reversal time scale on estimates of current plate motions , 1994 .

[11]  Axel Nothnagel,et al.  The terrestrial reference frame and the dynamic Earth , 2001 .

[12]  J. Royer,et al.  Location of the Nubia-Somalia boundary along the Southwest Indian Ridge , 2002 .

[13]  K. Larson,et al.  Secular and tidal strain across the Main Ethiopian Rift , 1999 .

[14]  H. Drewes.  Global Plate Motion Parameters Derived from Actual Space Geodetic Observations , 1990 .

[15]  L. Matias,et al.  Tectonic setting of the Azores Plateau deduced from a OBS survey , 1998 .

[16]  W. Spakman,et al.  Subduction and slab detachment in the Mediterranean-Carpathian region. , 2000, Science.

[17]  P. Bird,et al.  Thin‐shell modeling of neotectonics in the Azores‐Gibraltar Region , 2001 .

[18]  M. L. Somers,et al.  A Continuous East-West Fault on the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge , 1972, Nature.

[19]  Timothy H. Dixon,et al.  REVEL: A model for Recent plate velocities from space geodesy , 2002 .

[20]  Zuheir Altamimi,et al.  ITRF2000: A new release of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame for earth science applications , 2002 .