GPS geodetic constraints on Caribbean‐North America Plate Motion

We describe a model for Caribbean plate motion based on GPS velocities of four sites in the plate interior and two azimuths of the Swan Islands transform fault. The data are well fit by a single angular velocity, with average misfits approximately equal to the 1.5–3.0 mm yr−1 velocity uncertainties. The new model predicts Caribbean‐North America motion ∼65% faster than predicted by NUVEL‐1A, averaging 18–20±3 mm yr−1 (2σ) at various locations along the plate boundary. The data are best fit by a rotation pole that predicts obliquely convergent motion along the plate boundary east of Cuba, but are fit poorly by a suite of previously published models that predict strike‐slip motion in this region. The data suggest an approximate upper bound of 4–6 mm yr−1 for internal deformation of the Caribbean plate, although rigorous estimates await more precise and additional velocities from sites in the plate interior.

[1]  T. Dixon,et al.  Neotectonics of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, northeastern Caribbean, from GPS geodesy , 2000 .

[2]  T. Dixon,et al.  New kinematic models for Pacific‐North America motion from 3 Ma to present, I: Evidence for steady motion and biases in the NUVEL‐1A Model , 1999 .

[3]  C. Ma,et al.  VLBI measurements of Caribbean and South American Motion , 1999 .

[4]  T. Dixon,et al.  Noise in GPS coordinate time series , 1999 .

[5]  C. Boucher,et al.  The ITRF96 realization and its associated velocity field , 1998 .

[6]  T. Dixon,et al.  Relative motion between the Caribbean and North American plates and related boundary zone deformation from a decade of GPS observations , 1998 .

[7]  G. Burr,et al.  Tectonic geomorphology and paleoseismology of the Septentrional fault system, Dominican Republic , 1998 .

[8]  D. Wald,et al.  Active tectonics of the north-central Caribbean: Oblique collision, strain partitioning, and opposing subducted slabs , 1998 .

[9]  John Langbein,et al.  Continuous monitoring of surface deformation at Long Valley Caldera, California, with GPS , 1997 .

[10]  É. Calais,et al.  Tectonic and Kinematic Regime along the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary: New Insights from Broad-band Modeling of the May 25, 1992, Ms = 6.9 Cabo Cruz, Cuba, Earthquake , 1997 .

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

[12]  S. Leroy,et al.  Intraplate deformation in the caribbean region , 1996 .

[13]  L. Sykes,et al.  Determination of Euler pole for contemporary relative motion of Caribbean and North American plates using slip vectors of interplate earthquakes , 1995 .

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

[15]  É. Calais,et al.  SEMIQUANTITATIVE MODELING OF STRAIN AND KINEMATICS ALONG THE CARIBBEAN/NORTH AMERICA STRIKE-SLIP PLATE BOUNDARY ZONE , 1993 .

[16]  P. Mann,et al.  SeaMARC II mapping of transform faults in the Cayman Trough, Caribbean Sea , 1991 .

[17]  M. Summerfield.  Tectonic geomorphology , 1991 .

[18]  P. Mann,et al.  Geologic evaluation of plate kinematic models for the North American-Caribbean plate boundary zone , 1991 .

[19]  É. Calais,et al.  From transtension to transpression along the northern Caribbean plate boundary off Cuba: implications for the Recent motion of the Caribbean plate , 1991 .

[20]  S. Ward.  Pacific-North America plate motions - New results from very long baseline interferometry , 1990 .

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

[22]  S. Stein,et al.  A test of alternative Caribbean Plate relative motion models , 1988 .

[23]  Thomas H. Jordan,et al.  Present‐day plate motions , 1977 .

[24]  T. Jordan.  The present‐day motions of the Caribbean Plate , 1975 .