A GLOBAL ISOCHRON CHART

by

J.-Y. Royer, R.D. Müller, L.M. Gahagan,
L.A. Lawver, C.L. Mayes, D. Nürnberg and J.G. Sclater

University of Texas Institute for Geophysics
Technical Report No. 117, 1992

Introduction
Color images of plate reconstruction with isochrons
References for coastlines, sutures, continental margins
References for plate boundaries
References for satellite interpretations
References for ship-track data by region
Finite rotations used to reconstruct isochrons
References

Introduction

The Paleoceanographic Mapping Project (POMP) began in 1984 as a global, plate reconstruction project at the University of Texas at Austin Institute for Geophysics (UTIG). Sponsored by a consortium of oil companies, the original goals of POMP were to:
By the end of the project in April, 1991, POMP had succeeded in achieving these goals. POMP had provided its sponsors with both the data base and a comprehensive, self-consistent plate motion model which described the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of the world's major ocean basins. The data base included tectonic lineations interpreted from Seasat and Geosat altimeter data, which permitted greatly improved reconstructions. The accuracy of the reconstructions exceeded original expectations, and a well-constrained plate model of the major ocean basins was developed.

In July of 1989, members of the POMP research team presented the POMP database and plate model at the 28th International Geological Congress in Washington, D.C. Included in their presentation was a series of isochrons constructed using the data base and plate model. This report is meant to serve as documentation of that presentation and of some of the results of POMP itself.

Figure 1 shows magnetic and fracture zone lineations from 1) ship data in the POMP database (data sources are listed by region below) and 2) and from Seasat and Geosat satellite altimetry data.

Color images of plate reconstruction with isochrons

Figure 3 is a present-day map of isochrons and the current plate boundaries dividing the tectonic plates. Plate reconstructions and isochrons were constructed for the following anomaly times (chrons): 5 (9.7 Ma), 6 (20.1 Ma), 13 (33.1 Ma), 18 (40.1 Ma), 21 (47.9 Ma), 25 (55.9 Ma), 31 (67.7 Ma), 34 (83.5 Ma), M0 (120.4 Ma), M4 (126.7 Ma), M10N (131.9 Ma), M16 (139.6 Ma), M21 (147.7 Ma), M25 (154.3 Ma), M29 (168.0 Ma), and 180 Ma.

References for coastlines, sutures, continental margins

Barker and Lawver, 1986
Bott, 1987
Buffler et al., 1981
Case and Holcombe, 1980
Dunbar and Sawyer, 1986
Eldholm and Thiede, 1987
Emery and Uchupi, 1984
Fischer et al., 1971
General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, 1981
Hayes and Taylor, 1978
Johnson and Holmes, 1989
Kroenke et al., 1983
Ladd, 1974
Larsen, 1984
New Zealand Geological Survey, 1972
Nürnberg and Müller, 1991
Otsuki and Ehiro, 1979
Piccirillo et al., 1988
Roest and Srivastava, 1989
Royer, 1987
Royer and Sandwell, 1989
Srivastava and Roest, 1989
Veevers, 1986
Veevers et al., 1985
World Data Bank #2 (CIA), 19??
Ziegler, 1982

References for plate boundaries

Barker, 1982
Cande et al., 1982
Cande et al., 1988
Cochran, 1981
Curray et al., 1979
Fischer et al., 1971
Guennoc et al., 1988
Hayes and Taylor, 1978
Hamilton, 1978
Hill and Hayward, 1988
Jennings, 1961
Johnson and Holmes, 1989
Klitgord and Schouten, 1986
Klitgord and Mammerickx, 1983
Larson et al., 1985
Mejorada, 1976
New Zealand Geological Survey, 1972
Otsuki and Ehiro, 1979
Packhorn, 1982
Rosencrantz et al., 1988
Ross and Scotese, 1988
Royer et al., 1988
Searle, 1980

References for satellite interpretations

Gahagan et al., 1988
Mayes et al., 1990
Nürnberg & Müller , 1991
Royer et al., 1989

References for ship-track data by region

Arctic Ocean

Canadian Hydrographic Service, 1981
Klitgord and Schouten, 1986
Ohta, 1982
Perry et al., 1985

North Atlantic Ocean

Barker and Lawver, 1986
Bott, 1987
Canadian Hydrographic Service, 1981
Eldholm and Thiede, 1987
Emery and Uchupi, 1984
Hill and Hayward, 1988
Klitgord and Schouten, 1986
Larsen, 1984
Perry et al., 1985
Roest and Srivastava, 1989
Ziegler, P.A., 1982

Caribbean

Buffler et al., 1981
Case and Holcombe, 1980
Mejorada, P., 1976
Rosencrantz et al., 1988

South Atlantic Ocean

Barker and Lawver, 1986
Cande et al., 1988
Emery and Uchupi, 1984
LaBrecque and Cande, 1986
LaBrecque and Hayes, 1979
Ladd, 1974
Martin et al., 1982
Nürnberg and Müller,1991
Rabinowitz and LaBrecque, 1979

Indian Ocean

Barker and Lawver, 1986
Barker and Lawver, 1986
Bergh, pers. comm.
Bergh, 1987
Cochran, 1988
Cochran, 1981
Davies et al., 1974
Fisher et al., 1971
General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, 1981
Goodlad et al., 1982
Guennoc et al., 1988
Karasik et al., 1986
LaBrecque and Hayes, 1979
Larson et al., 1978
Liu et al., 1982
Markl, 1974
Markl, 1978
McKenzie and Sclater, 1971
Mohr and Zannettin, 1988
Norton and Sclater, 1979
Patriat, 1987
Patriat, 1987
Rabinowitz and LaBrecque, 1979
Royer et al., 1988
Royer and Sandwell, 1989
Schlich, 1982
Schlich et al., 1987
Sclater et al., 1976
Segoufin, 1981
Segoufin and Patriat, 1981
Tapscott et al., 1980
Veevers, 1986
Veevers et al., 1985
Vogt et al., 1983
Weissel and Hayes, 1972
Whitmarsh, 1974
Whitmarsh et al., 1974

North Pacific Ocean

Cande et al., 1978
Caress et al., 1988
Currie et al., 1982
Elvers et al., 1967
Elvers et al., 1972
Hilde et al., 1976
Klitgord and Mammerickx, 1982
Lonsdale, 1988
Mammerickx et al., 1976
Mammerickx et al., 1988
Mammerickx and Sharman, 1988
Nakanishi et al., 1989
Nakanishi et al., 1992
Raff and Mason, 1961
Sharman and Risch, 1988
Tamaki et al., 1979
Tamaki et al., 1979
Theberge, 1971

Central Pacific Ocean

Handschumacher, 1976
Handschumacher et al.,1981
Herron,1972
Klitgord and Mammerickx, 1983
Mammerickx et al., 1980
Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1987

South Pacific Ocean

Cande et al., 1982
Christofel and Falconer, 1972
Molnar et al., 1975
Weissel et al., 1977

Southeast Asia

Burns et al., 1973
Hamilton, 1978
Hayes and Taylor, 1978
Mammerickx et al., 1976

Finite rotations used to reconstruct isochrons

ATLANTIC OCEAN INDIAN OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN

REFERENCE FRAME

ATLANTIC OCEAN (other ocean)

INDIAN OCEAN(other ocean)

PACIFIC OCEAN (other ocean)

References



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