Analysis of plate spin motion and its implications for strength of plate boundary

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the driving forces of plate motion, especially those of plate spin motion, that are related to the toroidal components of the global plate velocity field. In previous works, numerical simulations of mantle convection have been used to examine the extent to which toroidal velocity components are naturally generated on the surface, by varying key parameters, notably the rheological properties of plates and plate boundaries. Here, we take the reverse approach and perform analyses of observed plate motions, which show an increase in the toroidal/poloidal ratio at high degrees of spherical harmonic expansion, as well as a rapid change in the plate spin rate and the estimated driving stress around a critical plate size of approximately 1000 km. This quantitative relationship constrains the strength at plate boundaries to 3-75 MPa, which is consistent with several seismological observations, including those from the NE Japan arc associated with the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.