Plate tectonics from space

Abstract

Plate motion at the surface of the Earth can now be directly measured using space geodetic techniques. Measurements spread around the world are accumulating fast, and it is now possible to derive an accurate plate kinematics exclusively based on these space data. We discuss here a new map established at 1:50,000,000 scale summarizing the spectacular results of two decades of geodetic measurements pertinent to plate tectonics.