"Dynamic Kinematics": Towards Linking Earth's Plate Motions to the Evolution of Global Mantle Flow

The theory of plate tectonics has been one of the major breakthroughs in solid-Earth science and is capable of explaining many of the tectonic processes on present-day Earth. Moreover, it allows us to reconstruct Earth’s tectonic history back until times of the supercontinent Pangaea and thus improves our understanding how Earth developed to its present state. However, plate tectonics remains a kinematic theory that does not sufficiently incorporate the balance of forces in the Earth’s mantle and can thus not explain the motion of Earth’s tectonic plates in a dynamically consistent manner.

Here, we use fully dynamic models of mantle convection in global spherical geometry to overcome this issue. These models include tectonic plates self-consistently evolving from mantle flow (using a viscoplastic rheology) as well as continental drift. We analyze the evolution of plate velocities over time periods considerably longer than those covered by modern plate reconstructions. We observe significant changes in plate velocity magnitude and direction over timescales relevant for the Earth. While some of these plate reorganizations appear to be rather local affecting only very few plates, others seem to have more global consequences.

We characterize the variety of different reorganizations based on features of modeled spreading centers and subduction zones, for instance the flux of slab material into the lower mantle. Initial results suggest that global changes in plate configuration correlate with phases of major slab penetration into the lower mantle, while changes on individual plate-scale do not necessarily do so.