High‐resolution inversion for South Atlantic Plate kinematics using joint altimeter and magnetic anomaly data

Abstract

We present an inversion for plate kinematics that solves for finite rotation parameters using fracture zone (FZ) and magnetic anomaly location data jointly. We define misfit functions that incorporate properties unique to each data type; in particular, the FZ misfit function does not depend upon alignment of conjugate FZ traces in the same way as magnetic lineations under the finite rotations. This property is useful for FZ locations, in which the signals on conjugate sides of the ridge may include systematic differences, or where data from one side of the ridge are sparse or missing. Formal error bounds estimated for the pole parameters show that the magnetic and FZ data are complementary in their information content. Error bounds computed for the joint inversion are substantially smaller than for either the FZ or magnetics data used separately, indicating that simultaneous use of the data in an inversion is crucial. We apply this method to Seasat altimeter data and magnetic anomaly picks in the South Atlantic. We solve for finite poles corresponding to magnetic anomalies 5, 6, 8, 13, 21, 22, 25, 30, 33, 33r, and 34; these define a smooth path over the past 84 m.y. indicating that the plate motions have not been as erratic as found previously.