Neogene relative motion between the Pacific plate, the mantle, and the Earth's spin axis

Abstract

The northward rates of motion for the central equatorial Pacific during the past 24 Myr vary between ∼20–30 mm yr−1 based on the migration of sedimentary facies, ∼30 mm yr−1 based on the age and orientation of the Hawaiian ridge, and ∼50–60 mm yr−1 based on palaeomagnetically determined sediment and basalt palaeolatitudes. To resolve the differences between hot spot and palaeomagnetic results we may need to invoke a long-term drift in the orientation of the geomagnetic field, or a northerly component of motion of the Hawaiian hot spot relative to the Earth's spin axis.