Digital isochrons of the world’s ocean floor

Digital isochrons of the world’s ocean floor

VOL. 102, NO. B2, PAGES 3211-3214, FEBRUARY 10, 1997 | R. Dietmar Müller,1 Walter R. Roest,2 Jean-Yves Royer,1,3 Lisa M. Gahagan,4 and John G. Sclater5
The authors have developed a digital grid of the ocean floor's age, with a grid node interval of 6 arc minutes, using a self-consistent set of global isochrons and plate reconstruction poles. The age at each grid node was determined by linear interpolation between adjacent isochrons in the direction of spreading. For ocean floor between the oldest identified magnetic anomalies and continental crust, ages were estimated from geological data and published plate models. The grid includes error estimates for each cell, which depend on the error of ocean floor ages from magnetic anomalies, the distance to the nearest magnetic anomaly, and the gradient of the age grid. Future applications of this grid include studies of lithospheric structure, heat loss, ridge-push forces, spreading asymmetry, and constraints for seismic tomography and mantle convection models. The accuracy of the grid varies due to the irregular distribution of ship track data and the chosen spacing of isochrons, with errors generally decreasing with distance from the nearest data points. The grid is the first of its kind, based on a global plate model and accompanied by uncertainty estimates.The authors have developed a digital grid of the ocean floor's age, with a grid node interval of 6 arc minutes, using a self-consistent set of global isochrons and plate reconstruction poles. The age at each grid node was determined by linear interpolation between adjacent isochrons in the direction of spreading. For ocean floor between the oldest identified magnetic anomalies and continental crust, ages were estimated from geological data and published plate models. The grid includes error estimates for each cell, which depend on the error of ocean floor ages from magnetic anomalies, the distance to the nearest magnetic anomaly, and the gradient of the age grid. Future applications of this grid include studies of lithospheric structure, heat loss, ridge-push forces, spreading asymmetry, and constraints for seismic tomography and mantle convection models. The accuracy of the grid varies due to the irregular distribution of ship track data and the chosen spacing of isochrons, with errors generally decreasing with distance from the nearest data points. The grid is the first of its kind, based on a global plate model and accompanied by uncertainty estimates.
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