Fig. 9: Plate motion and asymmetric evolution of the Salas Y Gomez Ridge.
From: Synchronous motion of the Easter mantle plume and the East Pacific Rise
Global Free-Air Gravity reconstructions of the relative motion between the Pacific and Nazca plates generated using GPlate software illustrating the complex dynamics of the SYGR accretion process (https://portal.gplates.org/portal/welcome/). The large red discs (with 42% transparency) and solid red and yellow diagonal lines define the eastern and western boundaries, respectively, of the surface Easter mantle plume (Fig. 10). The dashed yellow lines depict the plume’s projection ~ 350 km beyond the EPR at depths below about 600 km. Solid blue lines and dashed blue lines indicate, respectively the position of the EPR and pseudofaults that trace ridge propagation. The Nazca-Pacific reconstructions assume that the EPR north and south of the SYGR is coincident with the eastern edge (yellow diagonal lines) of the Easter plume (red disks). Black dots denote the changing ___location of the propagator that evolved west of the Mendoza Rise. Blue dots mark the EPR segment west and south of the Easter plume. Large white dots show the constant offset between the EPR and the southern end of the Galapagos Rise/Bauer Microplate46. MMP: Mendoza Microplate; MR: Mendoza Rise; MP: microplate; BMP: Bauer Microplate; G: Galapagos Islands; GR: Galapagos Rise.
