Product catalogue
An Ellipsoidal Plate Motion Model of the Indo-Australian Tectonic Plate
We present a class of “ellipsoidal rotation matrices” which can be used to characterize tectonic plate motion; where geocentric Cartesian coordinates travel along paths tangential to the ellipsoid. We contrast them with conventional Euler pole plate motion models which are more closely aligned with spherical coordinate systems and inherently induce a change in geodetic ellipsoidal height. We demonstrate the use of each in the Indo-Australian tectonic plate setting, which is known to move approximately 7 cm/year in a north-northeast direction. Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020) coordinates are “plate-fixed” static coordinates obtained using a conventional Euler pole plate motion model to align time dependent coordinates with the 2014 realization of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame at the epoch 2020.0. We show that this Euler pole plate motion model can introduce ellipsoidal height velocities of up to −0.2 mm/year. This is small but systematic, so pertinent for consideration with high accuracy vertical land motion studies using GDA2020 coordinates and velocities. We further investigate the comparative statistical accuracy of conventional Euler pole and the ellipsoidal models with respect to characterizing plate motion captured in high quality Global Navigation Satellite System data.
Plain Language Summary:
We introduce a new way to study the movement of Earth's tectonic plates, using something called “ellipsoidal rotation matrices.” These matrices help us understand how plates move along a path that agrees with the Earth's ellipsoidal shape. This is different to the traditional way of studying plate motion, which usually assumes the Earth is a perfect sphere. We tested both methods by looking at the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, which is moving north-northeast at about 7 cm per year. Our findings show that the traditional, spherical method could result in slightly misrepresenting how the land is moving vertically, by up to −0.2 mm per year, since the vertical motion signal cannot be separated from the tectonic plate motion adequately. While this might not seem like much, it could matter in studies that require very accurate measurements of land height changes over time. We verify how well each method is in capturing the real movement of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate and demonstrate that the ellipsoidal method is more accurate.
<b>Citation:</b> McCubbine, J. C., Riddell, A. R., & Brown, N. (2024). An ellipsoidal plate motion model of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate. <i>Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth</i>, 129, e2023JB027765.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2023-04-02T18:00:00
- Date (Publication)
- 2024-08-19T23:16:58
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/147903
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Author McCubbine, J.
Internal Contact Author Riddell, A.
Internal Contact Author Brown, N.
Internal Contact Publisher American Geophysical Union
External Contact
- Name
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Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
- Issue identification
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Volume 129, Issue 5, May 2024 e2023JB027765
- Purpose
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To provide a mathematical framework to refine plate motion models which underpin national geodetic datums such as GDA2020 and ATRF
- Status
- Completed
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Resource provider Space Division
External Contact Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Riddell, A.
Space Division Internal Contact
- Spatial representation type
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
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- Title
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Website
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Data Store directory containing the digital product files
Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- Keywords
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geodesy
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- Keywords
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plate motion
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- Keywords
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rotation matrices
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- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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Other earth sciences not elsewhere classified
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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All Rights Reserved
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details User Any
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© 2024. American Geophysical Union.
Resource constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Classification system
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice facsimile
- OnLine resource
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Link to Journal
Link to Journal
- Distribution format
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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Manuscript to be submitted to Journal
Metadata constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
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urn:uuid/dfc89b08-83d8-4c8e-9b75-b240a7b2a77a
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Riddell, A.
Space Division Internal Contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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Journal Article / Conference Paper
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/147903
- Date info (Creation)
- 2024-06-26T06:28:28
- Date info (Revision)
- 2024-06-26T06:28:28
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551