Plate tectonics reconstructed

Via records of marine magnetic anomalies, an EU-funded initiative created age-related models to calculate past movements of tectonic plates.

Marine magnetic anomalies are the foundation on which plate tectonic studies are based. Together with the known time scale of past reversals in the polarity of the geomagnetic field, these anomalies can be used to date the oceanic crust, the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of a tectonic plate. They can also form the basis for the quantification of past plate movements.

Further details: Plate tectonics reconstructed