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Elastic energy and plate tectonics

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Abstract

A GLOBAL, quadrupolar mechanical analysis of the energy stored in the Earth, based on the concept of a ‘reference elastic distortion’1,2, has shown that quadrupolar continental drift, and in particular the westerly polar motion could be understood as resulting from a yielding process which operates as a consequence of the elastic energy in the Earth.

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AU, CK., SHAHAM, J. Elastic energy and plate tectonics. Nature 250, 211–213 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/250211a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/250211a0

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