General Information:

• This exercise is one that is required . 
• It involves examination of the relative rates of plate motion based on three separate methodologies:
• Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI).
• Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
• Calculations of plate velocity and seafloor spreading (NUVEL-1).
• The questions are given on the next three pages ( forward ) and in  oncourse .
• Answers to all questions should be submitted via oncourse .
• Check the exercise set I noticeboard ( news ) for announcements.

• A major goal of this assignment is to evaluate the relative motion of tectonic plates.
• There are several different websites that are targeted for this exercise that offer different approaches and data sets to explore spreading rates and plate motion.
• Both global and regional data from VLBI data is examined.
• global map:  http://lupus.gsfc.nasa.gov/plots/maps/jpg/World_Wide_Totals.jpg
• regional map for europe: http://bowie.gsfc.nasa.gov/926/eurotect.html
• Plate motion based on GPS measurements is investigated on a global map:
• http://sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov/mbh/series.html
• Websites that enable access to the NUVEL-1 program for calculation of seafloor spreading rates and plate velocities are:
• http://triton.ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~intridge/pmc/nuvel1.html
• http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~menke/plates2.html
• If any of the sites become inaccessible, I will provide information about alternatives or additions in the announcements here ( news ).
• If you encounter any difficulties with access to any of the sites please notify me by email ( simon@indiana.edu ) and I will attempt to resolve problems, or suggest other options as soon as possible.

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Department of Geological Sciences, 
1001 E. Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-1403
Phone: (812) 855-5582  Last updated: 23 September 2002
Comments: simon@indiana.edu
Copyright 2002, The Trustees of Indiana University