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    • Age, spreading rates, and spreading asymmetry of the world's ocean crust

    Metadata Updated: October 18, 2024

    The authors present four companion digital models of the age, age uncertainty, spreading rates and spreading asymmetries of the world's ocean basins as geographic and Mercator grids with 2 minute resolution. The grids include data from all the major ocean basins as well as detailed reconstructions of back-arc basins. The age, spreading rate and asymmetry at each grid node is determined by linear interpolation between adjacent seafloor isochrons in the direction of spreading. Ages for ocean floor between the oldest identified magnetic anomalies and continental crust are interpolated by geological estimates of the ages of passive continental margin segments. The age uncertainties for grid cells coinciding with marine magnetic anomaly identifications, observed or rotated to their conjugate ridge flanks, are based on the difference between gridded age and observed age. The uncertainties are also a function of the distance of a given grid cell to the nearest age observation, and the proximity to fracture zones or other age discontinuities. Asymmetries in crustal accretion appear to be frequently related to asthenospheric flow from mantle plumes to spreading ridges, resulting in ridge jumps towards hotspots. The authors also use the new age grid to compute global residual basement depth grids from the difference between observed oceanic basement depth and predicted depth using two alternative age-depth relationships. The new set of grids helps to investigate prominent negative depth anomalies, which may be alternatively related to subducted slab material descending in the mantle or to asthenospheric flow. A combination of these digital grids and the associated relative and absolute plate motion model with seismic tomography and mantle convection model outputs represent a valuable set of tools to investigate geodynamic problems.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date April 21, 2020
    Metadata Created Date October 18, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date October 18, 2024
    Reference Date(s) December 31, 2008 (publication), December 31, 2008 (revision)
    Frequency Of Update unknown

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NGDC MGG Geology

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    crustal ages

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date April 21, 2020
    Metadata Created Date October 18, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date October 18, 2024
    Reference Date(s) December 31, 2008 (publication), December 31, 2008 (revision)
    Responsible Party NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.geology:G04150
    Access Constraints Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose., Access to this dataset is unrestricted., Cite as: Muller, R.D.; Sdrolias, M.; Gaina, C.; Roest, W.R.; 2008: Age, spreading rates, and spreading asymmetry of the world's ocean crust. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GC001743. Accessed [date]., While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.
    Bbox East Long 180.0
    Bbox North Lat 90.0
    Bbox South Lat -90.0
    Bbox West Long -180.0
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update unknown
    Graphic Preview Description crustal ages
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/ocean_age/data/2008/image/age_oceanic_lith.jpg
    Graphic Preview Type JPEG
    Harvest Object Id 012133d5-97a2-41fa-a402-8988f8c766df
    Harvest Source Id 2738981c-0c63-4286-9da7-20abe8cd4700
    Harvest Source Title NGDC MGG Geology
    Licence Produced by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Not subject to copyright protection within the United States.
    Lineage lineage prior to transfer to NCEI is unknown.
    Metadata Language
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
    Progress ongoing
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG:4326
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2008-12-31
    Temporal Extent End 2008-12-31

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