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Late Cenozoic uplift of stable continents in a reference frame fixed to South America

Abstract

A reference frame fixed to South America may approximate to an ‘absolute’ reference frame for the past 100 Myr. In this frame, otherwise stable continents that have moved onto the former positions of oceanic ridges have experienced rapid plateau uplift, probably caused by phase changes in the continental mantle, and occasional volcanism with time lags of up to 70 Myr.

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Smith, A. Late Cenozoic uplift of stable continents in a reference frame fixed to South America. Nature 296, 400–404 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/296400a0

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