Fig. 5: Torque variations associates to changes in plate convergence between 15 and 5 Ma.
A Lower panel shows the statistical distributions of torque-variations upon Nazca plate that are needed to generate the Middle Miocene deceleration (between 15 and 12 Ma in green), main Quechua acceleration (between 11 and 9 Ma in red) and Latest Miocene deceleration (between 8 and 5 Ma in blue). Ensembles of torque variations are calculated from one million samples of the Euler-vector variations. Upper panel shows estimates of torque variations associated with possible geodynamic processes acting on Nazca plate (see main text and Methods). B Map showing the nominal poles of torque-variation (dots) and the contours where 95% of the samples fall, calculated assuming a viscosity of 5E19 Pa*s in the asthenosphere and of 1.5E21 Pa*s in the upper mantle71. The light-blue transparent area is the antipodal region of the blue contour.
