Validating 70 Million Years of Convection Driven True Polar Wander and Dynamic Flattening with Paleomagnetic Data

Validating 70 Million Years of Convection Driven True Polar Wander and Dynamic Flattening with Paleomagnetic Data | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Validating 70 Million Years of Convection Driven True Polar Wander and Dynamic Flattening with Paleomagnetic Data Alessandro Forte, Petar Glišović, Marianne Greff-Lefftz, Shayan Kamali Lima, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5397333/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Mantle convection drives changes in Earth's ellipsoidal figure and corresponding moment of inertia, causing shifts in the planet's rotation axis known as true polar wander (TPW). Using seismic tomography and the Back-and-Forth Nudging (BFN) method, we developed a time-dependent convection model that reconstructs the evolution of mantle density distribution and Earth’s moment of inertia over the past 70 million years. This modelling approach provides a close match with independent paleomagnetic constraints on the Cenozoic shifts of Earth’s rotation pole, specifically resolving the previously unexplained U-turn in TPW trajectory at approximately 50 million years ago. Our findings reveal TPW shifts exceeding 5 degrees, despite the temporal stability imposed by high lower-mantle viscosity and the stabilizing effect of Earth's remnant rotational bulge. Verification of our predicted changes in Earth’s ellipsoidal figure through independent paleomagnetic data provides a robust calibration for new predictions of convection-induced dynamic flattening variations. Over the past 70 million years, we find convection-induced changes of flattening that shift from -0.2% to +0.1 % during the Paleogene. Our predictions of Earth's axial precession frequency in the Paleogene align with recent independent cyclostratigraphic studies, thus validating our model's accuracy and supporting the hypothesis of reduced luni-solar tidal dissipation during this period. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Geodynamics Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Rings and moons Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Seismology Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Geomagnetism Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5397333","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":400680134,"identity":"62490f3c-abce-4dab-8989-b85699ec4316","order_by":0,"name":"Alessandro Forte","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAqUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9gYQWSEB5nwgSgvPAQbGBoYzYC2MM4jXwtjGQIoW9t7nDz7Os8iTj25gbK4gSgvPccPGmdskig3vHGBsPEOMFnuJNMZm3m0SiRtnJLA/bCDKFpCWv3PAWhgbidfC2CCROF+CaC08xxhn9hyTKDaQOdhIpBb2NoYPP2rq8uRnNx8kTgsMJBjcYCRJA1CLPHHxOApGwSgYBSMRAAC/NjOdMWDjKwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3530-0455","institution":"University of Florida, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alessandro","middleName":"","lastName":"Forte","suffix":""},{"id":400680135,"identity":"0a3fe909-0e38-4c78-b47d-8e0cccbf8434","order_by":1,"name":"Petar Glišović","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Petar","middleName":"","lastName":"Glišović","suffix":""},{"id":400680136,"identity":"7a14e471-b451-4554-a172-f99b19aad25e","order_by":2,"name":"Marianne Greff-Lefftz","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marianne","middleName":"","lastName":"Greff-Lefftz","suffix":""},{"id":400680137,"identity":"16c367e5-ac9f-48af-afd5-c0db5f9f5992","order_by":3,"name":"Shayan Kamali Lima","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shayan","middleName":"Kamali","lastName":"Lima","suffix":""},{"id":400680138,"identity":"ef0e0404-b294-4882-ae61-2de80031ced7","order_by":4,"name":"David Rowley","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9767-9029","institution":"Univeristy of Chicago","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"David","middleName":"","lastName":"Rowley","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-11-05 17:25:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5397333/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5397333/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100359401,"identity":"a7c0fc9d-4e48-4957-9e1a-6a75d9ac56aa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-16 07:22:13","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1839259,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"ForteetalValidatingConvectionDrivenTPWandDynamicFlatteningSubmittedrev.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5397333/v1_covered_b0b49168-dbd4-469a-9d27-1f76b8f3da5d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Validating 70 Million Years of Convection Driven True Polar Wander and Dynamic Flattening with Paleomagnetic Data","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5397333/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5397333/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMantle convection drives changes in Earth's ellipsoidal figure and corresponding moment of inertia, causing shifts in the planet's rotation axis known as true polar wander (TPW). Using seismic tomography and the Back-and-Forth Nudging (BFN) method, we developed a time-dependent convection model that reconstructs the evolution of mantle density distribution and Earth’s moment of inertia over the past 70 million years. This modelling approach provides a close match with independent paleomagnetic constraints on the Cenozoic shifts of Earth’s rotation pole, specifically resolving the previously unexplained U-turn in TPW trajectory at approximately 50 million years ago. Our findings reveal TPW shifts exceeding 5 degrees, despite the temporal stability imposed by high lower-mantle viscosity and the stabilizing effect of Earth's remnant rotational bulge. Verification of our predicted changes in Earth’s ellipsoidal figure through independent paleomagnetic data provides a robust calibration for new predictions of convection-induced dynamic flattening variations. 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