Draft:Tectonic equator

The tectonic equator is an averaged circular path that delineates the swifter movement of the lithosphere across the Earth's surface. Inclined at an angle of approximately 28° in relation to the geographic equator, it signifies the primary course of plate motions (Doglioni, 1993; Crespi et al., 2007).

In the reference frame of hotspots, the tectonic equator indicates a westerly delay of the lithosphere concerning the underlying mantle. The magnitude of this delay ranges between 0.2 and 0.4°/Myr to >1°/Myr, varying depending on the reference model employed, such as deep or shallow hotspot reference frames (Doglioni and Panza, 2015; Cuffaro and Doglioni, 2018).

Tectonic plates, while traversing their trajectories across the Earth's surface, exhibit a rotational movement but are often influenced by a secondary subrotation effect (Cuffaro et al., 2008). Research suggests the stability of the tectonic equator for at least the last 50 million years (Ma).

It is identifiable both within the present-day no-net rotation reference (NNR) frame and in plate kinematic reconstructions accomplished through the analysis of oceanic spreading magnetic anomalies and the direction of subduction zones.