title: Comment on "Mantle flow drives the subsidence of oceanic plates".
abstract: Adam and Vidal (Reports, 2 April 2010, p. 83) reported sea-floor depth increasing as the square root of distance from the ridge along "mantle flow lines." However, their data actually support a depth-age relationship and "flattening" at older ages. We argue that no plausible physical mechanism supports their proposal that mantle flow drives subsidence.
authors.affiliation: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego, CA 92093-0220, USA. mcroon@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Marcel B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Croon
authors.forename: John K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hillier
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Sclater