A satellite altimetric geoid in the Philippine Sea

A detailed geoidal map of the Philippine Sea, constructed from GEOS 3 altimeter data, revealed that the average geoidal height in the basins of the Philippine Sea decreases as the age of the basins increases. The geoidal height–age relationship is comparable with that of mid-oceanic ridges, suggesting that the cooling of the marginal sea basin's lithosphere after its formation is similar to that of the oceanic lithosphere created at the mid-oceanic ridges. The data appear to be consistent with the back-arc opening model. However, the corner flow model is also compatible with the smoothly varying geoid over the entire Philippine Sea.