Mantle convection fundamentally shapes the Earth’s surface by providing driving and resisting forces for horizontal motion of tectonic plates, as well as by generating non-isostatic vertical motion commonly termed “dynamic topography”. These two kinds of surface motion are traditionally studied in isolation. However, the existence of a thin, low-viscosity asthenosphere enables the formation of plate-driven Couette flow and pressure-driven Poiseuille flow. These two flow types provide a geodynamically plausible link between mantle flow properties and temporal changes in both kinds of surface motions. In this submission, we utilize publicly available kinematic and stratigraphic dataset in the North Atlantic region to study its surface-motion history in the early Paleogene period, which coincides with the peak Icelandic plume activity inferred from independent geologic constraints. We find that our inferred horizontal and vertical motion changes are temporally correlated. To examine this correlation, we perform a quantitative torque analysis, which incorporates an analytic Couette/Poiseuille flow model. We parameterize this flow model in terms of observed kinematics coupled with flow-flux estimates of Icelandic plume and/or Farallon slab activity. Our analysis indicates (1) that torque-variation tied to the Icelandic plume flux closely resembles our kinematic inferences, and (2) that the inclusion of slab flux does not modify such a scenario significantly. In light of these inferences, our efforts highlight the importance of combining multi-proxy observational datasets with simplified mantle flow models to elucidate mantle-lithosphere interactions.