Palaeomagnetism of the Lower Ordovician Orthoceras Limestone, St. Petersburg, and a revised drift history for Baltica in the early Palaeozoic

Palaeomagnetic investigation of Lower Ordovician limestone in the vicinity of St. Petersburg yields a pole position at latitude 34.7°N, longitude 59.1°E ( dp / dm =5.7°/6.4°). A probable primary remanence origin is supported by the presence of a field reversal. The limestone carries one other remanent magnetization component associated with a Mesozoic remagnetization event.
An apparent polar wander path is compiled for Baltica including the new result, ranging in age from Vendian to Cretaceous. Ages of the published Lower to mid-Palaeozoic palaeomagnetic pole positions are adjusted in accordance with the timescale of Tucker & McKerrow (1995). The new Arenig result is the oldest of a series of Ordovician and Silurian palaeomagnetic pole positions from limestones in the Baltic region. There are no data to constrain apparent polar wander for the Tremadoc, Cambrian and latest Vendian. If the Fen Complex results, previously taken to be Vendian in age ( c . 565 Ma), are reinterpreted as Permian remagnetizations, an Early Ordovician–Cambrian–Vendian cusp in the polar wander path for Baltica is eliminated. The apparent polar wander curve might then traverse directly from poles for Vendian dykes on the Kola peninsula ( c . 580 Ma) towards our new Arenig pole ( c . 480 Ma). The consequence of this change in terms of the motion of Baltica in Cambrian times is to reduce significantly a rotational component of movement.
The new Arenig pole extends knowledge of Ordovician apparent polar wander an increment back in time and confirms the palaeolatitude and orientation of Baltica in some published palaeogeographies. Exclusion of the Fen Complex result places Baltica in mid- to high southerly latitudes at the dawn of the Palaeozoic, consistent with faunal and sedimentological evidence but at variance with some earlier palaeomagnetic reconstructions.     

Palaeomagnetic study of Palaeoproterozoic granitoids from the Voronezh Massif, Russia

A palaeomagnetic investigation has been carried out of rocks from the eastern part of the Voronezh Massif, which constitutes, together with the Ukrainian Shield, the Sarmatian segment in the southern part of the East European Craton. The samples were collected in a quarry close to the town of Pavlovsk (50.4°N, 40.1°E), where a syenitic-granitic body intrudes Archaean units. U–Pb (zircon) dating has yielded an age of 2080  Ma for the intrusion.
  Two characteristic magnetic components, A and B, were isolated by thermal and alternating-field demagnetization. Component A was obtained from granites and quartz syenites (11 samples) and has a mean direction of D = 229°, I = 28°, and a pole position at 12°N, 172°E. This pole is close to a contemporary mean pole (9°N, 187°E) for the Ukrainian Shield, which implies that the Voronezh Massif and the Shield constituted a single entity at 2.06  Ga. These poles differ from contemporaneous poles of the Fennoscandian Shield, indicating that the relative positions of the two shields were different from their present configuration about 2100  Myr ago.
  A component B, isolated only in quartz monzonites (five samples), has a mean direction D = 144°, I = 49°, and a pole position at 4°N, 251°E, which is close to late Sveconorwegian (approximately 900  Ma) poles for Baltica. This suggests that the East European Craton was consolidated some time between 2080 and 900  Ma. Comparison with other palaeomagnetic data permit us to narrow this time span to 1770–1340  Ma.     

A palaeomagnetic study of fracture fills in the Holy Cross Mountains of Central Poland and its application in dating tectonic processes

Calcite and sedimentary fills in fractures cutting the Upper Devonian carbonates in the Holy Cross Mountains (HCM) were dated palaeomagnetically by comparison with the apparent polar wander path (APWP). Haematite-bearing calcite possessed well-defined components of natural remanent magnetization (NRM), which were preserved under thermal demagnetization to temperatures of approximately 500 °C, when specimens disintegrated. Although not completely demagnetized, some specimens revealed a stable NRM component before destruction, thus making a component analysis possible. Five components were determined using density point distribution and cluster analysis. One has a mean that is similar to the present-day local geomagnetic vector. The remaining four components yielded palaeomagnetic poles located at: A (70.3°S, 5.5°E), B (71.3°S, 31.2°E), C (48.7°S, 351.0°E, virtual geomagnetic pole), and D (11.6°S, 312.3°E). Antipodal polarities found in the fracture fills, together with dissimilarities in magnetization found in calcite and hosting carbonates, indicate the lack of simultaneous remagnetization, and different times of remanence acquisition for the rocks under comparison. Taking both palaeomagnetically inferred palaeolatitudes and regional tectonics into consideration, a Mesozoic (Cretaceous?) age is estimated for palaeopoles A and B, a Permian age for pole C, and a Carboniferous age for pole D. These age determinations are in line with the calcite ages estimated from isotopic studies. A comparative palaeomagnetic study performed on a well-dated Upper Devonian neptunian dyke of limestone and a Lower Triassic clastic vein yielded virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) close to the APWP for Baltica. Generally, the remanence from fracture fills may be useful for dating related tectonics, karst phenomena and mineralization processes.     

A sea-level test for inertial interchange true polar wander events

The possibility of inertial interchange true polar wander (IITPW) events, in which the rotation pole moves 90° with respect to the solid Earth in a matter of ∼10  Myr, has been discussed in the geophysical literature for more than three decades. Recent evidence for an IITPW event in Early Cambrian time has renewed interest in the issue; however, the veracity of supporting palaeomagnetic evidence remains a matter of significant debate. We propose that sea-level variations driven by polar wander provide an important independent test for the occurrence of IITPW events. Our numerical simulations of the response of a viscoelastic planet to an IITPW-induced forcing predict sea-level changes of up to 200  m, depending on the details of the earth model, the location of the site relative to the rotation path and the elapsed time for the reorientation of the pole. A preliminary comparison of our predictions to Early–Middle Cambrian sea-level records for Australia, Laurentia and Baltica shows qualitative agreement. This comparison suggests that a definitive test for the Cambrian IITPW hypothesis is possible given a sufficiently accurate, and globally distributed, database of sea-level histories.     

The Oslo Rift: new palaeomagnetic and 40Ar/39Ar age constraints

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar whole-rock and alkali feldspar ages demonstrate that dioritic to monzonitic dykes from Bøverbru and Lunner belong to the youngest recorded magmatic activity in the Oslo Rift region, southeast Norway. These dykes represent the terminal phase of rift and magmatic activity in the Oslo Graben, at the dawn of the Triassic (246–238 Ma).
  The Bøverbru and Lunner dyke ages are statistically concordant. However, the palaeomagnetic signature of the Bøverbru dyke is complex, and directions from the margins and the interior of the dyke differ in polarity. Therefore, the new Early Triassic palaeomagnetic pole for Baltica (Eurasia) is exclusively based on the less complex Lunner dykes and contacts (palaeomagnetic pole: latitude=52.9°N, longitude=164.4°E, dp / dm =4.5 ° /7.3°). The early Triassic palaeomagnetic pole [mean age: 243±5 Ma (2 σ )] is slightly different from the Upper Carboniferous–Permian (294–274 Ma) and Kiaman-aged poles from the Oslo Rift.     

The late Maastrichtian palaeomagnetic pole of the Pacific Plate

Summary. The Pacific plate's late Maastrichtian (∼ 69 Ma) palaeomagnetic pole, which constrains the northward motion of the Pacific plate during the Cainozoic and latest Cretaceous, was studied. A recently proposed method for obtaining oceanic plate palaeomagnetic poles by combining dissimilar data was extended to accept, as input, the relative amplitudes of magnetic lineations with different azimuths or widely separated sites or both. Combining late Maastrichtian palaeomagnetic data-the relative amplitudes and skewness of magnetic lineations, palaeolatitudes from a palaeomagnetic study of basalt and sediment in vertical cores, a pole from the inversion of the magnetic anomaly over a seamount, and present locations of equatorial sediment facies—yielded a best fit pole of 71°N, 9°E and a 95 per cent confidence ellipse with the major semiaxis of 6° striking 91° clockwise from north and the minor semiaxis of 2° striking 1° clockwise from north. This best fit pole, when compared to the pole expected if the hotspots have been fixed with respect to the spin axis, demonstrates that the hotspots in the Pacific Ocean have shifted ∼ 10° south with respect to the spin axis during the Cainozoic. This best fit pole, when compared to the best fit Campanian pole of the Pacific plate, demonstrates that the pole wandered rapidly, 1.1° Ma^-1, with respect to the Pacific plate during the latest Cretaceous.     

Palaeomagnetism of the continental sector of the Cameroon Volcanic Line, West Africa

Measurement of samples from 154 sites in the continental sector of the Cameroon Volcanic Line yielded six palaeomagnetic poles, at 243.6°E, 84.6°N, α ₉₅ = 6.8°; 224.3°E, 81.2°N, α ₉₅ = 8.4°; 176.1°E, 82.0°N, α ₉₅ = 8.5°; 164.3°E, 86.4°N, α ₉₅ = 3.4°; 169.4°E, 82.6°N, α ₉₅ = 4.6° and 174.7°E, 72.8°N, α ₉₅ = 9.5°, belonging to rocks which have been dated by the K–Ar method at 0.4–0.9  Ma, 2.6  Ma, 6.5–11  Ma, 12–17  Ma, 20–24  Ma and 28–31  Ma, respectively. The results are in general agreement with other palaeomagnetic poles from Oligocene to Recent formations in Africa.
  The first three poles for rocks formed between 0.4 and 11  Ma are not significantly different from the present geographical pole. Together with other African poles for the same period, this suggests that the African continent has moved very little relative to the pole since 11  Ma. The other three poles for rocks dated between 12 and 31  Ma are significantly different from the present geographical pole, showing a 5° polar deviation from the present pole in the Miocene and 13° in the Middle Oligocene.     

Palaeomagnetic evidence for unification of the North and West Australian cratons by ca.1.7 Ga: new results from the Kimberley Basin of northwestern Australia

A palaeomagnetic study of the Elgee Formation red siltstones and shales in the Palaeoproterozoic Kimberley Basin of northwestern Australia has been carried out. All seven sampling sites revealed an extremely stable magnetic remanence carried by haematite. The age of the formation is confined by precise SHRIMP U–Pb ages of early diagenetic xenotime from rocks both above and below it to be 1704 + 7/−14 Ma, but this may represent a minimum age. The youngest detrital zircon grains in the underlying formation provide a maximum age of 1786 ± 14 Ma for the formation. The extreme stability of the remanence, the dissimilarity of the remanent direction from expected younger palaeomagnetic directions, and the lack of regional overprint in the 1790 ± 4 Ma Hart Dolerite just north of the study region support a primary origin for the remanence. A marginally positive fold test also supports a primary origin. The mean direction of D = 92.2°, I = 14.9°, α ₉₅ = 6.4° gives a palaeopole at 4.4°S, 210.0°E with dp = 3.3°, dm = 6.5°. This pole, a previously reported palaeopole from the Hart Dolerite and ca. 1700 Ma overprint poles from the Pilbara Craton all agree with palaeopoles of similar ages from the McArthur Basin of northern Australia. Palaeomagnetic results thus suggest that the North and West Australian cratons were possibly joined together by approximately 1.7 Ga.     

Palaeomagnetism of the Tudor gabbro, Ontario: evidence for divergence between Grenvillia and interior Laurentia

Summary. After thermal and alternating field (AF) cleaning, the characteristic high blocking temperature A component of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of the Tudor gabbro of southern Ontario has a mean direction D = 326°, I =–46° ( k = 132, α₉₅= 4.8°, N = 8 sites). The corresponding palaeopole, 133°E, 12°N ( dp = 4°, dm = 6°), confirms the palaeopole 137°E, 17°N (α₉₅= 8.4°) reported earlier by Palmer & Carmichael, based on AF cleaning only. The A NRM has unblocking temperatures > 515–525°C which exceed the estimated 500°C peak temperature reached locally during ∼ 1050 Ma Grenvillian regional metamorphism. The A NRM therefore predates metamorphism and is probably a primary thermoremanence (TRM). The age of the Tudor NRM has previously been taken to be about 675 Ma, but recent ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating by Baksi has shown that this is the time of post-metamorphic cooling to 200–250°C. Hornblendes record initial cooling of the intrusion to 590±20°C at 1110 Ma and this is the best estimate of the age of the A remanence. Successful Thellier-type palaeointensity determinations on 11 Tudor samples confirm that the A NRM is a TRM and indicate a palaeofield at this time of 18–27 μT, about 50–70 per cent of the present field intensity at 27° magnetic latitude. The anomalous Tudor A palaeopole, which lies well to the west of both 1000–800 Ma Grenvillian palaeopoles and 1100–1050 Ma poles from Interior Laurentia, is interpreted as recording divergence between Grenvillia and Interior Laurentia just before the Grenvillian orogeny, rather than a post-metamorphic extension of the apparent polar wander path as previously assumed.     

A precisely dated Proterozoic palaeomagnetic pole from the North China craton, and its relevance to palaeocontinental reconstruction

A palaeomagnetic pole position, derived from a precisely dated primary remanence, with minimal uncertainties due to secular variation and structural correction, has been obtained for China's largest dyke swarm, which trends for about 1000 km in a NNW direction across the North China craton. Positive palaeomagnetic contact tests on two dykes signify that the remanent magnetization is primary and formed during initial cooling of the intrusions. The age of one of these dykes, based on U–Pb dating of primary zircon, is 1769.1 ± 2.5 Ma. The mean palaeomagnetic direction for 19 dykes, after structural correction, is D  = 36°, I  = − 5°, k  = 63, α ₉₅ = 4°, yielding a palaeomagnetic pole at Plat=36°N, Plong=247°E, dp  = 2°, dm  = 4° and a palaeolatitude of 2.6°S. Comparison of this pole position with others of similar age from the Canadian Shield allows a continental reconstruction that is compatible with a more or less unchanged configuration of Laurentia, Siberia and the North China craton since about 1800 Ma     

Cambro-Ordovician palaeomagnetic and geochronologic data from southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: revision of the Gondwana apparent polar wander path

We present new palaeomagnetic and isotopic data from the southern Victoria Land region of the Transantarctic Mountains in East Antarctica that constrain the palaeogeographic position of this region during the Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician. A new pole has been determined from a dioritic intrusion at Killer Ridge (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite age of 499 ± 3 Ma) and hornblende diorite dykes at Mt. Loke (21°E, 7°S, A 95 = 8°, N = 6 VGPs). The new Killer Ridge/Mt. Loke pole is indistinguishable from Gondwana Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician poles. Previously reported palaeomagnetic poles from southern Victoria Land have new isotopic age constraints that place them in the Late Cambrian rather than the Early Ordovician. Based upon the new palaeomagnetic and isotopic data, new Gondwana Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician mean poles have been calculated.     

Palaeomagnetism and K-Ar Ages of the South-west African Basalts and their Bearing on the Time of Initial Rifting of the South Atlantic Ocean

Summary. Palaeomagnetic and isotopic results from the Kaoko lavas, Hoachanas basalts and dolerite sills of South-West Africa indicate that the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic Stormberg flows of South Africa may have extended into SW-Africa and that younger igneous events of Lower Cretaceous age were simultaneous with the Serra Geral volcanism in Brazil. Five analyses on three samples of the Keetmanshoop sills gave K-Ar ages between 178 ± 4 and 199 ± 4 Ma, four analyses of two samples of the Hoachanas basalts gave ages between 161 ± 3 and 173 ± 2 Ma and eight analyses of five samples of Kaoko basalt gave ages between 110±4 and 128 ± 2 Ma.
The components of remanent magnetization (RM) used to compute palaeomagnetic pole positions for the Kaoko lavas (48° N, 93° W, A95 = 3°) and for the Hoachanas basalts (61° N, 106° W, A95 = 7° are stable to alternating field (AF) and thermal demagnetization.
Correlation on a pre-drift map and on a map reconstructed for 112 Ma BP (before present) between the palaeomagnetic poles from the Kaoko and Serra Geral lavas suggests that the South Atlantic had not opened appreciably by 112 Ma BP. Cretaceous pole positions for S. America and Africa on a map reconstructed for 80 Ma BP are also discussed.     

A Maastrichtian palaeomagnetic pole for the Pacific plate from a skewness analysis of marine magnetic anomaly 32

The asymmetry (skewness) of marine magnetic anomaly 32 (72.1–73.3  Ma) on the Pacific plate has been analysed in order to estimate a new palaeomagnetic pole. Apparent effective remanent inclinations of the seafloor magnetization were calculated from skewness estimates of 108 crossings of anomaly 32 distributed over the entire Pacific plate and spanning a great-circle distance of ~12  000  km. The data were inverted to obtain a palaeomagnetic pole at 72.1°N, 26.8°E with a 95 per cent confidence ellipse having a 4.0° major semi-axis oriented 98° clockwise of north and a 1.8° minor semi-axis; the anomalous skewness is 14.2° ± 3.7°. The possible dependence of anomalous skewness on spreading rate was investigated with two empirical models and found to have a negligible effect on our palaeopole analysis over the range of relevant spreading half-rates, ~25 to ~90  mm  yr⁻¹ . The new pole is consistent with the northward motion for the Pacific plate indicated by coeval palaeocolatitude and palaeoequatorial data, but differs significantly from, and lies to the northeast of, coeval seamount poles. We attribute the difference to unmodelled errors in the seamount poles, mainly in the declinations. Comparison with the northward motion inferred from dated volcanoes along the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain indicates 13° of southward motion of the Hawaiian hotspot since 73  Ma. When the pole is reconstructed with the Pacific plate relative to the Pacific hotspots, it differs by 14°–18° from the position of the pole relative to the Indo–Atlantic hotspots. This has several possible explanations including bias in one or more of the palaeomagnetic poles, motion between the Pacific and Indo–Atlantic hotspots, and errors in plate reconstructions relative to the hotspots.     

New palaeomagnetic result from Vendian red sediments in Cisbaikalia and the problem of the relationship of Siberia and Laurentia in the Vendian

A palaeomagnetic study of Vendian red sediments from the Lena River section on the western margin of Lake Baikal in the region of Cisbaikalia (54°N, 108°E) has isolated a stable remanence with direction D = 296.3°, I = −27.7° (high-temperature component) and a corresponding pole of 2.7°S, 168.2°E. The primary nature of this remanence is confirmed from a positive fold test, dual polarities and the presence of detrital haematite. This result, together with all late Precambrian–Early Cambrian palaeomagnetic data from Siberia, indicates that Siberia occupied low latitudes during that time. It has been proposed on the basis of palaeomagnetic data that Laurentia occupied high latitudes during the Vendian, so it would appear that there cannot have been any Laurentia–Siberia connection at that time. A review of Vendian to Cambrian Laurentian palaeomagnetic data shows that such an interpretation is ambiguous. An alternative interpretation places Laurentia in low latitudes and confirms the Laurentia–Siberia fit of Hoffman (1991 ) and Pelechaty (1996 ). However, the lack of Late Vendian palaeomagnetic data for Siberia still allows the possibility that it could have occupied high latitudes during that time.     

40Ar-39Ar incremental heating studies on the Tudor Gabbro, Grenville Province, Ontario: its bearing on the North American apparent polar wander path in late Proterozoic times

Summary. ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar incremental heating studies have been carried out on samples taken from the Tudor Gabbro, Grenville Province, Ontario. In an earlier K-Ar study, these rocks have yielded an isochron age of ∼700 Ma together with very high initial argon ratios. Age spectrum plots on whole-rock samples, in general, display a saddle-shaped character, with two of them exhibiting minima close to 700 Ma. No clear plateaus are observed for these rocks. A hornblende separate records the time ∼1110 Ma at which the stock finally cooled through the ∼590°C isotherm. The Tudor Gabbro was probably intruded into an area undergoing middle-amphibolite facies meta-morphism about 1180 Ma ago. The age spectra of two whole-rock samples together with that of their plagioclase separates, suggest that the stock cooled to ∼200–250°C at about 720 Ma. Slow cooling, averaging about 1°C Ma⁻¹ is indicated for this section of the Grenville Province for the period 1100–700 Ma. If the age of the Tudor Gabbro's palaeomagnetic pole position is taken to be 720 Ma, the Hadrynian Track Hypothesis leads to very high polar wander rates of > 20cm a⁻¹ for the period 820–720 Ma. If this hypothesis is rejected, the average drift rate for this period would be ∼4 cm a⁻¹, in much better agreement with published values of ∼5 cm a⁻¹ for the period 1400–820 Ma.     

Calculating palaeomagnetic poles for oceanic plates

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The information available for determining palaeopoles for oceanic plates includes data of four types: (1) palaeomagnetic measurements of inclinations but not declinations from core samples; (2) palaeopoles determined from magnetic anomalies over seamounts; (3) phase shifts of linear magnetic anomalies; and (4) palaeoequators determined from geological analysis of sediment cores. A method is presented which combines these different kinds of data and their respective confidence limits to yield a best fit pole, a confidence ellipse, estimates of the data importances and goodness of fit parameters. Using this method we calculate the Campanian pole position for the Pacific plate which is shown by a chi-squared test to be a reasonable fit to the data. We conclude that the method should be a useful tool for calculating pole paths for oceanic plates such as the Pacific and Indian plates.     

Palaeomagnetism and magnetic fabric in the Freetown Complex, Sierra Leone

About six separately orientated cores were collected at each of 14 sites distributed throughout the arcuate, west-dipping, 6  km thick, Freetown layered igneous complex. Alternating field and thermal demagnetization both isolate a stable component of remanent magnetism which corresponds to a palaeomagnetic south pole from 13 sites (nine reverse, four normal polarity) at 82.9°S, +32.7°E ( α ₉₅ = 5.6°). This is indistinguishable from that reported in 1971 based on alternating field demagnetization of cores from 10 orientated hand samples.
  The difference between the Freetown pole (age: 193 ± 3  Ma) and other mid-Jurassic poles from West Africa could be due to its greater age. The difference between the whole West African Jurassic pole group and the Karoo pole from southern Africa, however, suggests moderate (∼10°) differential rotation of West Africa relative to the Kaapvaal craton.
  A prevalent magnetic foliation fabric coincides generally with the petrological layering, as might be expected, but a ubiquitous magnetic lineation is predominantly down-dip. This is compatible with a down-dip pyroxene lineation reported to be present in some field outcrops, and interpreted in terms of late-stage deformation during the slow crystallization and cooling of the large igneous body. However, a fold test shows that the igneous layering had already achieved its present attitude before the Complex cooled to ∼570 °C (the maximum blocking temperature of the characteristic remanence).     

Comments on'The palaeomagnetism of the Central Zone of the Lewisian foreland, north-west Scotland'by J. D. A. Piper

Summary. Piper suggested that the Lewisian has rotated 30° anticlockwise since magnetization, whereas the opposite appears more likely. The main magnetization in the Lewisian recognized by Piper and Beckmann was imposed upon cooling after the Laxfordian metamorphism at about 1750 (± 50) Ma. The palaeomagnetic pole corresponding to this magnetization is at 37.6° N, 273.2° E ( dp = 3.7°, dm = 5.2°).
In Greenland, palaeomagnetic poles similar to each other, with a mean pole at 21.6° N, 280.1° E ( K = 52, A ₉₅= 9.4°), have been determined from five widely separated regions in central West Greenland and from Angmags-salik in East Greenland. The magnetization observed in all these regions was established upon cooling after the Nagssugtoqidian metamorphism, again at about 1750 (± 50) Ma.
The Laxfordian and Nagssugtoqidian metamorphisms were equivalent. It is therefore assumed that the two palaeomagnetic poles quoted above were originally identical. Their present difference can be explained by clockwise rotation of north-west Scotland about a local rotation pole since the Lewisian became magnetized, in addition to opening of the Atlantic assuming conventional reconstructions:
(1) assuming the reconstruction of Bullard, Everett & Smith, the local rotation proposed is 39.5° (± 18.1°) about a pole of rotation at 60.3° N, 354.5° E, or
(2) assuming the reconstruction of Le Pichon, Sibuet & Francheteau, the local rotation is 28.0° (±17.7°) about a pole of rotation at 54.1° N, 354.6° E.
These proposals of local clockwise rotation of north-west Scotland accord with that of Storetvedt based on palaeomagnetic results from Devonian rocks on the north-west side of the Great Glen Fault.     

Palaeomagnetism of the Cretaceous Pirgua Subgroup (Argentina) and the age of the opening of the South Atlantic

Palaeomagnetic data for the Cretaceous Pirgua Subgroup from 14 different time units of basalts and red beds exposed in the north-western part of Argentina (25° 45' S 65° 50' W) are given.
After cleaning all the units show normally polarized magnetic remanence and yield a palaeomagnetic pole at 222° E 85° S ( d Φ= 7°, d χ= 10°).
The palaeomagnetic poles for the Pirgua Subgroup (Early to Late Cretaceous, 114–77 Myr), for the Vulcanitas Cerro Rumipalla Formation (Early Cretaceous,<118 Myr, Valencio & Vilas) and for the Poços de Caldas Alkaline Complex (Late Cretaceous, 75 Myr, Opdyke & McDonald) form a 'time-group' reflecting a quasi-static interval (mean pole position, 220° E 85° S, α₉₅= 6°) and define a westward polar wander in Early Cretaceous time for South America.
Comparison of the positions of the Cretaceous palaeomagnetic poles for South America with those for Africa suggests that the separation of South America and Africa occurred in late Early Cretaceous time, after the effusion of the Serra Geral basalts.
The K-Ar ages of basalts of the Pirgua Subgroup (114 ± 5; 98 ± 1 and 77 ± 1 Myr) fix points of reference for three periods of normal polarity within the Cretaceous palaeomagnetic polarity column.     

The palaeomagnetism of Jersey volcanics and dykes, and the Lower Palaeozoic apparent polar wander path for Europe

Summary. Stable natural remanent magnetization (NRM) in the Jersey Volcanics and in a single rhyolite dyke was probably acquired during the Cambrian before folding of the volcanics in the Cadomian Orogeny. After dip correction, the volcanics yield a palaeomagnetic pole at 323° E, 52° N ( dp = 33°, dm = 35°). In Jersey dolerite dykes three groups of stable NRM directions are recognized, with palaeomagnetic poles at 248° E, 26° N ( dp = 10°, dm = 20°), 339° E, 1° S ( dp = 9°, dm = 12°), and 336° E, 31° S ( dp = 5°, dm = 9°). Comparison with the European apparent polar wander path implies that stable NRM in these groups was acquired respectively during Late Precambrian or early Cambrian, Siluro-Devonian and middle Carboniferous time. The stable NRM of the Jersey lamprophyre dykes yields a palaeomagnetic pole at 322° E, 16° N ( dp = 31°, dm = 38°) and is probably of Silurian or Devonian age.
These palaeomagnetic poles and other new data determined by the author for the Armorican Massif can be fitted to a common apparent polar wander path for Europe, and this implies that the basement of Lower Palaeozoic Europe extended from the Baltic Shield at least as far south as the Armorican Massif. The Hercynian Orogeny in these parts of Europe was therefore probably intracratonic. This polar wander path implies that in early Cambrian time the pole did not move significantly relative to Europe, but that this was followed by a large middle to late Cambrian polar shift which corresponded to rapid drift of Europe across the South Pole.