Continental drift during the Palaeozoic

Rapid polar shifts relative to Gondwanaland are identified in the Late Ordovician and Carboniferous. These shifts form part of the “Common polar wander path” interpretation of the palaeomagnetic poles for the Gondwana continents during the Palaeozoic. For western Europe a transition occurs between the Ordovician and Silurian poles, but is of smaller magnitude than the Late Ordovician Gondwana shift. Similarly Carboniferous shifts with respect to Europe and North America are smaller than the Gondwana shifts. A third shift in Europe is dated as mid-Devonian, but could be as old as Late Silurian, and has no counterpart in Gondwanaland. The differences in timing and magnitudes of these shifts provide evidence of the predominant role of continental drift rather than polar wandering. Attempts to explain the data exclusively in terms of polar wandering lead to geologically and geometrically untenable conclusions. Whilst there were one or perhaps two supercontinents in most of the upper Palaeozoic, it seems Laurasia was itself a set of separate fragments.     

Middle paleozoic segment of the apparent polar wander path from the Siberian platform: New paleomagnetic evidence for the Silurian of the Nyuya-Berezovskii facial province

The paper presents results derived from study of the Silurian of the Nyuya-Berezovskii facial province. Variegated sedimentary rocks of the Meutian and Kurungian series (Llandoverian, Wenlockian, and lower Ludlovian) are studied. Detailed thermal demagnetizations of the collections revealed two stable magnetization components; one of them (Ds = 193.8, Is = 19.2; k = 10.7, α₉₅ = 6.1) is bipolar and is likely to have formed during or shortly after the rock formation, i.e., in the interval from the Early Silurian to the beginning of the Late Silurian. The second component is unipolar and apparently metachronous, and its formation time can be bounded by the latest Early to the Middle Devonian. Based on the paleomagnetic results of this study, paleolatitudes and kinematics of Siberia are estimated for the Middle Paleozoic. The inferred paleomagnetic poles provide additional constraints on the Middle Paleozoic segment of the apparent polar wander path from the Siberian platform.     

A systematic approach to radiometric and paleomagnetic studies in a mobile orogenic belt: I. The waning phase of activity in the southern Appalachians of South Carolina

The survey of radiometric and paleomagnetic work on the mafic rocks of South Carolina is consistent with, and amplifies the studies on the acidic rocks of the southeast by Ellwood (1982). The westerly post-early Mesozoic tilt of the southeastern Appalachians proposed by Dooley and Smith (1982) over most of the Piedmont balances out the post-late Paleozoic southeastern tilt of Ellwood (1982). Only in the Elberton-Sparta block is the tilting important and here the interpretation proposed is of a greater initial tilt (approximately 25–30°) reduced by the post-early Mesozoic tilt.There is no evidence of displaced terrains as far as the King's Mountain, Charlotte, and Slate belts are concerned at least since 300 m.y. ago and perhaps as early as 350 m.y. ago. The anomalous paleomagnetic data from the Kiokee belt is best interpreted as due to tectonic displacements associated with the late Paleozoic event described by Secor and Snoke (1978) and Snokeet al. (1980).The paleopoles of the mafic rocks are in agreement with paleopoles on the North American apparent polar wander path (APWP) at about 300 m.y. The resolution of K–Ar apparent ages of 350 m.y. or older will require⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar studies and such age relationships are critical to the reasonable application of tilt corrections in the southern Appalachians.     

The Early Carboniferous paleomagnetic field of North America and its bearing on tectonics of the Northern Appalachians

We have obtained additional evidence for the Early Carboniferous paleomagnetic field for cratonic North America from study of the Barnett Formation of central Texas. A characteristic magnetization of this unit was isolated after thermal demagnetization at four sites (36 samples) out of eight sites (65 samples) collected. The mean direction of declination = 156.3°, inclination = 5.8° (N = 4 ,k = 905 , α₉₅ = 3.0°), corresponds to a paleomagnetic pole position at lat. = 49.1°N,long. = 119.3°E (dp = 1.5° , dm = 3.0°). Field evidence suggests that characteristic magnetization was acquired very early in the history of the rock unit whereas the rejected sites are comprised of weakly magnetized limestones dominated by secondary components near the present-day field direction. Comparison of the Barnett pole with other Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) paleopoles from North America shows that it lies close to the apparent polar wander path for stable North America and that the divergence of paleopoles from the Northern Appalachians noted previously for the Devonian persisted into the Early Carboniferous. We interpret this difference in paleopoles as further evidence for the Northern Appalachian displaced terrain which we refer to here as Acadia, and the apparent coherence of Late Carboniferous paleopoles as indicating a large (～1500 km) motion of Acadia with respect to stable North America over a rather short time interval in the Carboniferous.     

Paleomagnetism of red beds of Early Devonian age from Central Iran

Paleomagnetic results are reported from 13 sites of red beds of Early Devonian age from Central Iran. Detailed paleomagnetic analyses were carried out. Two types of partial progressive demagnetization were applied, one using alternating magnetic fields, the other heating. These procedures resulted in the detection of the characteristic remanences with a mean direction with D = 24.2°, I = 1.3° (α₉₅ = 10.1°). The paleomagnetic pole is located at 51.3°N, 163.7°W. If one shifts the Iranian landmass to its most likely position in the Gondwana configuration, then the position of the paleomagnetic pole coincides with the alternative polar wander path [14,15] which crossed South America in early Middle Paleozoic times.     

华北地块早古生代古地磁结果的大地构造意义

对采自鄂尔多斯盆地边缘早古生代地层的１００６块（１５３采点）定向古地磁岩芯标本的研究表明，大多数地层单元的岩石剩磁组分可分离出Ａ、Ｂ两个主要分量．根据其稳定性检验结果，Ａ分量（北西方向，低负倾角及其对方向）为岩石形成时期的特征剩磁分量，而Ｂ分量（北西方向，中至低正倾角及其对方向）则可能是晚古生代的重磁化分量．华北地块早古生代的古地磁参考极均位于大西洋；与此相应，华北地块位于南纬１５°左右．     

Paleomagnetism of carboniferous formations of the Russian platform: Reinvestigation of old collections

The collections of Carboniferous rocks from sections of the Russian Platform (Gzhelian, Moscovian, Bashkirian, and Visean stages) are studied. The new mean paleomagnetic poles are obtained from the Gzhelian, Moscovian, and Visean layers of the Carboniferous of the Russian Platform. In the redbed Gzhelian and Moscovian rocks, the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) components with the inclination shallowing are revealed, which is due to the presence of the large hematite particles or particle aggregates associated with the interaction between the magnetic and clay particles. Based on the obtained determinations and the results contained in the World paleomagnetic database, the trajectory of the apparent polar wander path (APWP) for the East European Platform is constructed in the interval from the Devonian to Early Permian. The Carboniferous kinematics of the East European Platform is estimated.     

Paleomagnetism of the Lower Ordovician and Cambrian sedimentary rocks in the section of the Narva River right bank: For the construction of the Baltic Kinematic model in the Early Paleozoic

The paleomagnetic study of the Lower Ordovician and Cambrian sedimentary rocks exposed on the Narva River’s right bank revealed a multicomponent composition of natural remanent magnetization. Among four distinguished medium- and high-temperature magnetization components, the bipolar component, which carries the reversal test, is probably the primary component and reflects the geomagnetic field direction and variations during the Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician. The pole positions corresponding to this component have coordinates 22°N, 87°E (dp/dm = 5°/6°) for the Late Cambrian, and 18°N, 55°E (dp/dm = 5°/7°) for the Early Ordovician (Tremadocian and Arenigian). Together with the recently published paleomagnetic poles for the sections of the Early Ordovician in the Leningrad Region and the series of poles obtained when the Ordovician limestones were studied in Sweden, these poles form new key frameworks for the Upper Cambrian-Middle Ordovician segment of the apparent polar-wander path (APWP) for the Baltica. Based on these data, we propose a renewed version of the APWP segment: the model of the Baltica motion as its clockwise turn by 68° around the remote Euler pole. This motion around the great circle describes (with an error of A₉₅ = 10°) both variations in the Baltic position from 500 to 456 Ma ago in paleolatitude and its turn relative to paleomeridians. According to the monopolar components of natural remanent magnetization detected in the Narva rocks, the South Pole positions are 2°S, 351°E (dp/dm = 5°/9°), 39°S, 327°E, (dp/dm = 4°/7°), and 42°S and 311°E (dp/dm = 9°/13°). It is assumed that these components reflect regional remagnetization events in the Silurian, Late Permian, and Triassic.     

Evolution of Pangea: paleomagnetic constraints from the Southern Alps, Italy

A new early Late Triassic paleopole for Adria has been obtained from the Val Sabbia Sandstone in the Southern Alps. As Early Permian and Jurassic-Cretaceous paleomagnetic data from para-autochthonous regions of Adria such as the Southern Alps are consistent with ‘African’ APWPs[1–2], paleomagnetic data from this region can be used to bolster the West Gondwana APWP in the poorly known Late Permian-Triassic time interval. The Southern Alpine paleopoles are integrated with the West Gondwana and Laurussia APWPs of Van der Voo [1] and used to generate a tectonic model for the evolution of Pangea. The Early Permian overall mean paleopole for West Gondwana and Adria, in conjunction with the coeval Laurussia paleopole, support Pangea B of Morel and Irving [3]. The Late Permian/Early Triassic and the Middle/Late Triassic paleopoles from Adria and Laurussia support Pangea A-2 of Van der Voo and French [4]. The phase of transcurrent motion between Laurasia and Gondwana[5] that caused the Pangea B to A-2 transition occurred essentially in the Permian (at the end of Variscan orogeny) with an average relative velocity of approximately 10 cm/yr. Finally, the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic paleopoles from West Gondwana and Laurussia agree with Pangea A-1 of Bullard et al. [6], the widely accepted Pangea configuration at the time of the Jurassic breakup.     

Marine magnetic anomalies,palaeomagnetism and the drift history of Gondwanaland

The results of palaeomagnetic surveys of Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks from Gondwanaland can be reconciled with the results of modelling the evolution of oceanic floors from analyses of marine magnetic anomalies. Previous inconsistencies were mainly due to errors apparent in the Australian Cenozoic palaeomagnetic data. An alternative Tertiary apparent polar wander path (APWP) has been constructed from an analysis of all published laterite and weathered profile data. Palaeomagnetic results for Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India, Madagascar and South America are compared for rotations corresponding to marine magnetic anomalies 16, 22, 28, 34 and M1 and for “fit”. India has been selected as the reference continent since it provides the most detailed APWP having drifted about 50° of latitude since breakup.     

Better constrained selection of the Paleozoic West Gondwana (South America) paleomagnetic poles for the APWP determination

The reliability of an Apparent Polar Wander Path (APWP) obviously depends on the paleomagnetic poles used to determine it. The APWP of Africa and South America are fairly well defined for the 330–260 Ma interval. However, this study pointed out a moderate shift between these two curves, and an incoherency of the South American data, contrary to the African ones, which are homogeneous. A number of South American pole positions were re-evaluated in an effort to better constrain the APWP for the entire continent. Most of discarded poles correspond to sites at the area of the junction of Cordillera with the stable craton. That could have structural implications for the evolution of the western margin of the Gondwana. A new criterion for the evaluation of paleomagnetic poles reliability for APWP is presented. Based on comparison of data from different continents and labeled “coherence” criterion, it is independent from Van der Voo’s ones.     

Paleomagnetism of the Cambro-Ordovician McClure Mountain alkalic complex,Colorado

The Middle to Late Cambrian loop in the North American apparent polar wander path (APWP) has been variously attributed to tectonic rotations, remagnetizations and primary magnetizations. Although no primary thermal remanent magnetizations or primary detrital remanent magnetizations have as yet been demonstrated, the temporally self-consistent nature of the loop has been used as an argument for primary magnetizations. We have studied535 ± 5Ma nepheline syenites and syenites of the McClure Mountain alkalic complex, as well as495 ± 10Ma red trachyte dikes which intruded the complex, in an effort to find a primary TRM. Because Zijderveld analysis yielded consistent results for only one trachyte dike, remagnetization great-circle analysis was employed, giving a pole for the trachyte dikes at the tip of the loop (43°N, 114°E), while the syenites and nepheline synenites gave a pole at the base of the loop (18°N, 142°E). The magnetic carrier in the trachytes is hematite which apparently formed during a pervasive hydrothermal alteration. KAr whole rock dating of the trachytes suggests a Pennsylvanian age for the alteration, and thus a late Paleozoic remagnetization of the trachytes. Thus, the low-latitude Cambrian pole is confirmed, but we find no evidence in this study to support the primary nature of the Cambrian APWP.     

Apparent polar wander path and tectonic movement of the North China Block in Phanerozoic

The results on the Early Paleozoic from the North China Block (NCB) are reported. and a series of reliable poles are selected from the available Phanerozoic data, based on the conventional reliability criteria, e.g. the number of samples, the uncertainty limit, any suspected incomplete demagnetization or overprint and field test (including fold, reversal, conglomerate tests). Especially, paleopole data is excluded if the sampling area suffered from the tectonic (e.g. rotation) and thermal effects. A new Phanerozoic apparent polar wander (APW) path for the NCB is compiled, and its tectonic evolution is discussed.     

The South American palaeomagnetic data and the main episodes of the fragmentation of Gondwana

The South American palaeomagnetic poles published after the Upper Mantle Conference on Solid Earth Problems held at Buenos Aires in 1970, are summarized.The Late Palaeozoic-Cretaceous section of the South American polar wandering curve is now defined on the basis of twenty palaeomagnetic poles; these poles define five “age groups” at Late Carboniferous, Permo-Carboniferous, Middle Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous times.The comparison of the Late Palaeozoic-Mesozoic sections of the polar wandering curves of South America, Australia and Africa suggests that the former fragmentation of the Gondwana occurred in Late Carboniferous or Permo-Carboniferous times and that the origin of the South Atlantic Ocean took place after the Middle Jurassic (160 m.y.) but before the Early Cretaceous (120 m.y.).     

Revised apparent polar wander path of the Yangtze Block and its tectonic implications

Paleornagnetic data, during the Phanerozoic obtained in the last 20 years in the Yangtze Block (YZB), are critically reviewed. A new apparent polar wander path (APWP) for the YZB is constructed by selected poles with objective reliable criteria, with a goal of placing constraints on the models of the formation and subsequent deformation and reconstructing the tectonic evolution history of this region.     

Paleomagnetic study of late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian rocks in terranes of the Amur plate

New paleomagnetic data are presented for Proterozoic metamorphic and Cambrian terrigenous-carbonate complexes of the southern Far East of Russia (Primor’e and the Amur and Trans-Baikal regions). Taking into account our results obtained previously, the paper presents revised positions of the paleomagnetic pole corresponding to the Riphean-Lower Paleozoic segment of the apparent polar wander path for terranes of the Amur plate (the Argun and Bureya-Khanka orogenic belts) in comparison with poles from the Siberian and North Chinese plates. It is shown that the paleolatitude positions of the Amur terranes were stable in space and time during the interval from the late Riphean to the end of the Early Cambrian: they were located in equatorial zones of the Northern and Southern hemispheres.     

显生宙中国大地构造演化的古地磁研究

根据古地磁数据可靠性的试用判据，对华北、杨子、塔里木中国三大稳定地块显生宙的构造古地磁数据做了初步检验，考虑古极点的密集区，选用２２９个古极点以“世”或“纪”为单位进行统计，获得三大稳定地块显生宙综合古地磁视极移曲线。以此为基本依据，结合地质构造、古生物和全球古地理重建图的综合分析，初步探讨了三大稳定地块运动演化的大致轮廓，华北、杨子、塔里木地块碰撞、拼接时限和方式以及华北地块与西伯利亚板块运动演化的关系     

Paleomagnetic poles and polarity zonation from Cambrian and Devonian strata of Arizona

Basal Paleozoic Tapeats Sandstone (Early and Middle Cambrian) in northern and central Arizona exhibits mixed polarity and a low-latitude paleomagnetic pole. Carbonates of Middle and early Late Cambrian age, and directly superposed carbonate and carbonate-cemented strata of latest Middle(?) and early Late Devonian age, are characterized by reversed polarity and high-latitude poles. The high-latitude Middle Cambrian pole, which appears to record a large but brief excursion of the polar wandering path, is considered provisional pending additional work. The Devonian data from Arizona indicate that a shift of the pole to a “late Paleozoic” position had occurred by Middle Devonian time.     

Definition of pre-2000 m.y. apparent polar movements

In this paper palaeomagnetic poles known to be older than 2000 m.y. in age are assessed in the context of a continental reconstruction derived from younger Precambrian palaeomagnetic results. It is found that the combined data from North America and Africa define a single apparent polar wander path during the intervals 2700-2500 m.y. and 2160-2000 m.y. using the same continental reconstruction as that derived from younger poles. A rapid polar shift is identified at ca. 2150 m.y. and a closed loop is present in the curve between 2160 and 2000 m.y. Palaeomagnetic results from the Rhodesia/Kaapvaal, Kasai, West Africa and North America (Slave and Superior) cratons define segments of this loop which are statistically identical within errors of the pole positions and their assigned ages.These results in common with younger Proterozoic data (2000-800 m.y.) confirm that the crust behaved as an integral unit during these times, although undergoing internal deformation along mobile zones which has not yet proved detectable by the palaeomagnetic method. The 2700-2000 m.y. interval includes the Archaean-Proterozoic transition during which major structural anisotropy began to be imprinted on the sialic crust. Tectonic straight belts and deformed anorthosites lie within a single great-circle belt on the continental reconstruction incorporating Gondwanaland and North America. This same belt later developed into an arc of major tectonic and magmatic activity (<2250 m.y.) including massive anorthosites, rapakivi granites, acidic volcanism and mobile belts.     

Metallogenic relationships to tectonic evolution - the Lachlan Orogen, Australia

Placing ore formation within the overall tectonic framework of an evolving orogenic system provides important constraints for the development of plate tectonic models. Distinct metallogenic associations across the Palaeozoic Lachlan Orogen in SE Australia are interpreted to be the manifestation of interactions between several microplates and three accretionary complexes in an oceanic back-arc setting. In the Ordovician, significant orogenic gold deposits formed within a developing accretionary wedge along the Pacific margin of Gondwana. At the same time, major porphyry Cu-Au systems formed in an oceanic island arc outboard of an evolved magmatic arc that, in turn, gave rise to granite-related Sn-W deposits in the Early Silurian. During the ongoing evolution of the orogen in the Late Silurian to Early Devonian, sediment-hosted Cu-Au and Pb-Zn deposits formed in short-lived intra-arc basins, whereas a developing fore-arc system provided the conditions for the formation of several volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Inversion of these basins and accretion to the Australian continental margin triggered another pulse of orogenic gold mineralisation during the final consolidation of the orogenic belt in the Middle to Late Devonian.