Palaeomagnetism of the Lower Cretaceous Sierra De Los Condores Group Cordoba Province Argentina

Measurements are described of the directions of remanent magnetization of 89 samples from nine lava flows and red beds. Stable remanent magnetization was isolated after AC demagnetizing. All the units have normal remanent magnetization, except one lava flow which yields a direction toward the north with positive inclination. From the mean direction of stable remanence, referred to the bedding, of each unit a virtual geomagnetic pole is computed; the mean of eight of these poles is 90·6 °E, 84·2° South, α₉₅= 4·7° and represents the position of the palaeomagnetic pole for the exposures of the Sierra de Los Condores group from El Estrecho-Cerro Libertad. The position of this pole is reasonably close to the positions of the South American Lower Cretaceous palaeomagnetic poles for the Serra Geral and Vulcanitas Cerro Colorado formations and the trachybasaltic dykes from Rio Los Molinos. This supports the interpretations that the South Atlantic Ocean was formed in Lower Cretaceous times and that the Earth's magnetic field was on average similar to that of a geocentric dipole in South America in the Lower Cretaceous, and suggests that there has not been substantial relative movements between Central Argentina and Southern Brazil.     

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.     

Palaeomagnetism of a sequence of red beds of the Middle and Upper Sections of Pagnazo Group (Argentina) and the correlation of Upper Palaeozoic-Lower Mesozoic rocks

Palaeomagnetic data from 182 hand samples collected in a rock sequence of about 620-m of red beds of Late Palaeozoic to Early Triassic age exposed in north-western Argentina (30.3° S 67.7° W), are given.
After cleaning, the majority of the Upper Palaeozoic samples (Middle Section of Paganzo Group) show reversed polarity and yield a palaeomagnetic pole at 78° S 249° E (α₉₅= 3°). They also record a polarity transition which we have correlated with the Middle Permian Quebrada del Pimiento Normal Event. The position of the palaeomagnetic pole and the K-Ar age of a basalatic sill at the base of the sequence support this correlation.
Stable remanent magnetization has been isolated in the majority of samples from the Upper Section of the Paganzo Group; it is predominantly reversed and reveals three normal events and also three geomagnetic excursions suggesting an Illawarra Zone age (post Kiaman, Late Tatarian-Early Scythian). The palaeomagnetic pole of the reversely magnetized samples is located at 75° S 285° E(α₉₅= 13°).
The red beds involved in this study are correlated with red beds from the Corumbataí Formation (State of Paraná, Brazil) and with igneous rocks from the Quebrada del Pimiento Formation (Province of Mendoza, Argentina).
The South American Middle and Upper Permian, Upper Permian—Lower Triassic, Lower, Middle and Upper Triassic and Middle Jurassic palaeomagnetic poles reflect a quasistatic period with mean pole at 82° S 244° E, (α₉₅= 4°) which followed the South American Late Palaeozoic polar shift.     

The significance of the pdaeomagnetism of Jurassic—Cretaceous rocks from South America: predrift movements, hairpins and magnetostratigraphy

Summary. In this paper we show that: (1) The positions of the Cretaceous palaeomagnetic poles (PP) for South America and Africa exhibit elongated distributions that are due to rapid movement of these continents from the south pole.
(2) The positions of the Middle—late Jurassic virtual geomagnetic poles for South America exhibit an elongated distribution along the meridians 20–200° E; it is suggested that this is due to a rapid shift of South America in Middle—late Jurassic time.
(3) The late early—early late Cretaceous sections of the apparent polar wandering paths for South America and Africa are consistent with South Atlantic seafloor spreading data.
On the basis of the comparison of the reliable late Palaeozoic—late Cretaceous PPs for South America and Africa, taking into account the restrictions established by geological, palaeontological and seafloor spreading data, it is suggested that minor movements could have occurred within Western Gondwana in middle—late Jurassic time along a narrow zone which later became the South Atlantic divergent boundary.
Four 'hairpins' are defined in the late Palaeozoic—late Cretaceous section of the apparent polar wandering path for South America; the two youngest of these can be correlated with the origin of the South Atlantic Ocean basin and the onset of the Andean Orogeny, respectively.
The magnetostratigraphy for the Serra Geral lava flow sequence suggests that some of these flows were poured out rapidly without significant interruption.     

Palaeomagnetism and K—Ar age of the Upper Ordovician Alcaparrosa Formation, Argentina

Summary. Palaeomagnetic data from 71 hand samples of igneous rocks of Late Ordovician age exposed in western Argentina (31.3°S, 69.4°W, Alcaparrosa Formation) are given. Stable remanent magnetization was isolated in the majority of samples; they yield a palaeomagnetic pole at 56°S 33°E ( N = 8, α₉₅= 16°). Whole rock K-Ar age determinations yield an age of 416 ± 10 Myr for a pillow lava of the Alcaparrosa Formation.
Palaeomagnetic data for South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica and India suggest that Gondwana was a unit at least as far back as 1000 Myr. The palaeomagnetic data define a rapid polar migration for Gondwana in Ordovician time which is consistent with the widespread occurrences of Late Ordovician glacial deposits across this supercontinent.     

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.     

Palaeomagnetic and K—Ar age studies of a 6 km-thick Cretaceous section from the Chilean Andes

Summary. Thirty-six palaeomagnetic sampling sites distributed within 6000 m of dominantly andesitic flows and tuffs of Cretaceous age from the La Serena area, Chile confirm the normal polarity bias of the Cretaceous period. Af, thermal and limited chemical demagnetization techniques have been used in testing the stability of the remanent magnetization isolated in samples from these sites. A positive fold test in the Quebrada Marquesa Formation, the second lowest in the stratigraphic pile, confirms that the magnetization isolated is pre-Tertiary in age. Ages calculated by the K–Ar whole rock method however, appear to have been variably up-dated probably due to argon loss caused by Cretaceous–Tertiary intrusives. Thermal and hydrothermal effects of these intrusions have probably reset the magnetization in the youngest formation of the volcanic pile. A composite palaeomagnetic pole calculated from the 30 site poles of the three lower formations (209° E, 81° S, A₉₅= 4½°), is in good agreement with mid to Late Cretaceous poles derived from rock units of the stable platform of South America. The use of Andean–Caribbean palaeomagnetic data however, to resolve small time-dependent polar shifts within the Cretaceous and thus to estimate the time of opening of the south Atlantic is questioned. Many of the Andean–Caribbean Cretaceous poles appear to have been affected by local tectonic rotation.     

Palaeomagnetic results from two basic volcanic formations in the western Himalayas and a Phanerozoic polar wandering curve for India

Summary. We present palaeomagnetic results from the Durgapipal and Rudraprayag formations, which are basic volcanic formations in the Lesser Himalayas of Uttar Pradesh State. NRM measurements and AF demagnetization stability tests were made on specimens cored from oriented block samples collected at representative sites. Mean stable remanent magnetic directions were used for calculating the Virtual Geomagnetic Pole (VGP) positions; where necessary tectonic corrections were applied.
The virtual geomagnetic north poles were found to be located at:

• (a). 

  Durgapipal (Permian): λ _p = 10° S, L_p = 42° W;
• (b). 

  Rudraprayag (Silurian-Devonian): λ _p = 30° S, L_p = 12° W.

A new, continuous Phanerozoic apparent polar wandering curve for the Indian subcontinent has been plotted from the available palaeomagnetic data and the VGP positions reported in this paper. As a result, the gap in the Indian palaeomagnetic data from the Lower Carboniferous to the Cambrian has been partially filled. The locations of the pole positions for the two formations on the Phanerozoic polar wandering curve for the Indian subcontinent, have been found to coincide with the stratigraphic ages assigned to them on the basis of rather limited geological and palaeontological evidence.
The Cambrian and Permian poles for the Salt Range in the NW Himalayas and the Permian pole for the Kumaon Himalayas are grouped along with the pole positions of contemporaneous formations of the Peninsular Shield. The palaeomagnetic data thus suggests that the two formations are autochthonous in nature.     

New palaeomagnetic results from the Kerguelen Islands

New palaeomagnetic analyses have been carried out in the Kerguelen Islands on 32 lava flows of well-established age (20–22 Ma). Combined with previous studies, they yield a reliable pole for the Lower Miocene for the Antarctic plate: N = 59 flows. 349.9°E, 83.5°S, A⁹⁵= 6.1°. A reversal sequence reversed-normal has been identified in the Port Jeanne d'Arc section.     

Palaeomagnetic results from the Cretaceous Bagh Group in the Narmada Basin, central India: evidence of pervasive Deccan remagnetization and its implications for Deccan volcanism

A palaeomagnetic study of 115 samples (328 specimens) from 22 sites of the Mid- to Upper Cretaceous Bagh Group underlying the Deccan Traps in the Man valley (22°  20'N, 75°  5'E) of the Narmada Basin is reported. A characteristic magnetization of dominantly reverse polarity has been isolated from the entire rock succession, whose depositional age is constrained within the Cretaceous Normal Superchron. Only a few samples in the uppermost strata have yielded either normal or mixed polarity directions. The overall mean of reverse magnetization is D _m=144°, I _m=47° ( α ₉₅=2.8°, k =152, N =18 sites) with the corresponding S-pole position 28.7°S, 111.2°E ( A ₉₅=3.1°) and a palaeolatitude of 28°S±3°. The characteristic remanence is carried dominantly by magnetite. Similar magnetizations of reverse polarity are also exhibited by Deccan basalt samples and a mafic dyke in the study area. This pole position falls near the Late Cretaceous segment of the Indian APWP and is concordant with poles reported from the Deccan basalt flows and dated DSDP cores (75–65  Ma) of the Indian Ocean. It is therefore concluded that the Bagh Group in the eastern part of the Narmada Basin has been pervasively remagnetized by the igneous activity of Deccan basalt effusion. This overprinted palaeomagnetic signature in the Bagh Group indicates a counter-clockwise rotation by 13°±3° and a latitudinal drift northwards by 3°±3° of the Indian subcontinent during Deccan volcanism.     

Palaeomagnetism of nine dated Phanerozoic dykes in south-east Greenland

Summary Nine basic dykes were sampled near Angmagssalik, east Greenland. Specimens have been treated by alternating field demagnetization in 11 steps up to 3000 (peak) oersted (300 ml). The 'cleaned' direction at all sites is recognized after treatment at 150 oersted. All specimens are reversely magnetized. The mean of the site mean directions has declination = 182°.0, inclination =−66°.9, it = 45, α₉₅= 7°.7. This direction yields a palaeomagnetic pole (reversed) at 73°.4N, 139°.5E ( dp = 10°.7, dm = 12°.9) which is near, but significantly different from, that derived from lower Tertiary rocks in Greenland, namely 63°.2N, 184°.6E ( A ₉₅= 4°.5). K-Ar ages of the nine dykes, based upon whole-rock and mineral separates, range from mid-Tertiary to Cambrian. It is impossible to reconcile these ages with the palaeomagnetic results. The palaeomagnetic evidence, supported by geological inference, suggests that all nine dykes are members of the east Greenland lower Tertiary dyke swarm, designated THOL1, of probable age c. 52 Ma.
The difference between the poles given above can be explained by supposing that the sampling area has tipped about a horizontal axis directed along 013°/193°, the angle of rotation being 13° (± 11°) anti-clockwise, when the axis is viewed along 013°. This local effect could have been due to block faulting when the north-east Atlantic started to open, or may be attributed to upwarping of the coast due to the weight of the ice-cap inland.     

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.     

Palaeomagnetism of Lower Cambrian sediments from the Olenek River section (northern Siberia): palaeopoles and the problem of magnetic polarity in the Early Cambrian

New palaeomagnetic data from the Lower and Middle Cambrian sedimentary rocks of northern Siberia are presented. During stepwise thermal demagnetization the stable characteristic remanence (ChRM) directions have been isolated for three Cambrian formations. Both polarities have been observed, and mean ChRM directions (for normal polarity) are: Kessyusa Formation (Lower Cambrian) D = 145°, I = -40°, N = 12, α₉₅= 12.8°; pole position: φ= 38°S, A = 165°E; Erkeket Formation (Lower Cambrian, stratigraphically highly) D = 152°, I = - 47°, N = 23, α₉₅= 6.8°; pole position: φ= 45°S, A = 159°E; Yunkyulyabit-Yuryakh Formation (Middle Cambrian) D = 166°, I = - 33°, N = 38, α₉₅= 4.6°; pole position: φ= 36°S, L = 140°E. These poles are in good agreement with the apparent polar wander path based on the bulk of existing Cambrian palaeomagnetic data from the Siberian platform. In Cambrian times, the Siberian platform probably occupied southerly latitudes stretching from about 35° to 0°, and was oriented 'reversely' with respect to its present position. Siberia moved northwards during the Cambrian by about 10° of latitude. This movement was accompanied by anticlockwise rotation of about 30°. The magnetostratigraphic results show the predominance of reversed polarity in the Early Cambrian and an approximately equal occurrence of both polarities in the part of the Middle Cambrian studied. These results are in good agreement with the palaeomagnetic polarity timescale for the Cambrian of the Siberian platform constructed previously by Khramov et al. (1987).     

A paleomagnetic study of the Mull lava succession

Summary. A paleomagnetic study has been made of a succession of 139 non-overlapping basaltic lavas, representing 91 per cent of the longest remaining succession of flows associated with the Paleogene Mull volcano. All the lavas have experienced considerable hydrothermal alteration, probably at up to several million years after initial magnetization and frequently with alteration to the opaque minerals and the production of new potentially magnetic phases. The question of whether directional remagnetization has taken place while preserving within-unit directional consistency and discreteness of unit mean direction is discussed. Extensive directional remagnetization is excluded as an explanation for the data. If stable directions obtained by alternating field remanence cleaning coincide with original TRM directions then a mean pole position for all temporally independent lava directions from the British Tertiary igneous province is at 71.9° N, 167.2° E, with k:22 and α₉₅:3.0°. This pole is significantly different from the geographic pole. If the difference in palaeomagnetic and geographic poles is interpreted in terms of absolute plate motion, then 2010 km of northwards motion of the western part of the Eurasian Plate, at 3.7 cm/yr, has taken place over the last 55 Myr. This motion has implications for the geological history of the Arctic and for the complexity of mantle motions.     

Palaeomagnetism of middle Proterozoic (c. 1.25 Ga) dykes from central North Greenland

From a nunatak in central North Greenland (81.5°N, 44.7°W) nine sites of Middle Proterozoic basic dykes, cutting Archaean basement, were palaeomagnetically investigated. After AF and thermal cleaning the nine dyke sites and three adjacently baked gneiss sites give a stable characteristic remanent mean direction of D = 265°, I = 21.5° ( N = 12, α ₉₅= 5.6°), the direction being confirmed by a detailed and positive baked contact test.
The polarity of the dykes in the nunatak area is opposite to that of the Zig-Zag Dal Basalts and the Midsommersø Dolerites in eastern North Greenland some 200–300 km away, the volcanics of which are assumed to be of similar age (about 1.25 Ga). The remanent directions of the two sets of data are antiparallel within the 95 per cent significance level of confidence.
When rotating Greenland 18° clockwise back to North America by the 'Bullard fit', the pole of the central North Greenland dolerites (NDL) falls at (14.3°N, 144.3°W). The reversed pole (14.3°S, 35.7°E) fits well on to the loop between 1.2 and 1.4 Ma on the apparent polar wander swath of Berger & York for cratonic North America.
The palaeomagnetic results from the Middle Proterozoic basic dykes from central North Greenland thus strengthen previous palaeomagnetic results from the Midsommersø Dolerites and Zig-Zag Dal Basalts from the Peary Land Region in eastern North Greenland, suggesting that Greenland was part of the North American craton at least for the period between c . 1.3 and 1 Ma (and probably up to the end of Cretaceous time). The major geographical meridian of Greenland was orientated approximately E–W, and the palaeo-latitude of Greenland was about 10°–15°.     

Palaeomagnetism of Upper Cretaceous—Lower Tertiary igneous rocks from Central Argentina

Summary. From nine Upper Cretaceous—Lower Tertiary (85 ± 5–66 ± 5 Ma) volcanic hills in Central Argentina (33°S, 65°W), 26 hand samples were collected yielding a palaeomagnetic pole at 45°E 70°s ( A ₉₅ = 12.1°; k = 13.6; N = 12) after AC cleaning. Three sites show normal and nine reversed polarity. This pole is close to the pole for the late Cretaceous (69 Ma) Andacolo Series.     

Analyses of the US Navy orbits of 1963-24B and 1974-34A at 15th-order resonance

Summary. The Upper Mesozoic section from Northern Tunisia provided an Upper Jurassic palaeomagnetic pole of 65.2°S 20.3°E α₉₅= 6.1 calculated from the means of normal and reversely magnetized samples from the uppermost Callovian, Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian and Portlandian rocks. In general the only Cretaceous rocks to yield acceptable results were the few samples collected from fresh outcrops.
A polarity sequence can be established for the Upper Jurassic which can be correlated with the oceanic Keathley anomaly sequence. One consequence of the proposed correlation of the oceanic anomaly with the terrestrial palaeomagnetic sequence is to suggest a slightly different age for the Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian boundary. One interpretation of the frequent intermediate directions of magnetization in the Cretaceous sequence is that there may be a number of unrecognized short period reversals within the Cretaceous and, more particularly, during the so-called Cretaceous normal period.     

Palaeomagnetism of the Nexø Sandstone from Bornholm Island, Denmark

Summary. Samples from the Nexø Sandstone of the Lower Cambrian- Precambrian boundary in South Bornholm reveal a stable NRM with a direction after magnetic cleaning of D = 226°, I = - 30° (α₉₅= 11.5°). This NRM appears to originate in the detrital hematite grains rather than in the red cement of the sandstone. The stable NRM is likely to be of primary origin and reflects a Lower Cambrian pole at 104° W, 38° N (dp = 7°, dm = 11°). Apparent discrepancies between the Bornholm pole and the few other published Early Cambrian/Late Precambrian poles from the Baltic Shield are consistent with the suggestion of large polar movements in those times.     

New Late Jurassic palaeomagnetic data from the northern Sichuan basin: implications for the deformation of the Yangtze craton

Upper Jurassic red sandstones and red siltstones were collected from 67 layers at 12 localities in the Penglaizhen formation. This formation is in the north of Bazhong county (31.8°N, 106.7°E) in the Sichuan basin, which is located in the northern part of the Yangtze craton. Thermal demagnetization isolated a high-temperature magnetic component with a maximum unblocking temperature of about 690 °C from 45 layers. The primary nature of the magnetization acquisition is ascertained through the presence of magnetostratigraphic sequences with normal and reversed polarities, as well as positive fold and reversal tests at the 95 per cent confidence level. The tilt-corrected mean direction of 36 layers is D = 20.0°, I = 28.8° with α ₉₅ = 5.8°. A Late Jurassic palaeomagentic pole at 64.7°N, 236.0°E with A ₉₅ = 7.0° is calculated from the palaeomagnetic directions of 11 localities. This pole position agrees with the two other Late Jurassic poles from the northern part of the Yangtze craton. A characteristic Late Jurassic pole is calculated from the three poles (68.6°N, 236.0°E with A ₉₅ = 8.0°) for the northern part of the Yangtze craton. This pole position is significantly different from that for the southern part of the Yangtze craton. This suggests that the southern part of the Yangtze craton was subjected to southward extrusion by 1700 ± 1000  km with respect to the northern part. Intracraton deformation occurred within the Yangtze craton.     

Palaeomagnetism of Dhar traps and drift of the subcontinent during the Deccan volcanism

Summary. Palaeomagnetic investigations were carried out on nine lava flows around the Dhar region, which constitute the northern part of the Deccan traps. The stability of remanent magnetism of these specimens was analysed by an alternating magnetic field, thermal demagnetization and memory tests. Six flows exhibited characteristic components of magnetization, with a mean direction of D =143°, I =+46° ( K = 107.1, α₉₅=5.5°). This gives a VGP located at 29° N, 67° W (δ_p=4.5°, δ_m= 7.0°). The lower site with normal magnetization and the upper five sites with reverse magnetization indicate a geomagnetic field reversal during the initial phases of Deccan volcanism in the Early Tertiary period. A rapid northward migration of about 18° in latitude and a simultaneous anticlockwise rotation of 37° is calculated for the subcontinent.