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.