Vaalbara Palaeomagnetism
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Assembly, Configuration, and Break-Up History of Rodinia
Author's personal copy Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Precambrian Research 160 (2008) 179–210 Assembly, configuration, and break-up history of Rodinia: A synthesis Z.X. Li a,g,∗, S.V. Bogdanova b, A.S. Collins c, A. Davidson d, B. De Waele a, R.E. Ernst e,f, I.C.W. Fitzsimons g, R.A. Fuck h, D.P. Gladkochub i, J. Jacobs j, K.E. Karlstrom k, S. Lu l, L.M. Natapov m, V. Pease n, S.A. Pisarevsky a, K. Thrane o, V. Vernikovsky p a Tectonics Special Research Centre, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia b Department of Geology, Lund University, Solvegatan 12, 223 62 Lund, Sweden c Continental Evolution Research Group, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia d Geological Survey of Canada (retired), 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0E8 e Ernst Geosciences, 43 Margrave Avenue, Ottawa, Canada K1T 3Y2 f Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton U., Ottawa, Canada K1S 5B6 g Tectonics Special Research Centre, Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia h Universidade de Bras´ılia, 70910-000 Bras´ılia, Brazil i Institute of the Earth’s Crust SB RAS, Lermontova Street, 128, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia j Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway k Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northrop Hall University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA l Tianjin Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, CGS, No. -
Proterozoic East Gondwana: Supercontinent Assembly and Breakup Geological Society Special Publications Society Book Editors R
Proterozoic East Gondwana: Supercontinent Assembly and Breakup Geological Society Special Publications Society Book Editors R. J. PANKHURST (CHIEF EDITOR) P. DOYLE E J. GREGORY J. S. GRIFFITHS A. J. HARTLEY R. E. HOLDSWORTH A. C. MORTON N. S. ROBINS M. S. STOKER J. P. TURNER Special Publication reviewing procedures The Society makes every effort to ensure that the scientific and production quality of its books matches that of its journals. Since 1997, all book proposals have been refereed by specialist reviewers as well as by the Society's Books Editorial Committee. If the referees identify weaknesses in the proposal, these must be addressed before the proposal is accepted. Once the book is accepted, the Society has a team of Book Editors (listed above) who ensure that the volume editors follow strict guidelines on refereeing and quality control. We insist that individual papers can only be accepted after satis- factory review by two independent referees. The questions on the review forms are similar to those for Journal of the Geological Society. The referees' forms and comments must be available to the Society's Book Editors on request. Although many of the books result from meetings, the editors are expected to commission papers that were not pre- sented at the meeting to ensure that the book provides a balanced coverage of the subject. Being accepted for presentation at the meeting does not guarantee inclusion in the book. Geological Society Special Publications are included in the ISI Science Citation Index, but they do not have an impact factor, the latter being applicable only to journals. -
The Making and Unmaking of a Supercontinent: Rodinia Revisited
Tectonophysics 375 (2003) 261–288 www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto The making and unmaking of a supercontinent: Rodinia revisited Joseph G. Meerta,*, Trond H. Torsvikb a Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, 241 Williamson Hall, PO Box 11210 Gainesville, FL 32611, USA b Academy of Sciences (VISTA), c/o Geodynamics Center, Geological Survey of Norway, Leif Eirikssons vei 39, Trondheim 7491, Norway Received 11 April 2002; received in revised form 7 January 2003; accepted 5 June 2003 Abstract During the Neoproterozoic, a supercontinent commonly referred to as Rodinia, supposedly formed at ca. 1100 Ma and broke apart at around 800–700 Ma. However, continental fits (e.g., Laurentia vs. Australia–Antarctica, Greater India vs. Australia– Antarctica, Amazonian craton [AC] vs. Laurentia, etc.) and the timing of break-up as postulated in a number of influential papers in the early–mid-1990s are at odds with palaeomagnetic data. The new data necessitate an entirely different fit of East Gondwana elements and western Gondwana and call into question the validity of SWEAT, AUSWUS models and other variants. At the same time, the geologic record indicates that Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic rift margins surrounded Laurentia, while similar-aged collisional belts dissected Gondwana. Collectively, these geologic observations indicate the breakup of one supercontinent followed rapidly by the assembly of another smaller supercontinent (Gondwana). At issue, and what we outline in this paper, is the difficulty in determining the exact geometry of the earlier supercontinent. We discuss the various models that have been proposed and highlight key areas of contention. These include the relationships between the various ‘external’ Rodinian cratons to Laurentia (e.g., Baltica, Siberia and Amazonia), the notion of true polar wander (TPW), the lack of reliable paleomagnetic data and the enigmatic interpretations of the geologic data. -
VAALBARA and TECTONIC EFFECTS of a MEGA IMPACT in the EARLY ARCHEAN 3470 Ma
Large Meteorite Impacts (2003) 4038.pdf VAALBARA AND TECTONIC EFFECTS OF A MEGA IMPACT IN THE EARLY ARCHEAN 3470 Ma T.E. Zegers and A. Ocampo European Space Agency, ESTEC, SCI-SB, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, [email protected] Abstract The oldest impact related layer recognized on Earth occur in greenstone sequences of the Kaapvaal (South Africa) and Pilbara (Australia) Craton, and have been dated at ca. 3470 Ma (Byerly et al., 2002). The simultaneous occurrence of impact layers now geographically widely separated have been taken to indicate that this was a worldwide phenomena, suggesting a very large impact: 10 to 100 times more massive than the Cretaceous-Tertiary event. However, the remarkable lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic similarities between the Pilbara and Kaapvaal Craton have been noted previously for the period between 3.5 and 2.7 Ga (Cheney et al., 1988). Paleomagnetic data from two ultramafic complexes in the Pilbara and Kaapvaal Craton showed that at 2.87 Ga the two cratons could have been part of one larger supercontinent called Vaalbara. New Paleomagnetic results from the older greenstone sequences (3.5 to 3.2 Ga) in the Pilbara and Kaapvaal Craton will be presented. The constructed apparent polar wander path for the two cratons shows remarkable similarities and overlap to a large extent. This suggests that the two cratons were joined for a considerable time during the Archean. Therefore, the coeval impact layers in the two cratons at 3.47 Ga do not necessarily suggest a worldwide phenomena on the present scale of separation of the two cratons. -
Trading Partners: Tectonic Ancestry of Southern Africa and Western Australia, In
Precambrian Research 224 (2013) 11–22 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Precambrian Research journa l homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/precamres Trading partners: Tectonic ancestry of southern Africa and western Australia, in Archean supercratons Vaalbara and Zimgarn a,b,∗ c d,e f g Aleksey V. Smirnov , David A.D. Evans , Richard E. Ernst , Ulf Söderlund , Zheng-Xiang Li a Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA b Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA c Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA d Ernst Geosciences, Ottawa K1T 3Y2, Canada e Carleton University, Ottawa K1S 5B6, Canada f Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Division of Geology, Lund University, SE 223 62 Lund, Sweden g Center of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems, Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Original connections among the world’s extant Archean cratons are becoming tractable by the use of Received 26 April 2012 integrated paleomagnetic and geochronologic studies on Paleoproterozoic mafic dyke swarms. Here we Received in revised form ∼ report new high-quality paleomagnetic data from the 2.41 Ga Widgiemooltha dyke swarm of the Yil- 19 September 2012 garn craton in western Australia, confirming earlier results from that unit, in which the primary origin Accepted 21 September 2012 of characteristic remanent magnetization is now confirmed by baked-contact tests. The correspond- Available online xxx ◦ ◦ ◦ ing paleomagnetic pole (10.2 S, 159.2 E, A95 = 7.5 ), in combination with newly available ages on dykes from Zimbabwe, allow for a direct connection between the Zimbabwe and Yilgarn cratons at 2.41 Ga, Keywords: Paleomagnetism with implied connections as early as their cratonization intervals at 2.7–2.6 Ga. -
GSA TODAY North-Central, P
Vol. 9, No. 10 October 1999 INSIDE • 1999 Honorary Fellows, p. 16 • Awards Nominations, p. 18, 20 • 2000 Section Meetings GSA TODAY North-Central, p. 27 A Publication of the Geological Society of America Rocky Mountain, p. 28 Cordilleran, p. 30 Refining Rodinia: Geologic Evidence for the Australia–Western U.S. connection in the Proterozoic Karl E. Karlstrom, [email protected], Stephen S. Harlan*, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 Michael L. Williams, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003-5820, [email protected] James McLelland, Department of Geology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY 13346, [email protected] John W. Geissman, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, [email protected] Karl-Inge Åhäll, Earth Sciences Centre, Göteborg University, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden, [email protected] ABSTRACT BALTICA Prior to the Grenvillian continent- continent collision at about 1.0 Ga, the southern margin of Laurentia was a long-lived convergent margin that SWEAT TRANSSCANDINAVIAN extended from Greenland to southern W. GOTHIAM California. The truncation of these 1.8–1.0 Ga orogenic belts in southwest- ern and northeastern Laurentia suggests KETILIDEAN that they once extended farther. We propose that Australia contains the con- tinuation of these belts to the southwest LABRADORIAN and that Baltica was the continuation to the northeast. The combined orogenic LAURENTIA system was comparable in -
Paper Number: 5222
Paper Number: 5222 Kaapvaal, Superior and Wyoming: nearest neighbours in supercraton Superia Bleeker, W.1, Chamberlain, K.R.2, Kamo, S.L.3, Hamilton, M.3, Kilian, T.M.4 and Buchan, K.L.1 1Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Canada; email: [email protected]. 2Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA 3Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada 4Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, USA ___________________________________________________________________________ Archean cratons embedded in younger continental amalgamations are fragments of late Archean continents or supercratons. Of the ~35 remaining large cratonic fragments, the Superior craton represents one of the larger and better preserved fragments and was a central and defining piece of supercraton Superia [1]. This supercraton, the full extent of which remains to be determined, underwent progressive rifting and breakup during the Paleoproterozoic, spawning ~10 cratonic fragments that were dispersed by plate tectonic movements. Previous work already has shown that Wyoming, “greater Karelia” (i.e. Karelia+Kola), Hearne and a number of other cratons were integral parts of supercraton Superia [e.g., 2, 3]. Specifically, Wyoming craton and Hearne, and “greater Karelia” are fragments that rifted off the southern Superior craton (present reference frame). New work argues that the Kaapvaal craton of southern Africa (and therefore also Pilbara, as part of Vaalbara) was another integral part of Superia, representing the fragment that originated from the re- entrant to the southwest of a combined Superior-Wyoming. A new paleomagnetic interpretation, across more than one time slice, is fully compatible with this interpretation. -
Late Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic Supracrustal Basin-Fills of The
Late Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic supracrustal basin-fills of the Kaapvaal craton: relevance of the supercontinent cycle, the "Great Oxidation Event" and "Snowball Earth"? P.G. Erikssona, N. Lenhardta, D.T. Wrightb, R. Mazumderc and A.J. Bumbya a Department of Geology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa b Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH c Geological Studies Unit and Fluvial Mechanics Laboratory, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 B.T. Road, Kolkata 700 108, India _____________________________________________________________ Abstract The application of the onset of supercontinentality, the “Great Oxidation Event” (GOE) and the first global-scale glaciation in the Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic as panacea-like events providing a framework or even chronological piercing points in Earth’s history at this time, is questioned. There is no solid evidence that the Kaapvaal craton was part of a larger amalgamation at this time, and its glacigenic record is dominated by deposits supporting the operation of an active hydrological cycle in parallel with glaciation, thereby arguing against the “Snowball Earth Hypothesis”. While the Palaeoproterozoic geological record of Kaapvaal does broadly support the GOE, this postulate itself is being questioned on the basis of isotopic data used as oxygen-proxies, and sedimentological data from extant river systems on the craton argue for a prolongation of the greenhouse palaeo-atmosphere (possibly in parallel with a relative elevation of oxygen levels) which presumably preceded the GOE. The possibility that these widespread events may have been diachronous at the global scale is debated. Keywords: Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic; Kaapvaal craton; sedimentary record; supercontinentality, ca. 2.3 Ga oxidation event, global glaciation _____________________________________________________________________________________ 1. -
Pannotia to Pangaea: Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic Orogenic Cycles in the Circum-Atlantic Region: a Celebration of the Career of Damian Nance
Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 27, 2021 Pannotia to Pangaea: Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic Orogenic Cycles in the Circum-Atlantic Region: A celebration of the career of Damian Nance J. Brendan Murphy1,2*, Robin A. Strachan3 and Cecilio Quesada4 1Department of Earth Sciences, St Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, B2G 2W5, Canada 2Earth Dynamics Research Group, the Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, WA 6845, Australia 3School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, UK 4Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), C/Ríos Rosas, 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain JBM, 0000-0003-2269-1976 *Correspondence: [email protected] Special Publication 503 celebrates the career of between tectonic events and biogeochemical cycles, R. Damian Nance. It features 27 articles, with more as exemplified in the late Neoproterozoic–Early than 110 authors based in 18 different countries. Cambrian by the amalgamation of Gondwana span- The wide range of topics presented in this volume ning a time interval characterized by dramatic climate mirrors the breadth and depth of Damian’s contribu- swings, profound changes in the chemistry of the tions, interests and expertise. Like Damian’s papers, oceans and atmosphere, and the evolution of multi- the contributions range from the predominantly con- cellular animals (see Hoffman 1991; Hoffman et al. ceptual to detailed field work, but all are targeted at 1998; Narbonne 2010; Knoll 2013). understanding important tectonic processes. Their As reconstructions became more refined, scope not only varies in scale from global to regional several authors proposed that Gondwana was part to local, but also in the range of approaches required of a larger entity called Pannotia that included Lau- to gain that understanding. -
A History of Supercontinents on Planet Earth
By Alasdair Wilkins Jan 27, 2011 2:31 PM 47,603 71 Share A history of supercontinents on planet Earth Earth's continents are constantly changing, moving and rearranging themselves over millions of years - affecting Earth's climate and biology. Every few hundred million years, the continents combine to create massive, world-spanning supercontinents. Here's the past and future of Earth's supercontinents. The Basics of Plate Tectonics If we're going to discuss past and future supercontinents, we first need to understand how landmasses can move around and the continents can take on new configurations. Let's start with the basics - rocky planets like Earth have five interior levels: heading outwards, these are the inner core, outer core, mantle, upper mantle, and the crust. The crust and the part of the upper mantle form the lithosphere, a portion of our planet that is basically rigid, solid rock and runs to about 100 kilometers below the planet's surface. Below that is the asthenosphere, which is hot enough that its rocks are more flexible and ductile than those above it. The lithosphere is divided into roughly two dozen major and minor plates, and these plates move very slowly over the almost fluid-like asthenosphere. There are two types of crust: oceanic crust and continental crust. Predictably enough, oceanic crust makes up the ocean beds and are much thinner than their continental counterparts. Plates can be made up of either oceanic or continental crust, or just as often some combination of the two. There are a variety of forces pushing and pulling the plates in various directions, and indeed that's what keeps Earth's crust from being one solid landmass - the interaction of lithosphere and asthenosphere keeps tearing landmasses apart, albeit very, very slowly. -
North China Craton: the Conjugate Margin for Northwestern Laurentia in Rodinia Jikai Ding1,2, Shihong Zhang1,3*, David A.D
https://doi.org/10.1130/G48483.1 Manuscript received 7 October 2020 Revised manuscript received 27 December 2020 Manuscript accepted 12 January 2021 © 2021 The Authors. Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license. Published online 22 March 2021 North China craton: The conjugate margin for northwestern Laurentia in Rodinia Jikai Ding1,2, Shihong Zhang1,3*, David A.D. Evans2, Tianshui Yang1, Haiyan Li1, Huaichun Wu1 and Jianping Chen3 1 State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China 2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA 3 School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China ABSTRACT ern NCC and northwestern Laurentia (present In the Rodinia supercontinent, Laurentia is placed at the center because it was flanked coordinates) was proposed (Fu et al., 2015; by late Neoproterozoic rifted margins; however, the conjugate margin for western Laurentia Zhao et al., 2020) but required rigorous testing is still enigmatic. In this study, new paleomagnetic results have been obtained from 15 ca. by coeval pairs of high-quality poles with pre- 775 Ma mafic dikes in eastern Hebei Province, North China craton (NCC). Stepwise thermal cise age constraints. In this study, we report a demagnetization revealed a high-temperature component, directed northeast or southwest new high-quality paleomagnetic pole obtained with shallow inclinations, with unblocking temperatures of as high as 580 °C. Rock magne- from ca. 775 Ma mafic dikes in the eastern He- tism suggests the component is carried by single-domain and pseudo-single-domain magnetite bei Province, NCC. -
What's in a Name? the Columbia (Paleopangaea/Nuna) Supercontinent
Gondwana Research 21 (2012) 987–993 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Gondwana Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gr GR Letter What's in a name? The Columbia (Paleopangaea/Nuna) supercontinent Joseph G. Meert ⁎ University of Florida, Department of Geological Sciences, 241 Williamson Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States article info abstract Article history: Supercontinents play an important role in Earth's history. The exact definition of what constitutes a super- Received 4 December 2011 continent is difficult to establish. Here the argument is made, using Pangæa as a model, that any superconti- Received in revised form 6 December 2011 nent should include ~75% of the preserved continental crust relevant to the time of maximum packing. As an Accepted 8 December 2011 example, Rodinia reached maximum packing at about 1.0 Ga and therefore should include 75% of all conti- Available online 14 December 2011 nental crust older than 1.0 Ga. In attempting to ‘name’ any supercontinent, there is a clear precedent for Handling Editor: M. Santosh models that provide a name along with a testable reconstruction within a reasonable temporal framework. Both Pangæa and Rodinia are near universally accepted names for the late Paleozoic and Neoproterozoic su- Keywords: percontinent respectively; however, there is a recent push to change the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic superconti- Columbia nent moniker from “Columbia” to “Nuna”. A careful examination of the “Nuna” and “Columbia” proposals Supercontinent tectonics reveals that although the term “Nuna” was published prior to “Columbia”, the “Nuna” proposal is a bit nebu- Pangaea lous in terms of the constitution of the giant continent.