No abstract

A statistical technique is described that uses the geographical distribution of lithological indicators of climate (carbonates, evaporites, coals and tillites) to estimate the past position of the geographic pole. This technique was used to estimate the movement of the South Pole across the supercontinent of Gondwana during the Palaeozoic. Our results indicate that during the Cambrian and Early

No abstract

Geological and geophysical data, coupled with recent plate tectonic reconstructions, suggest that the Cenozoic geologic history of the northern

During the Silurian and Devonian, the sequence of continental collisions that were ultimately to result in the formation of the supercontinent of Pangaea had begun. By the Early to Middle Devonian North America (Laurentia), Acadia, Great Britain, and Northern Europe (Baltica) had collided to form the ‘Old Red Sandstone’ continent (Laurussia). Palaeomagnetic data, however, indicate that the configuration of the continents that made up Laurussia did not resemble the pre-breakup, Mesozoic reassembly. Rather, Britain, Baltica, and Acadia were displaced 10—20° to the south with respect to Laurentia. New palaeomagnetic data for Laurentia and Gondwana, suggests that the ocean separating the northern and southern continents was relatively narrow during the early Devonian, and may have been nearly closed by the late Devonian.