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Antarctica and global paleogeography: from Rodinia, rhrough Gondwanaland and Pangea, to the birth of the Southern Ocean and the opening of gateways

Open-File Report 2007-1047-KP-11
By: , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20071047KP11

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Abstract

Neoproterozoic Rodinia reconstructions associate East Antarctica (EANT) with cratonic Western Australia. By further linking EANT to both Gondwana and Pangea with relative plate circuits, a Synthetic Apparent Polar Wander (SAPW) path for EANT is calculated. This path predicts that EANT was located at tropical to subtropical southerly latitudes from ca. 1 Ga to 420 Ma. Around 400 Ma and again at 320 Ma, EANT underwent southward drift. Ca. 250 Ma Antarctica voyaged briefly north but headed south again ca. 200 Ma. Since 75 Ma EANT became surrounded by spreading centers and has remained extremely stable. Although paleomagnetic data of the blocks that embrace West Antarctica are sparse, we attempt to model their complex kinematics since the Mesozoic. Together with the SAPW path and a revised circum-Antarctic seafloor spreading history we construct a series of new paleogeographic maps.

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Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Antarctica and global paleogeography: from Rodinia, rhrough Gondwanaland and Pangea, to the birth of the Southern Ocean and the opening of gateways
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2007-1047-KP-11
DOI 10.3133/ofr20071047KP11
Year Published 2007
Language English
Publisher National Academies Press
Publisher location Washington, DC
Description 16 p.
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Larger Work Title Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World--Online Proceedings for the Tenth International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.--August 26 to September 1, 2007
First page 125
Last page 140
Other Geospatial Antarctica
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