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Permian paleogeography of the Arctic

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey
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Abstract

Three large land areas were dominant in the Arctic during the Permian: Fennoscandia, central and southern Siberia (Angara), and Canada. Smaller landmasses were in China, the Seward-Chukotskiy region, northern and eastern Siberia, and near Alaska. Coal deposits and strata bearing land plants covered a large area in central Siberia; saline basins containing red beds formed in the Zechstein, Perm, and West Texas basins as the seas withdrew, generally in the later Permian. Eugeosynclinal troughs, apparently limited to the Pacific border regions, were marked by volcanism and deposition of predominantly clastic sediments in many areas. Platform and miogeosynclinal deposits, dominated by carbonate rocks, preceded saline deposition in the basins and persisted on shallow shelves adjacent to the geosynclines. The Arctic Permian marine fauna evolved in middle Permian time because of partial isolation of the Arctic areas from the southern ocean. Endemism, latitudinal temperature controls, and the effect of ocean currents explain in large part the faunal patterns in Permian seas. Post-Permian tectonic movements account for anomalies in the present positions of some rock sequences and fossils. Northeasterly drift and counterclockwise
rotation of the northern landmasses are suggested. Right-lateral shear along the southern edge of Asia is supported, followed by
northward movement of peninsular India.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Permian paleogeography of the Arctic
Series title Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey
Volume 1
Issue 5
Year Published 1973
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Description 7 p.
First page 501
Last page 507
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
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