Uncertainties about the Proterozoic and Paleozoic polar wander path of the West African craton and Gondwana: evidence for successive remagnetization events

Details Uncertainties about the Proterozoic and Paleozoic polar wander path of the West African craton and Gondwana: evidence for successive remagnetization events Uncertainties about the Proterozoic and Paleozoic polar wander path of the West African craton and Gondwana: evidence for successive remagnetization events

May 1988

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1988e%26psl..88..337p&link_type=abstract

Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 88, Issue 3-4, p. 337-347.

Mathematics

Logic

4

Scientific paper

The importance of remagnetization phenomena in rocks, which is without doubt the main cause of uncertainties in paleomagnetic interpretations, is illustrated by the study of Proterozoic and Early Paleozoic redbeds from Mauritania, cratonic West Africa. Except for one formation, these units carry multicomponent or secondary magnetizations. Up to three components are found in a single unit. In the absence of geochronological arguments, dating of these components relies only on comparisons with previous paleomagnetic data. Here we critically review the paleomagnetic data set available for the Paleozoic of Gondwana and the Proterozoic of the West African craton, using geologic as well as magnetic criteria for the selection of reliable data. The selected paleopoles are not regularly arranged in space and time, but tend to fall into groups which we interpret as remagnetization periods. Our interpretation recognizes three or four remagnetization events from Middle Proterozoic to Late Paleozoic. In addition to the well established Late Paleozoic overprint, paleomagnetic data suggest the existence of a Middle Paleozoic (Silurian?), an Early Paleozoic (late Cambrian?) and maybe a Late Middle Proterozoic remagnetization event. These overprints may correspond to generalized geological or climatic events or, alternatively, be simply related to intervals with low rate of geomagnetic reversals.

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