Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Apr 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998e%26psl.157....1e&link_type=abstract
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 157, Issue 1-2, p. 1-8.
Mathematics
Logic
15
Scientific paper
Paleomagnetically determined apparent polar wander (APW) paths should contain components of individual plate motions as well as true polar wander (TPW), the uniform motion of the mantle relative to the spin axis. Quantifying the TPW component for pre-Mesozoic time is hampered by the lack of a representative from the mantle reference frame; nevertheless, TPW can be estimated if all or most of the continents show similar APW paths for a given period of time. Two such estimates have been proposed recently for the early Paleozoic. Plotted relative to Gondwanaland, which may have been drifting over the mantle slowly enough to constitute an approximate mantle reference frame, these TPW swaths are oscillatory and nearly coaxial. A long-lived and stable prolateness of Earth's non-hydrostatic geoid between Cambrian and Devonian time could produce such a pattern of TPW. Similarly oscillatory APW paths exist for the late Neoproterozoic cratons, perhaps indicating TPW about the same long-lived axis during that earlier interval as well. This long-lived prolate axis of Earth' non-hydrostatic figure, representing a stable configuration of mantle mass anomalies, may have been inherited from the vanished Rodinia supercontinent in the same way that the present non-hydrostatic geoid's prolate axis may be a legacy of Mesozoic Pangea and its peripheral subduction zones. These geoidal legacies may endure for several hundred Myr after supercontinental fragmentation, perhaps indicating a characteristic lag time between two distinct geological phenomena: global-scale surface tectonics recorded by the growth and disassembly of supercontinents; and deep mantle convective structure indicated by the long-term record of TPW.
No associations
LandOfFree
True polar wander, a supercontinental legacy does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with True polar wander, a supercontinental legacy, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and True polar wander, a supercontinental legacy will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1603585