Abstract
RECONSTRUCTIONS of Gondwanaland, based on geological arguments, paleomagnetic data and best fit of continents have derived two possible models of reassembly1–5. The most popular places India–Ceylon adjacent to East Antarctica1; the other places it next to Western Australia4. The exact position of Madagascar in these models has been the subject of some debate, but it is now placed north of its present position against East Africa6. Both models have reasonable geological correlations, but a rigorous test of fits based on Precambrian basement correlations has been attempted in a limited way only between India–Ceylon, Western Australia and East Antarctica7,8. Tracing out dispersed Precambrian belts to test continental drift has also been applied to fits between Brazil and Gabon9. I have shown that Precambrian granulite facies, paired metamorphic belts can be traced throughout the basement rocks of Gondwanaland. The significance of these paired belts in terms of plate tectonics during the Precambrian is also discussed.
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KATZ, M. Paired Metamorphic Belts of the Gondwanaland Precambrian and Plate Tectonics. Nature 239, 271–273 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/239271a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/239271a0
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