Abstract
THE virtual geomagnetic poles of Laurasia and Gondwanaland in the Carboniferous and Permian periods diverge significantly when these continents are reassembled according to the fit calculated by Bullard et al.1. Two interpretations have been offered: Briden et al.2 explain these divergences by a magnetic field configuration very different from that of a geocentric axial dipole; Irving3 (and private communication), Van der Voo and French4 suggest a different reconstruction and it is shown here that these two interpretations are not incompatible and that the first may help the second.
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References
Bullard, E. G., Everett, J. E. & Smith, A. G. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 251, 41–51 (1965).
Briden, J. C., Smith, A. G. & Sallomy, J. T. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 23, 101–117 (1970).
Irving, E. Paleomagnetism and its Application to Geological and Geophysical Problems, p. 270 (Wiley, New York, 1964).
van der Voo, R. & French, R. B. Earth Sci. Rev. 10, 99–119 (1974).
Westphal, M. Thesis, Strasbourg (1976).
Kono, M. Rock magnetism and Paleogeophysics, Tokyo 1, 118–123 and 124–129 (1973).
Creer, K. M., Georgi, D. T. & Lowrie, W. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 33, 323–345 (1973).
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WESTPHAL, M. Configuration of the magnetic field and reconstruction of Pangaea in the Permian period. Nature 267, 136–137 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/267136a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/267136a0
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