Supercontinent Cycles Through Earth History
Product code: SP424
Print publication date: 19/05/2016
Earth Structure Processes and Tectonics, Tectonics, Palaeogeography, Precambrian studies, GSL Special Publications, Geological Society of London
Type: Book (Hardback)
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 9781862397330
Author/Edited by: Edited by Z.X. Li, D.A.D. Evans and J.B. Murphy
Weight: 0.89kg
Number of pages: 297
Online publication date: 26/04/2016
Lyell Collection URL: https://www.lyellcollection.org/toc/sp/424/1
£110.00
Log in for your member priceFull Description
Special Publication 424
The supercontinent-cycle hypothesis attributes planetary-scale episodic tectonic events to an intrinsic self-organizing mode of mantle convection, governed by the buoyancy of continental lithosphere that resists subduction during the closure of old ocean basins, and the consequent reorganization of mantle convection cells leading to the opening of new ocean basins. Characteristic timescales of the cycle are typically 500 to 700 million years. Proposed spatial patterns of cyclicity range from hemispheric (introversion) to antipodal (extroversion), to precisely between those end members (orthoversion). Advances in our understanding can arise from theoretical or numerical modelling, primary data acquisition relevant to continental reconstructions, and spatiotemporal correlations between plate kinematics, geodynamic events and palaeoenvironmental history. The palaeogeographic record of supercontinental tectonics on Earth is still under development. The contributions in this Special Publication provide snapshots in time of these investigations and indicate that Earth’s palaeogeographic record incorporates elements of all three end-member spatial patterns.
EVANS, D. A. D., LI, Z. X. & MURPHY, J. B. Four-dimensional context of Earth’s supercontinents
KILIAN, T. M., BLEEKER, W., CHAMBERLAIN, K., EVANS, D. A. D. & COUSENS, B. Palaeomagnetism, geochronology and geochemistry of the Palaeoproterozoic Rabbit Creek and Powder River dyke swarms: implications for Wyoming in supercraton Superia
BETTS, P. G., ARMIT, R. J., STEWART, J., AITKEN, A. R. A., AILLERES, L., DONCHAK, P., HUTTON, L., WITHNALL, I. & GILES, D. Australia and Nuna
PEHRSSON, S. J., EGLINGTON, B. M., EVANS, D. A. D., HUSTON, D. & REDDY, S. M. Metallogeny and its link to orogenic style during the Nuna supercontinent cycle
SALMINEN, J. M., KLEIN, R., MERTANEN, S., PESONEN, L. J., FRÖJDÖ, S., MÄNTTÄRI, I. & EKLUND, O. Palaeomagnetism and U–Pb geochronology of c.1570 Ma intrusives from Åland archipelago, SW Finland – implications for Nuna
PANZIK, J. E., EVANS, D. A. D., KASBOHM, J. J., HANSON, R., GOSE, W. & DESORMEAU, J. Using palaeomagnetism to determine late Mesoproterozoic palaeogeographic history and tectonic relations of the Sinclair terrane, Namaqua orogen, Namibia
KASBOHM, J., EVANS, D. A. D., PANZIK, J. E., HOFMANN, M. & LINNEMANN, U. Palaeomagnetic and geochronological data from Late Mesoproterozoic redbed sedimentary rocks on the western margin of Kalahari craton
EVANS, D. A. D., TRINDADE, R. I. F., CATELANI, E. L., D’AGRELLA-FILHO, M. S., HEAMAN, L. M., OLIVEIRA, E. P., SÖDERLUND, U., ERNST, R. E., SMIRNOV, A. V. & SALMINEN, J. M. Return to Rodinia? Moderate to high palaeolatitude of the São Francisco/Congo craton at 920 Ma
NIU, J., LI, Z.-X. & ZHU, W. Palaeomagnetism and geochronology of mid-Neoproterozoic Yanbian dykes, South China: implications for a c. 820–800 Ma true polar wander event and the reconstruction of Rodinia
SMITH, E. F., MACDONALD, F. A., CROWLEY, J. L., HODGIN, E. B. & SCHRAG, D. P. Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the c. 780–730 Ma Beck Spring Dolomite: Basin Formation in the core of Rodinia
MURPHY, J. B., BRAID, J. A., QUESADA, C., DAHN, D., GLADNEY, E. & DUPUIS, N. An eastern Mediterranean analogue for the Late Palaeozoic evolution of the Pangaean suture zone in SW Iberia
KEPPIE, F. How subduction broke up Pangaea with implications for the supercontinent cycle 265
Index
All contributions are well written and edited, concisely laid-out with clear and appropriate figures, photographs and data-tables. Many are presented in colour and enhance the understanding of the textual details. The volume is
a comprehensive contribution to this interdisciplinary field, and the editors are to be congratulated. A recommended read and authoritative reference work.
Reviewed by Mark Griffin, Geoscientist Mar 2017
This Special Publication outlines and illustrates the supercontinent-cycle hypothesis, and is part of a continuing research programme on super continental cycles and global geodynamics.
