Preface

Hynes, A. J. Maarten de Wit – a Life Well Lived

Introduction

Hynes, A. J. and Murphy, J. B. The consummate geoscientist: a celebration of the career of Maarten de Wit van Staal, C. R. and Dewey, J. F. A review and tectonic interpretation of the Taconian–Grampian tract between Newfoundland and Scotland: diachronous accretion of an extensive forearc–arc–backarc system to a hyperextended Laurentian margin and subsequent subduction polarity reversal

Pehrsson, S., Eglington, B., Rainbird, R., Regis, D., Ramaekers, P. and Jefferson, C. Extent and significance of the Racklan–Forward Orogen in Canada: far-field interior reactivation during Nuna assembly

Levin, V., Yuan, H. and Hynes, A. Continents never forget seismological record of lithospheric deformation 1 billion years ago

Craddock, J., Paulsen, T., da Silva Schmitt, R., Johnston, S. T., Myrow, P. M. and Hughes, N. C. The amalgamation of Gondwana: calcite twinning and finite strains from the early–late Paleozoic Buzios, Ross, Kurgiakh and Gondwanide orogens

Linol, B. and Dhansay, T. Brittle tectonic evolution of Gondwana: implications for shale-gas and groundwater exploration

Schmitt, R. da S., Trouw, R. A. J., Alves da Silva, E., de Jesus, J. V. M., da Costa, L. F. M. and Passarelli, C. R. The role of crustal-scale shear zones in SW Gondwana consolidation – transatlantic correlation

Archibald, D. B., Collins, A. S., Armistead, S. E., Foden, J. D., Payne, J. L. and Razakamanana, T. Zircon U–Pb, oxygen and hafnium isotopic characteristics of the Neoarchean–Paleoproterozoic Betsiboka Suite, Madagascar: tracing source to sink pathways in Proterozoic and Phanerozoic provenance studies

Murphy, J. B., Nance, R. D. and Wu, L. The provenance of Avalonia and its tectonic implications: a critical reappraisal

Dan, W., Murphy, J. B., Wang, Q., Zhang, X.-Z. and Tang, G.-J. Tectonic evolution of the Proto-Qiangtang Ocean and its relationship with the Palaeo-Tethys and Rheic oceans

Zhang, Y., Yu, X., Wang, Y., Qian, X., Gan, C., Ghani, A. A., Yu, Y. and Xu, C. Reconstructing the East Palaeo-Tethyan assemblage boundary in west Indonesia: constraints from Triassic granitoids in the Bangka and Belitung islands

Mo, J., Xia, X.-P., Zhou, M., Lai, C.-K., Cui, Z., Xu, J. and Aidoo, F. Detrital zircon U–Pb age constraints on the Meso-Tethys Ocean closure in SE Asia

Hodgin, E. B., Carlotto, V., Macdonald, F. A., Schmitz, M. D. and Crowley, J. L. New age constraints on the break-up of Rodinia and amalgamation of southwestern Gondwana from the Choquequirao Formation in southwestern Peru

Malay, B. C., Braid, J. A., Archibald, D. B. and McFarlane, C. R. M. Depositional environment and provenance of Early Carboniferous clastic sedimentary rocks at McIsaacs Point, Nova Scotia: implications for syntectonic basin development during the formation of Pangaea

Pereira, M. F., Dias da Silva, Í, Rodríguez, C., Corfu, F. and Castro, A. Visean high-K mafic–intermediate plutonic rocks of the Ossa–Morena Zone (SW Iberia): implications for regional extensional tectonics

Hynes, A. and Johnston, S. Palinspastic restoration of Variscan oroclines – implications for dextral transpression and terrane affinities

Freeborne, S. and Braid, J. A. Detrital zircon geochronology from the Nueva Segovia Schist, Nicaragua: evidence for the tectonic evolution of the Chortis Block?

Espejo-Bautista, G., Solari, L., Maldonado, R. and Ramírez-Calderón, M. Silurian to Cretaceous geological evolution of southern Mexico and its connection to the assembly and break-up of Western Equatorial Pangaea: geochronological constraints from the northern Sierra de Juárez Complex

Ramos, V. A. Hans Keidel and Alexander du Toit’s relationship and its impact on Wegener’s Continental Drift hypothesis

Index

Maarten de Wit was a world-renowned geoscientist who specialised in early Earth processes, plate tectonics, and orogenic events. As a long-term admirer of Maarten, I welcomed the chance to read this celebration. Festschrifts, collections of writings published in honour of a scholar, are not common in the sciences, and this volume assembles a collection of papers on the application of plate tectonic principles to ancient orogens. The book’s breadth is considerable, reflecting Maarten’s enthusiasm for many aspects of geology and sustainability. The Consummate Geoscientist starts with a summary of Maarten’s work and publications, suitably titled ‘a life well lived’, followed by a helpful introduction to the volume. Topics range from intracontinental orogens in the interior of Nuna, to seismograms across the Grenville Front, the early history of subduction along the Laurentian margin of Iapetus, the origin and evolution of Gondwana and its connections to Pangaea, the provenance of Avalonia, and oroclines in the Variscan. Keidel’s influence on du Toit’s early support of continental drift is also celebrated. There is a strong tectonic bias, highlighting Maarten’s long-term interest in unravelling the tectonic evolution of old continental masses. Many sections are concerned with the formation and break up of Gondwana, of which Maarten published a striking geological map in 1988. Study locations spanning five different continents are explored, from the Laurentian in Newfoundland and Scotland, to the Racklan-Forward Orogen in Canada, to the Proto-Qiangtang Ocean in eastern Asia. Students and researchers engaged with the topics covered by this collection of papers will be interested, as well as those seeking to recall Maarten’s career and contributions. The collection is a reminder of the importance of field-based studies in constraining models of tectonic history and the role of well-constrained tectono stratigraphic sections. Techniques such as the application of strain measurements from twinned calcites as records of continent amalgamation and the potential of ages and Hf isotope ratios of detrital minerals are considered. These are, in turn, set alongside developments in the field of mantle dynamics and the challenges in going from regional studies to larger scale supercontinent tectonics. The editors are to be congratulated on assembling a volume of this breadth and quality, and I hope it is well received by Maarten’s family and close friends.

Reviewed by Chris Hawkesworth, Geoscientist Spring 2025.