Palaeomagnetism and Reconstruction of Palaeogeographic Positions of the Siberian and Russian Plates during the Late Proterozoic and Palaeozoic

Abstract

An analysis of the palaeomagnetic data from the Siberian and Russian plates, Kazakhstan, and the Scythian and Turanian blocks permits us to reconstruct the history of their horizontal movements from the Late Proterozoic through to the Triassic. The Siberian plate originally consisted of four separate blocks: the Anabar craton, the Aldan shield, and the northern and western Baikalian blocks. Situated in southern subequatorial latitudes during the late Proterozoic, these separate units collided at the beginning of the Palaeozoic to form the Siberian plate. During the Palaeozoic the Siberian plate moved northward along a great circle path through the subtropics, across the equator, and eventually past the North Pole. During the early and middle Palaeozoic the Russian plate was located in low southern latitudes. It moved northward during the Palaeozoic, colliding with Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Scythian and Turanian blocks during the Permian. © 1980, Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. All rights reserved.