The Columbia supercontinent revisited

Abstract

Just over 15 years ago, a proposal forwarded by Rogers and Santosh (2002) posited the existence of a pre-Rodinia supercontinent which they called Columbia. The conjecture invigorated research into the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic interval that was; in our opinion, inappropriately dubbed ‘the boring billion’. Given the wealth of new information about the supercontinent, this review paper takes a careful look at the paleomagnetic evidence that is used to reconstruct Columbia. Our contribution represents a status report and indicates that; despite the exponential increase in available data, knowledge of the assembly, duration and breakup history of the supercontinent are contentious. The commonality of ~ 1.7–2.1 Ga orogenic systems around the globe are indicative of major changes in paleogeography and growth of larger landmasses. There is continued discussion about the interconnectedness of those orogenic systems in a global picture. Arguments for Columbia posit a ~ 1500–1400 Ma age for maximum packing. Paleomagnetic data from many of the constituent cratons during the 1500–1400 Ma interval can be interpreted to support a large landmass, but the consistency of the proposal cannot be reliably demonstrated for earlier or later times. One of the more intriguing advances are the apparent long-lived connections between Laurentia, Siberia and Baltica that may have formed the core of both Columbia and Rodinia.