Ordovician-Silurian true polar wander as a mechanism for severe glaciation and mass extinction.

ABSTRACT: The Ordovician-Silurian transition experienced severe, but enigmatic, glaciation, as well as a paradoxical combination of mass extinction and species origination. Here we report a large and fast true polar wander (TPW) event that occurred 450-440 million years ago based on palaeomagnetic data from South China and compiled reliable palaeopoles from all major continents. Collectively, a ~50˚ wholesale rotation with maximum continental speeds of ~55 cm yr^-1 is demonstrated. Multiple isolated continents moving rapidly, synchronously, and unidirectionally is less consistent with and plausible for relative plate motions than TPW. Palaeogeographic reconstructions constrained by TPW controlling for palaeolongitude explain the timing and migration of glacial centers across Gondwana, as w

SUBMITTER: Jing X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9792554 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature