PALEOMAGNETISM OF THE LATE CRETACEOUS AND EARLY TERTIARY ROCKS FROM FILDES PENINSULA,WEST ANTARCTICA, AND ITS GEOTECTONIC SIGNIFICANCE

The paleomagnetis m of 109 oriented samples collected from drill cores through 5 rock units of Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary on Fildes Peninsula were systematically studied-According to the study, the paleomagnetic pole position of this area is different from the position of Australia during the 55-45 Ma period. This means that when the break - up of the Gondwanaland at 55 - 45 Ma ago, Australia was separated from the Gondwanaland, drifting southward 20°-30°Lat. and rotating 70°-80°westward and then gradually arriving at recent position . The paleolatitudinal data indicate that it is not impossible that the area studied was covered with land glacier at that time. The apparent polar wander path of Antarctica through the geological time are also roughly worked out.

Paleomagnetic results from Late Carboniferous to Early Permian rocks in the northern Qiangtang terrane, Tibet, China, and their tectonic implications

Results of a systematic paleomagnetic study are reported based on Late Carboniferous to Early Permian sedimentary rocks on the north slope of the Tanggula Mountains, in the northern Qiangtang terrane （NQT）, Tibet, China. Data revealed that magnetic minerals in limestone samples from the Zarigen Formation （CP^z）are primarily composed of magnetite, while those in sandstone samples from the Nuoribagaribao Formation （Pnr） are dominated by hematite alone, or hematite and magnetite in combination. Progressive thermal, or alternating field, demagnetization allowed us to isolate a stable high temperature component （HTC） in 127 specimens from 16 sites which successfully passed the conglomerate test, consistent with primary remnance. The tilt-corrected mean direction for Late Carboniferous to Early Permian rocks in the northern Qiangtang terrane is D°=30.2°, Is=-40.9°, ks=269.0, a95=2.3°, N=16, which yields a corresponding paleomagnetic pole at 25.7°N, 241.5°E （alp/rim=2.8°/1.7°）, and a paleolatitude of 23.4°S. Our results, together with previously reported paleomagnetic data, indicate that： （1） the NQT in Tibet, China, was located at a low latitude in the southern hemisphere, and may have belonged to the northern margin of Gondwana during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian; （2） the Paleo-Tethys Ocean was large during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, and （3） the NQT subsequently moved rapidly northwards, perhaps related to the fact that the Paleo-Tethys Ocean was rapidly contracting from the Late Permian to Late Triassic while the Bangong Lake-Nujiang Ocean, the northern branch of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, expanded rapidly during this time.

Paleomagnetism of the Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks of the Shimaoshan Group in Yongtai County, Fujian Province

It has been debated whether there was southward movement of the South China Block （SCB） during the Cretaceous. In this study, a paleomagnetic investigation was carried out on the Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks （-88 Ma） of the Shimaoshan Group in Yongtai County, Fujian Province. Rock magnetic experiments showed that magnetite in pseudo-single-domain and multi-domain grain and hematite were predominant magnetic phases. Stepwise thermal demagnetization successfully isolated characteristic directional components at high-temperature interval （〉 500℃） from 383 specimens in 19 sites, which yielded a paleomagnetic pole for the studied section at 83.1°N, 152.6°E （N = 19, A95 = 3.9°）, and the scatter SB = 9.0. The Fisher distri- bution of virtual geomagnetic poles （VGPs） and the consistence of S8 with the expected value at the 95% confidence level in- dicate that the yielded paleomagnetic pole is free of paleomagnetic secular variation influence. The new pole, which is well consistent with that from the Eurasian apparent polar wander path （APWP） curve, suggests no obvious southward movement of the sampling site during the Cretaceous.