Paleomagnetic Tests of the Vendian-Cambrian True Polar Wander Hypotheses

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9814608Kirschvink Recent syntheses of the global paleomagnetic database for Vendian and Cambrian time (600-500 million years ago) have led to provocative hypotheses that true polar wander (TPW) may have occurred during that interval, at sustained rates of 30 cm/yr--far exceeding those of the last 200 million years. Careful paleomagnetic analyses of well preserved Vendian-Cambrian rocks can provide direct tests of the TPW hypotheses. This project will conduct such analyses among suitable geological formations in Australia, Quebec, and Siberia. The results, whether verifying or disproving the TPW hypotheses, will have important implications for global geodynamics, as well as for improving understanding of the tectonic environment surrounding the Cambrian "explosion" of animal life.