Paleomagnetic Tests of the Vendian-Cambrian True Polar Wander Hypotheses

9814608Kirschvink最近对全球文迪亚和寒武纪时间(6-5亿年前)的古地磁数据库的综合得出了一些挑衅性的假设，即在这段时间内可能发生了真正的极地漂移(TPW)，持续速度为30厘米/年--远远超过过去2亿年的速度。对保存完好的文迪亚-寒武纪岩石进行仔细的古地磁分析，可以直接检验TPW假说。该项目将在澳大利亚、魁北克和西伯利亚合适的地质构造中进行这样的分析。这些结果，无论是验证还是反驳TPW假说，都将对全球地球动力学以及增进对寒武纪动物生命“大爆发”周围的构造环境的理解产生重要影响。

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.