Abstract
The formation of Gondwana results from a complex history, which can be linked to many orogenic sutures. The sutures have often been gathered in the literature under broad orogenies — in particular the Eastern and Western Pan-African Orogenies — although their ages may vary a lot within those wide belts. ThePanalesismodel is a plate tectonic model, which aims at reconstructing 100% of the Earth’s surface, and proposes a geologically, geometrically, kinematically, and geodynamically coherent solution for the evolution of the Earth from 888 to 444 Ma. Although the model confirms that the assembly of Gondwana can be considered complete after the Damara and Kuunga orogenies, it shows above all that the detachment and amalgamation of “terranes” is a roughly continuous process, which even persisted after the Early Cambrian. By using the wealth of Plate Tectonics, thePanalesismodel makes it possible to derive numerous additional data and maps, such as the age of the sea-floor everywhere on the planet at every time slice, for instance. The evolution of accretion rates at mid-oceanic ridges and subduction rates at trenches are shown here, and yields results consistent with previous estimates. Understanding the variation of the global tectonic activity of our planet through time is key to link plate tectonic modeling with other disciplines of Earth sciences.
Highlights
The PANALESIS ModelThe formation of Gondwana encompassed many regional and distinct geological histories that occurred during the Neoproterozoic ― Early Palæozoic
® using the methodology developed at the University of Lausanne (UNIL; Vérard et al, 2015a; Vérard et al, 2015b; see Hochard, 2008), but entirely redeveloped from scratch and for which the starting point is arbitrarily chosen at 888 Ma
The motion of the West Africa plate is associated with the formation of an intra-oceanic subduction zone, which collides with the active margin of Rodinia on its “North China – Tarim side.”
Summary
The model follows the interpretations of Stampfli et al (2013) where two clusters of ages are considered: one around 600–580 Ma interpreted here as the collision of an active intra-oceanic magmatic arc turning the passive margin (dos Santos et al, 2008; Trouw et al, 2013) into an active margin; the second around 550 Ma corresponding to the final collision between the Río de la Plata ― Paranapanema TEs and the Congo (central Africa) TE. Between 760 and 750 Ma (Figure 8E), following the collision between the Crohn and Napier tectonic plates, the Bekily, East and West Madagascar Ridge, Madurai Block, Sri Lanka, and Niassa TEs are left attached to the Napier plate, and separates from the Antarctica TE which belonging to the Crohn plate, and gives birth to the Mozambique Ocean (e.g., Santosh et al, 2009) at 750–740 Ma. At ca.
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