Late Paleozoic polar wander path for the Tarim platform and its tectonic significance

Abstract

Stepwise thermal and A.F. demagnetizations have been carried out on 518 samples (47 sites) from the Sishichang section across the Akesu area, in the Tarim Basin. The results lead to a discussion on some problems concerning the tectonic history of the Tarim platform and adjacent blocks during the Late Paleozoic. From the Late Carboniferous until the Early Permian the Tarim platform collided with the Kazakhstan block, Siberian platform and Russian platform; no large displacements have occurred between these blocks since the Mesozoic. However, the Permian pole position of the Tarim platform obviously differs from that for the Sino-Korea platform. The difference in paleolatitude between the Tarim and Sino-Korea platforms in the Permian was about 10°. Their orientations were also different. The paleomagnetic result is in contrast to the geologically accepted idea that the two platforms in question occur as a whole in the Late Paleozoic.