Palaeomagnetic argument for a stationary Spitsbergen relative to the British Isles (Western Europe) since late Devonian and its bearing on North Atlantic reconstruction

Abstract

Palaeomagnetic results from the Devonian of Central Spitsbergen (Mimer Valley Formation, Billefjorden) suggest an average palaeofield direction for the late Devonian/early Carboniferous with declination = 227.5°, inclination = −30.6°, corresponding to a relative pole position atlat. = 24°S, long. = 325°E. This magnetization which is post-tectonic is regarded as acquired chemically, linked with the Upper Devonian Svalbardian phase of deformation. This result, together with some recent data from Central Spitsbergen, defines a Devonian polar wander segment that accords extremely well with corresponding British data. We interpret this in terms of no major displacement of Central Spitsbergen as compared with Western Europe since Devonian time; Svalbard and the Barents Sea region have probably formed a fairly stable platform since the early Devonian. On the balance of available geological and palaeomagnetic evidence from Spitsbergen, the British Isles, and Newfoundland, the North Atlantic region does not appear to have been subjected to strike-slip motions in the order of thousands of kilometers in or since the late Devonian.