Abstract
We report paleomagnetic results from Jurassic through Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (nine sites) in the Mérida Andes, Venezuela. Detailed thermal and alternating field demagnetization yielded well‐grouped directions of both polarities. The mean of the normal directions is statistically identical to the mean of the reversed directions and the site means clusters better after structural correction, both at the 95% significance level, indicating that the primary magnetization has been isolated. The mean pole position lies at 86.5°N, 151.1°E, A95 = 5.6°. Combining this pole position with 10 other poles from the southern part of cratonic South America establishes a mean pole for the Late Jurassic through Cretaceous at 87.6°N, 211.0°E, A95 = 3.3°. These results imply, within the error limit of the paleomagnetic data, that South America is indeed one rigid plate and that the motion of this plate was restricted to east‐west translation since the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean.
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