The significance of the paleomagnetic results from Mesozoic rocks of eastern Australia

Abstract

The mean directions of the stable magnetization in nine rock units which range in age from Lower Triassic to late Lower Cretaceous are approximately uniform, with a steep inclination indicating a high latitude for Australia during much of the Mesozoic. The paleomagnetic pole positions for each determination are grouped together, but they differ by 40° to 80° of arc from equivalent determinations from Mesozoic rocks of North America and Europe. We conclude that the only reasonable explanation for these observations is either that the earth's field during the Mesozoic was nondipolar or that Australia has moved relative to these northern continents by approximately 3000 to 5000 km during the past 100 m.y.