Paleomagnetism related to continental drift and plate tectonics

摘要

This brief review article deals with those aspects of paleomagnetism that are related to continental drift, plate tectonics, and polar wandering. It is a sequel to a previous review paper (Van der Voo, 1975) and will not repeat the bibliography of that paper dealing with the U.S. contributions prior to 1974.The accomplishments and highlights of the past four years are reviewed below. This review will be followed by a rather personal assessment of the important open questions that are likely to be attacked in the next four‐year period. The bibliography contains a comprehensive listing of U.S. contributions in this field for 1974–1978, as well as selected publications from abroad. For a general treatment of paleomagnetism and plate tectonics the reader is referred to McElhinny (1973); recent listings of new paleomagnetic pole positions complement the data base of 1973 (McElhinny and Cowley, 1977, 1978; see also Hicken et al., 1972; Irving and Hastie, 1975; Irving et al., 1976a,b