History of Global Plate Motions

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Display Options

You can simply scroll down through the maps, reading the text for each. You can also flip from map to map by clicking on the Later and Earlier prompts. To view a map of an earlier time, select "Earlier", to view a map of a later time, select "Later." Labels on the maps in capitals denote separate plates; lower case denotes subregions for geographic reference. Present coastlines are shown for geographic reference only. Refer to the bottom of the page for a listing of symbols and their meanings.

Begin Flipping Maps Here

There is a similar set of maps using 1979 data. It's revealing to compare the two to see how our understanding of plate configurations has changed with 15 years of better data. In general, the later maps include a lot more small terranes, a great deal more accurate information about the assembly of Asia, and extend further back in time to the late Precambrian. By 1994 it was possible to understand at least roughly the assembly of the plates that formed Gondwanaland.



Earlier

Breakup of Pangaea


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Assembly of Pangaea


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Assembly of Gondwanaland


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Later=======This is as far back as we can go now.

Rodinia

The sequence of maps above is drawn with the land masses roughly centered. Unfortunately, as Gondwanaland slides down over the south pole, there is no way to portray it without either seriously distorting it or abruptly rotating the globe. The last map, in particular, needs to be viewed from the other side of the globe. The map shown here is a 750 m.y. reconstruction redrawn from the 750 m.y. map immediately preceding it, but viewed from the other side of the globe. We can see that once again the continents are assembled into a supercontinent, only this time North America is in the middle instead of Africa. This earlier supercontinent has been given the name Rodinia.

Index of Plates and Symbols

From Pangaea to the Present

Af - - Africa
Ar - - Arabia
Au - - Australia
Bk - - Baikal Block
Br - - Brooks Range
Co - - Cordilleran Accreted Terranes. Shown schematically west of North America. Exact configuration and location unknown.
Ea - - East Antarctica
Eu - - Eurasia
Gr - - Greenland
In - - India
Ir - - Iran
It - - Italy, including numerous small plates that now make up the Balkans.
Ko - - Kolyma Block, present northeastern Siberia
Ma - - Madagascar
Na - - North America
Nc - - North China
Nt - - Northern Terranes. Shown schematically. Accrete to Eurasia.
Nz - - New Zealand
Sa - - South America
Sb - - Spitzbergen
Sc - - Scotland
Sc - - South China
Se - - Southeast Asia
Sp - - Spain
St - - Southern Terranes. Shown schematically. Accrete to Eurasia.
Tu - - Turkey
Wa - - West Antarctica
Xi - - Xinjiang

From the Cambrian to Pangaea

Af - - Africa
Ar - - Arabia
Au - - Australia
Av - - Avalonia, consisting of parts of the British Isles (en), Newfoundland (nf), Nova Scotia (ns) and Maine (me).
Ba - - Baltica. Core of ancestral Europe.
Bk - - Baikal Block
Br - - Brooks Range
Co - - Cordilleran Accreted Terranes
Ea - - East Antarctica
Eg - - East Gondwanaland
En - - England
En - - Eurasia
Fl - - Florida and SE USA
Fr - - France
Gon - - Gondwanaland
Gr - - Greenland
In - - India
Ir - - Iran
It - - Italy, including numerous small plates that now make up the Balkans.
Ko - - Kolyma Block, present northeastern Siberia
Lau - - Laurasia
La - - Laurentia. Core of ancestral North America.
Ma - - Madagascar. Mostly not labelled.
Nc - - North China
Nt - - Northern Terranes. Mostly not labelled.
Nz - - New Zealand
Sa - - South America
Sb - - Siberian Craton
Sb - - Spitzbergen. Attached fo Laurentia.
Sc - - Scotland. Attached fo Laurentia.
Sc - - South China
Se - - Southeast Asia
Sp - - Spain
St - - Southern Terranes. Mostly not labelled.
Tu - - Turkey
Wa - - West Antarctica
Wg - - West Gondwanaland

Precambrian Plates and Symbols

Ar - - Arabia
Au - - Australia
Bk - - Baikal Block
Br - - Brooks Range
Co - - Cordilleran Accreted Terranes
Ea - - East Antarctica
Eg - - East Gondwanaland
Fl - - Florida and SE USA
Gon - - Gondwanaland
Gr - - Greenland
In - - India
Ir - - Iran
It - - Italy, including numerous small plates that now make up the Balkans.
Ko - - Kolyma Block, present northeastern Siberia
La - - Laurentia
Mz - - Mozambique Belt: eastern and southern Africa
Nc - - North China
Ni - - Niger Block: eastern Brazil plus north-central Africa.
Rp - - Rio De La Plata Craton: northern Argentina.
Sa - - South America: Guyana Craton, consisting of northern and western Brazil and adjacent areas.
Sb - - Siberian Craton
Sb - - Spitzbergen. Part of Laurentia
Sc - - Scotland. Part of Laurentia
Sc - - South China
Se - - Southeast Asia
Sp - - Spain
Tu - - Turkey
Wa - - Western Arabia: Egypt and Arabia adjacent to the Red Sea.
Waf - - West African Craton
Wg - - West Gondwanaland

References

Map data is derived from Christopher R. Scotese, 1994, Continental Drift, Edition 6, Paleomap Project, University of Texas at Arlington. This is a flip-animation booklet with maps portraying continental positions at 10 m.y. intervals from 750 m.y. ago to the present.

Dalziel, Ian, 1995, Earth before Pangaea, Scientific American, v. 272, no. 1, p. 58-63

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Created 17 December 1998, Last Update 19 January 1999