The magnificent seven : A proposal for modest revision of the Van der Voo (1990) quality index

Thirty years ago, Rob Van der Voo proposed an elegant and simple system for evaluating the quality of paleomagnetic data. As a second-year Ph.D. student, the lead author remembers Rob waxing philosophical about the need to have an appropriate, but not overly rigid evaluation system. The end result was a 7-point system that assigned a (1) or (0) for any paleomagnetic result based on objective criteria. The goal was never to reject or blindly accept any particular result, but merely to indicate the degree of quality for any paleomagnetic pole. At the time, the global paleomagnetic database was burgeoning and it was deemed useful to rank older paleo magnetic results with the newer data being developed in modern laboratories. Van der Voo's, 1990 paper launched a silent revolution in paleomagnetism. Researchers began to evaluate their data against those seven criteria with the anticipation that reviewers would be similarly critical. Today, paleomagnetism is a mature science. Our methods, analyses, and results are more sophisticated than they were 30 years ago. Therefore, we feel it is appropriate to revisit the Van der Voo (1990) criteria in light of those developments. We hope to honor the intention of the original paper by keeping the criteria simple and easy to evaluate while also acknowledging the advances in science. This paper aims to update the criteria and modernize the process. We base our changes on advances in paleomagnetism and geochronology with a faithful adherence to the simplicity of the original publication. We offer the "Reliability" or "R" index as the next generation of the Van der Voo "Quality" or "Q" index. The new R-criteria evaluate seven different information items for each paleomagnetic pole including age, statistical requirements, identification of magnetic carriers, field tests, structural integrity, presence of reversals and an evaluation for possible remagnetization.Peer reviewe

U-Pb age and Hf isotope compositions of zircons from the north-western region of the Ukrainian shield: mantle melting in response to post-collision extension

Terra Nova, 24, 373379, 2012 Abstract The North-Western region of the Ukrainian shield represents Palaeoproterozoic continental crust formed essentially during two orogenic events at ca. 2.12.05 and 2.01.95 Ga. At 1.81.74 this area was intruded by huge Korosten anorthositemangeritecharnockite granite complex. At least three generations of mafic dykes can be distinguished in the region. We report new U-Pb data obtained for a suite of Ni-enriched dolerite dykes and layered gabbroic intrusions. Our results indicate that the Tomashgorod dyke was formed at 1787.4 +/- 6.4 Ma, the Prutivka intrusion at 1777.0 +/- 4.7 Ma and the Kamenka massif at ca. 1.79 Ga. This time coincides with the collision of the Fennoscandian and Sarmatian segments of the East European craton and it is contemporaneous with the initial stages of evolution of the Korosten complex. Hf isotopic compositions of zircons indicate that these rocks originated due to melting of moderately depleted mantle material.</p

The Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group - Protracted hotspot activity or back-arc magmatism? Constraints from U-Pb baddeleyite geochronology and Hf isotopic data

The Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group (CSDG) occurs in five separate complexes in central Sweden and SW Finland. U-Pb baddeleyite ages of dolerite dikes and sills fall into three age intervals: 1264-1271 (the Dalarna complex), 1256-1259 (the Vdsterbotten-Ulvo-Satakunta complexes) and similar to 1247 Ma (the Jamtland complex). Timing and spatial distribution of CSDG are unlike expressions of the voluminous and short-lived magmatism which characterises plume-associated large igneous provinces (LIPs). Protracted mafic magmatism in association with mantle plume tail (hotspot) activity beneath the Fennoscandian lithosphere or discrete events of extension behind an active margin (subduction) are considered more plausible tectonic settings. Both settings are consistent with timing, relative magma volumes between complexes and vertical ascent of individual magma pulses through the crust, as inferred from seismic sections [Korja, A., Heikkinen, P., Aaro, S., 2001. Crustal structure of the northern Baltic Sea palaeorift. Teconophysics 331, 341-358]. In the hotspot model, the lack of a linear track of intrusions can be explained by an almost stationary position of Fermoscandia relative to the hotspot, in agreement with palaeomagnetic data [Elming, S.-angstrom., Mattsson, H., 2001. Post Jotnian basic intrusion in the Fermoscandian Shield, and the break up of Baltica from Laurentia: a palaeomagnetic and AMS study. Precambrian Res. 108, 215-236]). Together with geological evidence, dolerite sill complexes and dike swarms in Labrador (Canada), S Greenland and central Scandinavia in the range 1234-1284 Ma are best explained by long-lived subduction along a continuous Laurentia-Baltica margin preceding Rodinia formation. There is no support for the hypothesis that CSDG was fed by magma derived from a distal mantle plume located between Baltica and Greenland and, hence, for rifting between the cratons at similar to 1.26 Ga. The epsilon-Hf in various members of the CSDG varies between 4.7 and 10.3, which are overall higher than both older and younger Mesoproterozoic mafic intrusions in central Fermoscandia. Magma generated from a hotspot mantle source that was mixed to highly variable degrees with an enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle could account for the wide range in Hf isotope composition. In the course of Hf isotope development work during this project we have analysed four fragments of the Geostandard 91500 reference zircon and after evaluating the existing ICPMS and TIMS data we calculate a mean Hf-176/Hf-177 value of 0.282303 +/- 0.000003 (2 sigma). (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Paleomagnetic studies of rapakivi complexes in the Fennoscandian Shield : Implications for the origin of Proterozoic massif-type anorthosite magmatism

Paleomagnetic studies have been performed on five rapakivi related complexes in Sweden and Finland. Poles of varying quality have been defined and the majority of the similar to 1640-1497 Ma poles are clustering on low latitudinal positions. By combining data from similar to 1500 Ma intrusions a new high-quality pole (Plat: 13 degrees N; Plon: 190 degrees E; A(95): 11 degrees, K: 14) for Baltica has been defined. Tectonic reconstructions, on the basis of the new data and previously published high-quality data, indicate that Baltica experienced stable low latitude to equatorial positions during 1640-1470 Ma, temporally coinciding with globally pronounced rapakivi-anorthosite magmatism. Our study argues against single hotspot source for similar to 1640-1620 Ma, similar to 1590-1520 Ma, and 1470-1410 Ma rapakivianorthosites, but supports a model of large-scale superswell under a stationary low-latitude position of supercontinent Nuna for the origin of rapakivi-anorthosite magmatism. However, a possibility for convergent tectonism as the origin cannot be ruled out.Peer reviewe

Columbia revisited: Paleomagnetic results from the 1790 Ma colider volcanics (SW Amazonian Craton, Brazil)

In an attempt to improve our understanding of the Paleoproterozoic geodynamic evolution, a paleomagnetic study was performed on 10 sites of acid volcanic rocks of the Colider Suite, southwestern Amazonian Craton. These rocks have a well-dated zircon U-Pb mean age of 1789 +/- 7 Ma. Alternating field and thermal demagnetization revealed northern (southern) directions with moderate to high upward (downward) inclinations. Rock magnetism experiments and magnetic mineralogy show that this characteristic magnetization is carried by Ti-poor magnetite or by hematite that replaces magnetite by late-magmatic cleuteric alteration. Both magnetite and hematite carry the same characteristic component. The mean direction (Dm = 183.0 degrees, Im = 53.5 degrees, N = 10, alpha(95) = 9.8 degrees, K = 25.2) yielded a paleomagnetic pole located at 298.8 degrees E, 63.3 degrees S (alpha(95) = 10.2 degrees, K = 23.6), which is classified with a quality factor Q = 5. Paleogeographic reconstructions using this pole and other reliable Paleoproterozoic poles suggest that Laurentia, Baltica, North China Craton and Amazonian Craton were located in laterally contiguous positions forming a large continental mass at 1790 Ma ago. This is reinforced by geological evidence which support the existence of the supercontinent Columbia in Paleoproterozoic times. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The 1420 Ma Indiavai Mafic Intrusion (SW Amazonian Craton): Paleomagnetic results and implications for the Columbia supercontinent

The configuration and the timing of assembly and break-up of Columbia are still matter of debate. In order to improve our knowledge about the Mesoproterozoic evolution of Columbia, a paleomagnetic study was carried out on the 1420 Ma Indiavai mafic intrusive rocks that crosscut the polycyclic Proterozoic basement of the SW Amazonian Craton, in southwestern Mato Grosso State (Brazil). Alternating field and thermal demagnetization revealed south/southwest ChRM directions with downward inclinations for sixteen analyzed sites. These directions are probably carried by SD/PSD magnetite with high coercivities and high unblocking temperatures as indicated by additional rock magnetic tests, including thermomagnetic data, hysteresis data and the progressive acquisition of isothermal remanent magnetization. Different stable magnetization components isolated in host rocks from the basement 10 km NW away to the Indiavai intrusion, further support the primary origin of the ChRM. A mean of the site mean directions was calculated at Dm = 209.8 degrees, Im = 50.7 degrees (alpha(95) = 8.0 degrees, K = 22.1), which yielded a paleomagnetic pole located at 249.7 degrees E, 57.0 degrees S (A(95) = 8.6 degrees). The similarity of this pole with the recently published 1420 Ma pole from the Nova Guarita dykes in northern Mato Grosso State suggests a similar tectonic framework for these two sites located 600 km apart, implying the bulk rigidity of the Rondonian-San Ignacio crust at that time. Furthermore these data provide new insights on the tectonic significance of the 1100-1000 Ma Nova Brasilandia belt-a major EW feature that cuts across the basement rocks of this province, which can now be interpreted as intracratonic, in contrast to previous interpretation. From a global perspective, a new Mesoproterozoic paleogeography of Columbia has been proposed based on comparison of these 1420 Ma poles and a 1780 Ma pole from Amazonia with other paleomagnetic poles of similar age from Baltica and Laurentia, a reconstruction in agreement with geological correlations. (C) 2012 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.FAPESPFAPESP [07/53177-4, 07/59531-4, 11/50887-6]CNPq [554458/2005-5, 302917/2009-8]CNPqSwedish Research Council (VR)Swedish Research Council (VR