Andrew S. Merdith, Simon E. Williams, Alan S. Collins, Michael G. Tetley, Jacob A.

Mulder, Morgan L. Blades, Alexander Young, Sheree E. Armistead, John Cannon, Sabin
Zahirovic, R. Dietmar Müller,
Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and
the Phanerozoic,
Earth-Science Reviews,
Volume 214,
2021,
103477,
ISSN 0012-8252,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103477.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220305237)
Abstract: Recent progress in plate tectonic reconstructions has seen models move
beyond the classical idea of continental drift by attempting to reconstruct the
full evolving configuration of tectonic plates and plate boundaries. A particular
problem for the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian is that many existing interpretations
of geological and palaeomagnetic data have remained disconnected from younger,
better-constrained periods in Earth history. An important test of deep time
reconstructions is therefore to demonstrate the continuous kinematic viability of
tectonic motions across multiple supercontinent cycles. We present, for the first
time, a continuous full-plate model spanning 1 Ga to the present-day, that includes
a revised and improved model for the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian (1000–520 Ma) that
connects with models of the Phanerozoic, thereby opening up pre-Gondwana times for
quantitative analysis and further regional refinements. In this contribution, we
first summarise methodological approaches to full-plate modelling and review the
existing full-plate models in order to select appropriate models that produce a
single continuous model. Our model is presented in a palaeomagnetic reference
frame, with a newly-derived apparent polar wander path for Gondwana from 540 to 320
Ma, and a global apparent polar wander path from 320 to 0 Ma. We stress, though
while we have used palaeomagnetic data when available, the model is also
geologically constrained, based on preserved data from past-plate boundaries. This
study is intended as a first step in the direction of a detailed and self-
consistent tectonic reconstruction for the last billion years of Earth history, and
our model files are released to facilitate community development.
Keywords: Palaeogeography; Rodinia; Gondwana; Plate tectonics; Neoproterozoic