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Z. dt. Geol. Ges. | 147/2 | S. 147-168, 13 Abb. | en.Txt. | Stuttgart, März 1996 |
Some aspects of the Phanerozoic paleogeographic evolution of Europe. [Aspekte der phanerozoischen paläogeographischen Entwicklung Europas.]
Authoren : Alan Gilbert Smith
Abstract :
'Europe' is defined here as the continental area west of the Urals suture that is also part of the present-day Eurasian plate. Oceanic areas are excluded, as are all areas S of the northernmost zone of major seismicity. Several Phanerozoic sutures subdivide Europe into formerly separate fragments, whose approximate boundaries are outlined. The largest of these is Baltica. Ideally, paleogeographic maps show the former topography and submarine bathymetry of a selected time interval in their former latitudes. For Europe, the readily available data give three successively more uncertain paleogeographic sets of maps as one goes back in time. Approximations to the ideal maps are illustrated by five Cenozoic and Mesozoic 'windows' centred on Baltica showing generalised coastlines drawn from a global paleocoastline database that have been plotted on global paleocontinental reconstructions. As one goes back through Paleozoic time, Europe gradually disperses into separate fragments. Paleocoastline data are available locally, but there does not appear to be an adequate synthesis of European Paleozoic coastlines in the literature. By mid-Ordovician to Cambrian time the available paleomagnetic data are so sparse as to allow at least three distinct orientations and paleolatitudes for Baltica.