Plate Tectonics

Archean, Paleoproterozoic, and Mesoproterozoic rocks, assemblages, and structures differ greatly both from each other and from modern ones, and lack evidence for subduction and seafloor spreading such as is widespread in Phanerozoic terrains. Most specialists nevertheless apply non-actualistic plate-tectonic explanations to the ancient terrains and do not consider alternatives. This report evaluates popular concepts with multidisciplinary information, and proposes options. The key is fractionation by ca. 4.45 Ga of the hot young Earth into core, severely depleted mantle, and thick mafic protocrust, followed by still-continuing re-enrichment of upper mantle from the top. This is opposite to the popular assumption that silicate Earth is still slowly and unidirectionally fractionating. The protocrust contained most material from which all subsequent crust was derived, either directly, or indirectly after downward recycling. Tonalite, trondhjemite, and granodiorite (TTG), dominant components of Archean crust, were derived mostly by partial melting of protocrust. Dense restitic protocrust delaminated and sank into hot, weak dunite mantle, which, displaced upward, enabled further partial melting of protocrust. Sinkers enriched the upper mantle, in part maintaining coherence as distinct dense rocks, and in part yielding melts that metasomatized depleted-mantle dunite to more pyroxenic and garnetiferous rocks. Not until ca. 3.6 Ga was TTG crust cool enough to allow mafic and ultramafic lavas, from both protocrust and re-enriched mantle, to erupt to the surface, and then to sag as synclinal keels between rising diapiric batholiths; simultaneously upper crust deformed ductily, then brittly, above slowly flowing hot lower TTG crust. Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic orogens appear to be largely ensialic, developed from very thick basin-filling sedimentary and volcanic rocks on thinned Archean or Paleoproterozoic crust and remaining mafic protocrust, above moderately re-enriched mantle. Subduction, and perhaps the continent/ocean lithospheric dichotomy, began ca. 850 Ma – although fully modern plate- tectonic processes began only in Ordovician time – and continued to enrich the cooling mantle in excess of partial melts that contributed to new crust. “ Plumes ” from deep mantle do not operate in the modern Earth and did not operate in Precambrian time.

This map folio should be referenced as:
Scotese, C.R., 2013. Map Folio 70 Early Devonian (Emsian, 402.3 Ma), PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS, volume 4, Late Paleozoic Paleogeographic, Paleoclimatic and Plate Tectonic Reconstructions, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Introduction
These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

An interesting characteristic of the Earth, often noticed by schoolchildren, is that it seems out of balance: Oceans dominate the Southern Hemisphere, while continental crust seems to be crowded into the Northern Hemisphere. The cause of this inequity involves the greater number of mid-ocean spreading ridges and significantly faster spreading rates in the Southern Hemisphere, but no explanation has ever been suggested for this hemispheric disparity in spreading ridges and rates. An examination of east-west spreading rates and plate motion indicates that the imbalance is due to simple spherical geometry. In the Southern Hemisphere, the system of spreading ridges encircling Antarctica is pushing all of the neighboring plates northward, away from Antarctica. As these plates approach the equator, they begin to occupy larger latitudinal circumferences. This large-scale northward motion of latitudinal bands of crust to lower latitudes requires significant emplacement of new crustal material to fill up the larger circumferences, resulting in extremely high sum total east-west spreading rates along those latitudes. Contrariwise, in the Northern Hemisphere the general northward motion of plates away from the equator and toward smaller circumferences has led to a steep drop in spreading rates and the number of active spreading ridges. Sum total east-west spreading rates along latitudes are correlated with the rate of latitudinal circumferential extension to a significant degree (r = 0.68). The geophysical result of this correlation has been the asymmetric globe that we see today, mostly young and oceanic in the south, mostly old and continental in the north.

This Atlas of Devonian Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Lochkovian (413.6 Ma) to the Devono-Carboniferous Boundary (359.2 Ma).  The maps are from volume 4 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008).  An additional map showing the disposition of the three major early Devonian faunal provinces (Malvinokaffric, Appalachian, and Rhenish-Bohemian; Cocks & Torsvik, 2002; Figure 9.) has also been included.
The following maps are included in the Atlas of Devonian Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 65  Devono-Carboniferous Boundary (359.2 Ma) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 66  Late Devonian (early Famennian, 370.3 Ma) Tournasian Supersequence Boundary 
Map 67  Late Devonian (Frasnian, 379.9 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 68  Middle Devonian (Givetian,388.2 Ma) Frasnian Supersequence Boundary
Map 69  Middle Devonian (Eifelian, 394.3 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 70  Early Devonian (Emsian, 402.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 71  Early Devonian (Pragian, 409.1 Ma) Emsian Supersequence Boundary
Map 72  Early Devonian (Lochkovian, 413.6 Ma) Lochkovian Supersequence Boundary
Extra Map – Early Devonian Biogeography

This atlas contains an “extra” map that shows the geographic distribution of three imp0ortant early Devonian biogeographic provinces: The Appalachian Province, the Rhenish-Bpohmeian Province, and the Malvino-Kaffric Province.  The Appalachian and Rhenish-Bohemian provinces were populated by warm-water brachiopod faunas the occupied the subtropics. Though they inhabited the same latitudinal zones, they were separated by the Caledonian-Acadian mountain ranges.  It is interesting to note that Appalachian faunas appear both in the Applachina Basin of the eastern U.S. and also in northern South America (Colombia and the Amazon Basin).  Similarly, the Rhenish-Bohemian faunas are found in Northern Africa, Arabia, Central Europe, and eastern Avalonia (northern France, Belgium, and southern England). The less diverse Malvino-Kaffirc province occupied cooler latitudes closer to the South Pole.

The geographic distribution of these distinct, early Devonian faunal provices provides an important clue regarding the relative positions of Laurentia (North America), Baltic and Gondwana.  Eastern North America was adjacent to northern South America (Venezuela & Colombia) and England and Central Europe were separated by a narrow ocean from northern Africa. The South Pole was located in the vicinity of southern Brazil.

This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Devonian Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 4, The Late Paleozoic, Maps 65-72, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

2013.33 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

A set of seven atlases has been compiled for each of the principal climatic variables: Temperature (Scotese and Moore, 2014a), Atmospheric Pressure and Winds (Scotese and Moore, 2014b),  Rainfall and Runoff (Scotese and Moore, 2014c), Ocean Currents and Salinity (Scotese & Moore, 2014d), Upwelling (Scotese and Moore, 2014e), Anoxia (Scotese, 2014b), and Lithologic Indicators of Climate (Scotese, Boucot and Xu, 2014).  These atlases show the FOAM simulation results for all 18 time intervals (Figure 1).

(More discussion about the maps in this folio in the near future.)

This map folio should be referenced as:
Scotese, C.R., 2013. Map Folio 54, Early Permian (Artinskian, 280 Ma), PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS, volume 4, Late Paleozoic Paleogeographic, Paleoclimatic and Plate Tectonic Reconstructions, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

2013.47 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

This "flipbook", which illustrates the plate tectonic development of the continents and ocean basins during the past 750 million years, was assembled to commemorate the scientific career of Professor Rob van der Voo.  The flipbook consists of 34 plate tectonic reconstructions that map the past location of subduction zones (barbed lines), mid-ocean ridges, (dashed lines), and collision zones (marked x's). The tectonic reconstructions are based on the global plate tectonic model developed by the PALEOMAP Project. 
The latitudinal orientation of the continents is derived largely from paleomagnetic data collected by Professor van der Voo (xref).  Hot spots tracks and sea floor spreading isochrons (Seton et al., 2012) were used to constrain the longitudinal position of the continents back to  ~200 million years.  Plate tectonic reconstructions older than 200 million years are necessarily more speculative and have been derived by combining diverse lines of evidence from the tectonic histories of the continents (e.g., timing of continent-continent collisions or ages of rifting), the distribution of paleoclimatic indicators (i.e coals, tillites, salt deposits, and bauxites, see Boucot et al., 2013), and in some case, the biogeographic affinities of fossil faunas and floras.
Though a diverse data has been used to produce these reconstructions, this data, itself, is not  enough.  So much time has passed and so little direct evidence is preserved that guidance must also be sought from the "Rules of Plate Tectonics".
Plates do not move randomly but evolve in a manner that is consistent with the forces that drive them.  The principal driving forces are: slab pull, ridge push and trench rollback.  These forces shape the plates and provide important insights into how plate boundaries will evolve.  Simply said, plates will only move if they are pulled by a subducting slab or pushed by the forces exerted by a mature ridge system. The evolving plate boundaries have been drawn to follow this maxim.  It is also important to note that plate tectonics is a "catastrophic" system.  Though "slow and steady" is the general rule, once every hundred million years or so, a major plate tectonic reorganization occurs. These "plate tectonic catastrophes" most often occur when mid-ocean ridges are subducted or when major continents collide. (For a more complete listing of the "Rules of Plate Tectonics", the reader is referred to XXXXXX.
The first "continental drift" flipbook was pushed as an undergraduate research project (Scotese, 1974; 1975abc). Subsequent editions have followed (1976ab; 1978; 1979; 1980;  1990, 1991, 1997, 2004). A more complete description of the data and information that is used to produce the flipbooks can be found in Scotese (2004).  These maps could not have been produced without the GPlates plate modelling software and the tectonic data sets published by Dietmar Müller and his team at Earthbytes.
Special thanks to Maggie Geiger, and Robert and Jonathan Scotese for their help assembling this flipbook.

Time Scale
The age given next to each map represents age in millions of years.  The corresponding geological ages (Ogg et al., 2008)  are:
0    Modern World
20 Ma  Early Miocene
40 Ma  late Middle Eocene
60 Ma  Paleocene
80 Ma  Late Cretaceous - Campanian
100 Ma  Early Cretaceous - late Albian
120 Ma  Early Cretaceous - early Aptian
140 Ma  Early Cretaceous - Berriasian
160 Ma  Late Jurassic - Oxfordian
180 Ma  Early Jurassic - Toarcian
200 Ma  Triassic/Jurassic boundary
220 Ma  Late Triassic - Carnian
240 Ma  Middle Triassic - Anisian
260 Ma  Middle Permian - Capitanian
280 Ma  Early Permian - Artinskian
300 Ma  Late Pennsylvanian
320 Ma  Late Mississippian
340 Ma  Middle Mississippian
360 Ma  Devono-Carboniferous
380 Ma  Late Devonian - Frasnian
400 Ma  Early Devonian - Emsian
420 Ma  Late Silurian - Ludlow
440 Ma  Early Silurian - Llandovery
460 Ma  Middle Ordovician
480 Ma  Early Ordovician
500 Ma  Late Cambrian
520 Ma  Middle Cambrian
540 Ma  Cambrian-Precambrian
560 Ma  Neoproterozoic - lt. Ediacaran
600 Ma  Neoporterozoic - m. Ediacaran
630 Ma  Neoproterozoic - e. Ediacaran
660 Ma  Neoproterozoic - e. Ediacaran
690 Ma  Neoproterozoic - lt. Cryogenian
720 Ma  m. Cryogenian
750 Ma  m. Cryogenian


References Cited

Ogg, J., Ogg, G., and Gradstein, F.M., 2008. The Concise Geologic Time Scale, Cambridge University Press, 177 p.
Scotese, C.R. 1974. First Flip Book Images (from 35mm film from PLATO System), Unpublished.
Scotese, C.R., and Baker, D.W., 1975a. Continental drift reconstructions and animation, Journal of Geological Education, 23: 167-171.
Scotese, C.R., 1975b.  Continental Drift Flip Book, 1stedition.Chicago, Illinois. (single page version

Scotese, C.R., 1975c.  Continental Drift Flip Book, 1st edition. Chicago, Illinois. (double page version)
Scotese, C.R., 1976a. Continental
Drift “Flip Book”,  edition 1.5, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Illinois. ResearchGate  Academia
Scotese, C.R., 1976b. A continental drift “flip book", Computers & Geosciences, 2:113-116.
Scotese, C.R., and Ziegler, A.M., 1978. Paleozoic continental drift reconstructions and animation, American Geophysical Union, 1978 Spring Annual Meeting, Eos, v. 59. Issue 4, p. 263.
Scotese, C.R., 1979. Continental Drift (flip book), 2nd edition.
Scotese, C.R., Snelson, S.S., and Ross, W.C., 1980. A computer animation of continental drift, J. Geomag. Geoelectr., 32: suppl. III, 61-70.
Scotese, C.R., 1990. Atlas of Phanerozoic Plate Tectonic Reconstructions, PALEOMAP Progress 01-1090a, Department of Geology, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, 57 pp.
Scotese, C.R., 1991. Continental Drift Flip Book, 4th edition, PALEOMAP Project, Arlington, TX, 49 pp.
Scotese, C.R., 1997.  Continental Drift Flip Book, 7th edition, PALEOMAP Project, Department of Geology, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, 80 pp.

Scotese, 2004.
Seton et al., 2012.
Van der Voo,  R., 1993. Paleomagnetism of the Atlantic, Tethys, and Iapetus Oceans, Cambridge University Press, 411 p.

The Etna volcano is located in an apparently anomalous
position on the hinge zone of the Apennines subduction and
its Na-alkaline geochemistry does not favour a magma source
from the deep slab as indicated for the Aeolian K-alkaline
magmatism. The steeper dip of the regional foreland monocline
at the front of the Apennines in the Ionian Sea than in Sicily,
implies a larger rollback of the subduction hinge in the Ionian
Sea. Moreover, the lengthening of the Apennines arc needs
extension parallel to the arc. Therefore, the larger southeastward
subduction rollback of the Ionian lithosphere with respect
to the Hyblean plateau in Sicily, should kinematically produce
right-lateral transtension and a sort of vertical `slab window'
which might explain (i) the Plio-Pleistocene alkaline magmatism
of eastern Sicily (e.g. the Etna volcano) and (ii) the late Pliocene
to present right lateral transtensional tectonics and seismicity
of eastern Sicily. The area of transfer of different dip and
rollback occurs along the inherited Mesozoic passive continental
margin between Sicily and the oceanic Ionian Sea, i.e. the
Malta escarpment.

2013.25 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

This map folio should be referenced as:
Scotese, C.R., 2013. Map Folio 86, Middle Cambrian, (520 Ma), PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS, volume 5, Early Paleozoic Paleogeographic, Paleoclimatic and Plate Tectonic Reconstructions, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.
Also see: Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Cambrian and Early Ordovician Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 81 – 88, Volumes 5, The Early Paleozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL, https://www.academia.edu/16785571/Atlas_of_Cambrian_and_Early_Ordovician_Paleogeographic_Maps

Introduction
These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the one used by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

A significant portion of the Earth's surface consists of zones of diffuse deformation. The interior regions of these diffuse zones of deformation move at distinctly different velocities from that of adjacent plates, and, because of their complexities, have been ignored in previous no-net-rotation (NNR) models (e.g., NNR-NUVEL1A). We have calculated a new NNR model from a continuous velocity field that incorporates both rigid plate motion and velocity gradients within plate boundary zones. The velocity field is obtained through a bi-cubic Bessel interpolation of almost 3000 geodetic velocities and strain rates inferred from Quaternary faults. The geodetic velocities are taken from about 50 different, mainly published, studies. For each study we have not adopted the original reference frame. Instead, we have solved for a rigid body rotation for each study that rotate the vectors of each study into a model reference frame in the process of satisfying a least-squares fit between model and observed velocities and model and observed strain rates. When compared with earlier NNR models we find significantly different angular velocities for many plates in our model. Differences between the NNR model presented here and earlier NNR models can be attributed to both the effect of including velocity gradients in diffuse plate boundary zones, as well as actual differences between geodetically derived, present-day, surface motions and geologic estimates. We find that for the Indian, Arabian, Nazca, Cocos, Philippine Sea, and the Caribbean plate the differences between our model and the NNR-NUVEL1A model are mainly due to differences between geodetic and geologic plate velocities. For the Eurasian plate the discrepancy that we find between our result and NNR-NUVEL1A model can not only be ascribed to the difference between geodetic and geologic velocities, but also to the significant effect of including plate boundary zones. The significantly different NNR rotation vectors that we find for the majority of plates suggests that caution is warranted when using the NNR-NUVEL1A model to change from an ITRF to a tectonic reference frame. Our new NNR results indicate that such practice may result in significant discrepancies in crustal velocities with respect to the chosen reference plate. Finally, similar to earlier NNR models, we find a significant difference between the NNR velocities and velocities with respect to hotspots.

2012.23 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

b h a t b i l a l b 3 2 @g ma i l. c o m K a s h mi ri sf a mo u sf o ri t sb e a u t ya n dn a t u r a l s c e n e r yt h r o u g h o u tt h ewo r l d. I t sh i g h s n o w-c l a dmo u n t a i n s , s c e n i cs p o t s , b e a u t i f u l v a l l e y s , K a r e wa s , r i v e r swi t hi c e-c o l dwa t e r , a t t r a c t i v el a k e sa n ds p r i n g sa n de v e r-g r e e nf i e l d s , d e n s ef o r e s t sa n db e a u t i f u l h e a l t h r e s o r t s , e n h a n c ei t sg r a n d e u r a n da r eas o u r c eo f g r e a t a t t r a c t i o nf o r t o u r i s t s. K a r e wa s a r et h et h i c kd e p o s i t so fg l a c i a lc l a ya n do t h e rma t e r i a l se mb e d d e dwi t h mo r a i n e s .T h e s ed e p o s i t sa r ef o u n di nt h eK a s h mi rv a l l e yb e t we e nP i rP a n j a la n d Z a s k a r r a n g ei nt h eHi ma l a y a. T h e wo r d K a r e wa i n K a s h mi r id i a l e c tme a n s , " E l e v a t e d t a b l e-l a n d. " T h e K a r e wa s e q u e n c e , o c c u p y i n ga na r e ao fa b o u t2 , 5 0 0s q. k m, r e s t so v e rt h ef o l d e dP a l e o z o i c-Me s o z o i cr o c k so ft h eK a s h mi rB a s i ni nt h eK a s h mi rV a l l e yf l o o r ,a b o v et h er i v e r a l l u v i u m. Mo s t o f t h ec u l t i v a t e df i e l d si nt h eK a s h mi r V a l l e ya r es i t u a t e do nt h eK a r e wa s e d i me n t s. T ot h es o u t ha n dwe s t o ft h ev a l l e yt h e r ea r eK a r e waf o r ma t i o n swh i c ha r el a k e-l a i d c l a y sa n ds h a l e s. T h e s ea r el a c u s t r i n ed e p o s i t sa n da p p e a rl i k ef l a tmo u n d so nt h e ma r g i no f h i g hmo u n t a i n s. B e l o wt h e s eK a r e wa si ss p r e a dt h ea l l u v i u m o f t h eJ h e l u m. T h eh i g h e s t K a r e wai sn e a r t h eP i r P a n j a l. I t i s3 8 0 0me t e r sa b o v es e al e v e l a n dmo r e t h a n2 1 0 0me t r e sa b o v et h el e v e l o f t h eJ h e l u m. A r e a sc o v e r e d : K a r e wa sa r ef r e s h-wa t e r (f l u v i a t i l ea n dl a c u s t r i n e) d e p o s i t sf o u n da sl o w f l a tmo u n d so re l e v a t e d p l a t e a u si n t h eV a l l e yo fK a s h mi ra n d t h eK i s h t wa ra n d B h a d e r wa ht r a c t so f t h eJ a mmuD i v i s i o n. T h ei mp o r t a n t K a r e wa sa r ef o u n di nK u l g a m, B u d g a m, Q a z i g u n d , B a r a mu l l a , L a i t h p o r a , P a mp o r e , B i j b e h a r a , A wa n t i p o r a , I s l a ma b a d (A n a n t ¬ n a g) , Ma t t a n , T r a l a n dG a n d e r b a l .

2014.10 This Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Berriasian (143 Ma) to the late Albian (101.8 Ma).  The maps are from volume 2 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014).
Also numeric time values are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008).  For several stages there are versions of the map that show maximum sea level (maximum flooding surface) or minimum sea level (supersequence boundary) during that time interval.

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 23  Early Cretaceous (late Albian, 101.8 Ma)
Map 24  Early Cretaceous (middle Albian, 106 Ma)
Map 25  Early Cretaceous (early Albian, 110 Ma)  Albian Supersequence Boundary and Transgressive System Tract
Map 26  Early Cretaceous (late Aptian, 115.2 Ma)
Map 27  Early Cretaceous (early Aptian, 121.8 Ma)
Map 28  Early Cretaceous (Barremian, 127.5 Ma)
Map 29  Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian, 132 Ma)
Map 30  Early Cretaceous (Valanginian, 137 Ma) Barremian-Hauterivian Supersequence boundary and Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 31  Early Cretaceous (Berriasian, 143 Ma) Berriasian Supersequence boundary and Maximum Flooding Surface

This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 2, The Cretaceous, Maps 23-31, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Keywords: continental lithosphere heat generation geotherm xenolith thermobarometry craton We propose a continental lithosphere heat production model based on the petrology of crust and mantle, heat production measurements of surface and xenolith samples, and tectono-thermal constraints. Continental elevation considered within a thermal isostasy rubric is used to partition crustal heat production into upper crustal and lower crustal contributions. The best-fitting partition model using elevation data from 33 North American tectonic provinces suggests upper crustal heat production on average accounts for ~ 6% of observed surface heat flow. An average heat production for the lower crust of 0.4 μW/m 3 is based on measurements from exposed granulite terranes while a lithospheric mantle heat production of 0.02 μW/m 3 is based on chemical analyses of mantle xenoliths. Results are relatively insensitive to mantle composition and thickness of the upper crustal heat producing layer. Continental geotherms are computed using the generalized heat production model and incorporating thermal conductivity results from a number of recent laboratory studies. P–T conditions of xenoliths provide further constraints to ensure that our geotherms and hence the heat production model are reasonable. P–T conditions of 10 Precambrian regions are consistent with surface heat flow of 40 mW/m 2 and a lithospheric thickness of 200 km. Our generalized model for heat production can serve as a reference model from which anomalies are identified.

2013.41 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com.

The ocean terrain spanning the globe is vast and complex – far from an immense flat plain of mud. To map this terrain accurately and wisely, we must understand how cartographic abstraction and generalization work both in analog cartography and digital GIS. This chapter explores abstraction practices such as selection and exaggeration with respect to mapping the oceans, showing significant continuity in such practices across cartography and contemporary GIS. The role of measurement and abstraction—as well as of political and economic power, and sexual and personal bias—in these sciences is illustrated by the biographies of Marie Tharp and Bruce Heezen, whose mapping of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge precipitated a paradigm shift in geology.

2013.17 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

2013.11 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

2014.07 This Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Early Miocene (Auquitanian & Burdigalian, 19.5 Ma) to the Present-day.  The maps are from volume 1 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Ogg, Ogg & Gradstein (2008).

For Maps 3, 5 and 7, there are two versions of the paleogeography. One map shows the maximum highstand sea level (maximum flooding surface). The other map shows the minimum lowstand sea level (supersequence boundary). For each paleogeography there is an estimate of sea level change, in meters, relative to present-day sea level. 

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 01  Modern World (Holocene, 0.0 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 02  Last Glacial Maximum (Pleistocene, 21,000 years ago) Anthropocene Supersequence Boundary 
Map 03  Plio-Pleistocene, (Gelasian & Piacenzian, 2.588 Ma Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 04  Latest Miocene (Messinian Event, 6.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 05  Middle/Late Miocene, (Serravallian and Tortonian, 10.5 Ma) Messinian Supersequence Boundary & Tortonian Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 06  Middle Miocene (Langhian, 14.9 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 07  Early Miocene (Aquitanian & Burdigalian, 19.5 Ma) Serravallian Supersequence Boundary, Aquitanian Maximum Flooding Surface

This Atlas should be cited as:
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Neogene Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 1-7, Volume 1, The Cenozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.



References Cited

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, G., Gradstein, F.M., 2008. The Concise Geologic Time Scale, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 177 pp.

Scotese, C.R., 2014, The PALEOMAP Project PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS, version 2, Volume 1, Cenozoic Plate Tectonic, Paleogeographic, and Paleoclimatic Reconstructions,  Maps 1-15, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

The aim of this study is to assess the global occurrence of large submarine canyons to provide context and
guidance for discussions regarding canyon occurrence, distribution, geological and oceanographic significance
and conservation. Based on an analysis of the ETOPO1 data set, this study has compiled the first inventory of
5849 separate large submarine canyons in the world ocean. Active continental margins contain 15% more
canyons (2586, equal to 44.2% of all canyons) than passive margins (2244, equal to 38.4%) and the canyons are
steeper, shorter, more dendritic and more closely spaced on active than on passive continental margins. This
study confirms observations of earlier workers that a relationship exists between canyon slope and canyon
spacing (increased canyon slope correlates with closer canyon spacing). The greatest canyon spacing occurs in
the Arctic and the Antarctic whereas canyons are more closely spaced in the Mediterranean than in other
areas.
River-associated, shelf-incising canyons are more numerous on active continental margins (n=119) than on
passive margins (n=34). They are most common on the western margins of South and North America where
they comprise 11.7% and 8.6% of canyons respectively, but are absent from the margins of Australia and
Antarctica. Geographic areas having relatively high rates of sediment export to continental margins, from
either glacial or fluvial sources operating over geologic timescales, have greater numbers of shelf-incising
canyons than geographic areas having relatively low rates of sediment export to continental margins. This
observation is consistent with the origins of some canyons being related to erosive turbidity flows derived
from fluvial and shelf sediment sources.
Other workers have shown that benthic ecosystems in shelf-incising canyons contain greater diversity and
biomass than non-incising canyons, and that ecosystems located above 1500 m water depth are more
vulnerable to destructive fishing practices (bottom trawling) and ocean acidification caused by anthropogenic
climate change. The present study provides the means to assess the relative significance of canyons located in
different geographic regions. On this basis, the importance of conservation for submarine canyon ecosystems
is greater for Australia, islands and northeast Asia than for other regions.

Flament, N., Gurnis, M. and Müller, R. D.

The topography of Earth is primarily controlled by lateral differences in the density structure of the crust and lithosphere. In addition to this isostatic topography, flow in the mantle induces deformation of its surface leading to dynamic topography. This transient deformation evolves over tens of millions of years, occurs at long wavelength, and is relatively small (<2 km) in amplitude. Here, we review the observational constraints and modeling approaches used to understand the amplitude, spatial pattern, and time dependence of dynamic topography. The best constraint on the present-day dynamic topography induced by sublithospheric mantle flow is likely the residual bathymetry calculated by removing the isostatic effect of oceanic lithospheric structure from observed bathymetry. Increasing knowledge of the thermal and chemical structure of the lithosphere is important to better constrain present-day mantle flow and dynamic topography. Nevertheless, at long wavelengths (>5000 km), we show that there is good agreement between published residual topography fields, including the one described here, and present-day dynamic topography predicted from mantle flow models, including a new one. Residual and predicted fields show peak-to-peak amplitudes of roughly ±2 km and a dominant degree two pattern with high values for the Pacific Ocean, southern Africa, and the North Atlantic and low values for South America, western North America, and Eurasia. The flooding of continental interiors has long been known to require both larger amplitudes and to be temporally phase-shifted compared with inferred eustatic changes. Such long-wavelength inferred vertical motions have been attributed to dynamic topography. An important consequence of dynamic topography is that long-term global sea-level change cannot be estimated at a single passive margin. As a case study, we compare the results of three published models and of our model to the subsidence history of well COST-B2 offshore New Jersey. The <400 ± 45 m amount of anomalous subsidence of this well since 85 Ma is best explained by models that predict dynamic subsidence of the New Jersey margin during that period. Explicitly including the lithosphere in future global mantle flow models should not only facilitate such comparisons between model results and data, but also further constrain the nature of the coupling between the mantle and the lithosphere.

2014.11 This Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Hettangian (198 Ma) to the Jurassic/Cretaceoous Boundary (145.5 Ma).  The maps are from volume 3 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008). 

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 32  Jurassic/Cretaceous Boundary (145.5 Ma) Berriasian Supersequence Boundary
Map 33  Late Jurassic (Tithonian, 148.2 Ma) Highstand Systems Track 
Map 34  Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian, 153.2) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 35  Late Jurassic (Oxfordian, 158.4) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 36  Middle Jurassic (Callovian, 164.5 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 37  Middle Jurassic (Bajocian & Bathonian, 169.7 Ma) Kimmeridgian-Oxfordian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 38  Middle Jurassic (Aalenian, 173.2 Ma) Bathonian-Bajocian Supersequence Boundary
Map 39  Early Jurassic (Toarcian, 179.3 Ma) Toarcian Supersequence Boundary and Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 40  Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian, 186.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 41  Early Jurassic (Sinemurian, 193 Ma) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 42  Early Jurassic (Hettangian, 198 Ma) Pliensbachian Supersequence Boundary


This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 3, The Jurassic and Triassic, Maps 32-42, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

2013.21 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

2013.29 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

2013.53 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

2013.08 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

This Atlas of Cambrian and Early Ordovician Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the base of the Cambrian (542 Ma) to the Early Ordovician (Arenig, 473.4 Ma).  The maps are from volume 5 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008). 

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Cambrian and Early Ordovician Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 81  Early Ordovician (Arenig, 472.4 Ma) Arenigian Supersequence Boundary
Map 82  Early Ordovician (Tremadoc, 480 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface 
Map 83  Cambro-Ordovician Boundary (488.3 Ma) Tremadocian Supersequence Boundary
Map 84  Late Cambrian (Furongian, 494 Ma) Croixian Supersequence Boundary
Map 85  early Late Cambrian (510 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 86  Middle Cambrian (520 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 87  Early Cambrian (531.5 Ma) Albertan Supersequence Boundary
Map 88  Cambrian-Precambrian Boundary (542 Ma) Caerfaian Supersequence Boundary


This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Cambrian and Early Ordovician Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 81-88, Volumes 5, The Early Paleozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

This is the first book describing the glorious geology of Iceland's Golden Circle and four additional excursions:(1) the beautiful valleys and mountains of the fjord of Hvalfjördur, (2) the unique landscape and geothermal fields of the Hengill Volcano, (3) the explosion craters, volcanic fissures, and lava fields of the Reykjanes Peninsula, and (4) the volcanoes (Hekla, Eyjafjallajökull, Katla), waterfalls, sandur plains, and rock columns of South Iceland. The Golden Circle offers a unique opportunity to observe and understand many of our planet's forces in action. These forces move the Earth's tectonic plates, rupture the crust, and generate earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, channels for rivers and waterfalls, and heat sources for hot springs and geysers. The Golden Circle includes the famous rifting and earthquake fracture sites at Thingvellir, the hot springs of the Geysir area, the waterfall of Gullfoss, and the Kerid volcanic crater. As the book is primarily intended for people with no background in geosciences, no geological knowledge is assumed and technical terms are avoided as far as possible (those used are explained in a glossary). With more than 240 illustrations – mostly photographs – explaining geological structures and processes, it is also a useful resource for geoscientists.

The concept of ‘Gondwana’, an ancient Southern Hemisphere supercontinent, is firmly established in geological and biogeographical models of Earth history. The term Gondwana (Gondwanaland of some authors) derives from the recognition by workers at the Indian Geological Survey in the mid- to late 19th century of a distinctive sedimentary sequence preserved in east central India. This succession, now known to range in age from Permian to Cretaceous, is lithologically and palaeontologically similar to coeval non-marine sedimentary successions developed in most of the Southern Hemisphere continents suggesting former continuity of these landmasses. Palaeomagnetic data and tectonic reconstructions suggest that the main assembly of Gondwana took place around the beginning of the Palaeozoic in near-equatorial latitudes and that the supercontinent as a whole shifted into high southern latitudes, allowing widespread glaciation by the end of the Carboniferous. From Carboniferous to Cretaceous times the southern continents had broadly similar floras but some species-level provincialism is apparent at all times. The break-up of Gondwana initiated during the Jurassic (at about 180 million years ago) and this process is continuing. The earliest rifting (crustal attenuation) within the supercontinent initiated in the west (between South America and Africa) and in general terms the rifting pattern propagated eastward with major phases of continental fragmentation in the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. Gondwanan floras show radical turnovers near the end of the Carboniferous, end of the Permian and the end of the Triassic that appear to be unrelated to isolation or fragmentation of the supercontinent. Throughout the late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic the high-latitude southern floras maintained a distinctly different composition to the palaeoequatorial and boreal regions even though they remained in physical connection with Laurasia for much of this time. Gondwanan floras of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (times immediately preceding and during break-up) were dominated by araucarian and podocarp conifers and a range of enigmatic seed-fern groups. Angiosperms became established in the region as early as the Aptian (before the final break-up events) and steadily diversified during the Cretaceous, apparently at the expense of many seed-fern groups. Hypotheses invoking vicariance or long distance dispersal to account for the biogeographic patterns evident in the floras of Southern Hemisphere continents all rely on a firm understanding of the timing and sequence of Gondwanan continental breakup. This paper aims to summarise the current understanding of the geochronological framework of Gondwanan breakup against which these biogeographic models may be tested. Most phytogeographic studies deal with the extant, angiosperm-dominated floras of these landmasses. This paper also presents an overview of pre-Cenozoic, gymnosperm-dominated, floristic provincialism in Gondwana. It documents the broad succession of pre-angiosperm floras, highlights the distinctive elements of the Early Cretaceous Gondwanan floras immediately preceding the appearance of angiosperms and suggests that latitudinal controls strongly influenced the composition of Gondwanan floras through time even in the absence of marine barriers between Gondwana and the northern continents.

'The theory of plate tectonics resulted in a huge paradigm shift in scientific understanding' To what extent do you agree with this statement and why. A paradigm refers to a widely accepted view or theory; a shift in paradigm means the change of attitude and mind-sets about an issue as new theories are developed using more recent evidence. The theory of continental drift was introduced by Alfred Wegener in 1912. The hypothesis stated that that the continents were once a single landmass, called Pangaea, before breaking apart and drifting to their present locations. The theory of plate tectonics was later introduced to explain how the continents drifted apart from each other. I find the theory of continental drift and plate tectonics convincing as myriad types of evidence support them. The first and the most obvious reason is that the continents seem to have a jigsaw fit, not at the continuously changing shoreline, but at the edge to their continental shelves. The fitted entity was identified as the previous supercontinent Pangaea. Also, glacial till deposits were discovered in the southern hemisphere, this seemed unexpected. With the continents in their present positions, the till deposits indicate erratic glacier motion. When all the continents are fitted, they show a relatively streamlined motion of the glacier from southern Africa and Northern Australia outward. Furthermore, the discovery of paleomagnetism suggests that when hot magma rises to the earth's surface and cools down, magnetite becomes magnetised in alignment with the earth's magnetic field. This indicates that there is a flow of convection current underneath the magma for it to rise and so continents are moved across the surface of the earth. Biological evidence also supports the theory as identical, identical, fossilised flora and fauna were found on different continents such as Archaeocyatha, a Cambrian coral-like organism. The study of fossils show overlap until the time of separation and divergence thereafter. This suggests that continents were once together. Contrastingly, there are also findings that oppose the two theories. The main argument being the fact that the aethenosphere does not exist everywhere so there are places where plates cannot be moved thus even continental drift happened it might not be due to motion stated in the theory of tectonic plates. Instead, Slab-pull theory can explain how continents moved: as a denser oceanic crust was subducted it sinks into the mantle, which pulls the rest landmass of it downwards and continent moves. Another rejecting point is that the continents do not fit perfectly therefore there is possibility that they were not once united. Moreover, lithospheric plates are large solid entities that they cannot be easily moved unless they are made of smaller fragments. However the presence of small fragments is not found to constitute huge lithospheric plates. Overall, the theory of continental drift and the theory of plate tectonics have been partly supported by valid evidence however certain conditions for them to be accurate are not present. An explanation for the imperfect nature of the jigsaw fit is also lacked. The theories do improved our scientific understanding to an extent but closer examination on the earth is needed for the paradigm to shift without much disagreements and doubts.

2014.12 This Atlas of Middle & Late Permian and Triassic Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Middle Permian (Roadian & Wordian, 268.2 Ma) to the end of the Triassic (Rhaetian, 201.6 Ma).  The maps are from volumes 3 and 4 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008). 

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 43  Late Triassic (Rhaetian, 201.6 Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 44  Late Triassic (Norian, 210 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface 
Map 45  Late Triassic (Carnian, 222.6 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 46  Middle Triassic (Ladinian, 232.9 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 47  Middle Triassic (Anisian, 241.5 Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 48  Early Triassic (Induan & Olenekian, 248.5 Ma) Lowstand Systems Track
Map 49  Permo-Triassic Boundary (251 Ma) Norian Supersequence Boundary
Map 50  Late Permian (Lopingian, 255.7 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 51  late Middle Permian (Capitanian, 263.1 Ma) Lowstand Systems Tract
Map 52  Middle Permian (Roadian & Wordian, 268.2 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface

This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Middle & Late Permian and Triassic Paleogeographic Maps, maps 43 - 48 from Volume 3 of the PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS (Jurassic and Triassic) and maps 49 – 52 from Volume 4 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Late Paleozoic), Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

This Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Early Mississippian (Tournasian, 352.3 Ma) to the Early Permian (Kungurian, 273.1 Ma).  The maps are from volume 4 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008). 

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 53  Early Permian (Kungurian, 273.1 Ma) Highstand Systems Tract
Map 54  Early Permian (Artinskian, 280 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface 
Map 55  Early Permian (Sakmarian, 289.5 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 56  Early Permian (Asselian, 296.8 Ma) Sakmarian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 57  Late Pennsylvanian (Gzhelian, 301.2 Ma) Asselian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 58  Late Pennsylvanian (Kasimovian, 305.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 59  Middle Pennsylvanian (Moscovian, 309.5) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 60  Early Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian, 314.9 Ma) Bashkirian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 61  Late Mississippian (Serpukhovian, 323.2 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 62  Middle Mississippian (late Visean, 332.5 Ma) Highstand Systems Tract
Map 63  Middle Mississippian (early Visean, 341.1 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 64  Early Mississippian (Tournasian, 352.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface


This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Permo-Carboniferous Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 53 – 64, Volumes 4, The Late Paleozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

"Wallace's Line", line of dividing faunal distribution in central Indonesia, came into being in 1863 and was named after Alfred Russel Wallace, the great English naturalist travelled Indonesian islands from 1854-1862. This was all biologic line but since the beginning, Wallace thought that the line could have geologic background. Currently, it is known that the position of the line is geologically-dependent, a result of plate tectonic movements. The Wallace's Line separates the Oriental (Asian) and the Australian fauna and flora. Original Wallace's Line ran between Bali and Lombok, extending between Borneo/ Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and between Philippines and Indonesia. The revised Wallace Line (1910) lies more eastward than the original line to the east of Sulawesi. Two faunal assemblages from Asian and Australian worlds meet in Sulawesi side by side with the endemic faunas of Sulawesi. Two faunal worlds, meeting in Sulawesi was controlled by geologic processes. Two "geologic worlds" of Sundaland (Asian) and Australian crustal masses/ microcontinents collided in Miocene to Pliocene making Sulawesi and adjacent islands. Living creatures are passive passengers on drifted microcontinents. When the microcontinents collided, the faunal and floral assemblages from two areas met. The Miocene to Pliocene collision of Australian microcontinents with Sundaland from 20-5 Ma, occurred in the region of Wallace's Line. The collision brought two originally separate faunas and floras into direct contact, ultimately giving rise to the present-day distribution of plants and animals. It is observed that in Sulawesi there were four types of geologic events could have significant biogeographic consequences, called here as: (1) longitudinal displacement, (2) land connections and sea barriers, (3) sea level history and speciation and (4) island dwarfism.

A review of the more important aspects of geology with respect to petrophysics. A concise description of the origins of the principle types of sedimentary rocks associated with petroleum that supply the reserves for petroleum is provided. This is followed by theories on the origins of petroleum hydrocarbons, their migrations (sometimes over unusually long distances) to geologic traps where they establish the reservoirs of petroleum. The chapter ends with a discussion of the nature of the subsurface environments where petroleum is found and the properties and chemistry of petroleum and its products.

This map folio should be referenced as:
Scotese, C.R., 2013. Map Folio 82, Early Ordovician (Tremadoc, 480 Ma), PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS, volume 5, Early Paleozoic Paleogeographic, Paleoclimatic and Plate Tectonic Reconstructions, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.
Also see: Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Cambrian and Early Ordovician Paleogeographic Maps (Mollweide Projection), Maps 81 – 88, Volumes 5, The Early Paleozoic, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL, https://www.academia.edu/16785571/Atlas_of_Cambrian_and_Early_Ordovician_Paleogeographic_Maps

Introduction
These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the one used by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.