Ancient Supercontinents and the Paleogeography of Earth

Ancient Supercontinents and the Paleogeography of Earth offers a systematic examination of Precambrian cratons and supercontinents. Through detailed maps of drift histories and paleogeography of each continent, this book examines topics related to Earth?s tectonic evolution prior to Pangea, including plate kinematics, orogenic development, and paleoenvironments. Additionally, this book discusses the methodologies used, principally paleomagnetism and tectonostratigraphy, and addresses geophysical topics of mantle dynamics and geodynamo evolution over billions of years. Structured clearly with consistent coverage for Precambrian cratons, this book combines state-of-the-art paleomagnetic and geochronologic data to reconstruct the paleogeography of the Earth in the context of major climatic events such as global glaciations. It is an ideal, up-to-date reference for geoscientists and geographers looking for answers to questions surrounding the tectonic evolution of Earth.

1. Precambrian supercontinents and supercycles--an overview
2. A mantle dynamics perspective on the drift of cratons and supercontinent formation in Earth´s history
3. Precambrian geomagnetic field: An overview
4. The Precambrian paleogeography of Laurentia
5. The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of Baltica
6. The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of Amazonia
7. The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of Rio de la Plata craton
8. The Precambrian paleogeography of Siberia
9. Whence Australia: Its Precambrian drift history and paleography
10. The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of India
11. The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of the Chinese cratons
12. The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of Kalahari Craton
13. Constraints on the Precambrian paleogeography of West African Craton
14. The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of Congo-São Francisco craton
15. Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic supercycles
16. Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Nuna supercycle
17. Meso-Neoproterozoic Rodinia supercycle
18. Phanerozoic paleogeography and Pangea
19. An expanding list of reliable paleomagnetic poles for Precambrian tectonic reconstructions

Researchers and graduate students in geosciences and geography

Lauri J. Pesonen is an Emeritus Professor of solid earth geophysics at Physics Department
of University of Helsinki. He is a graduate at the Helsinki University of Technology and
obtained PhD in 1978 at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Finnish Academy
of Science and Letters and has been the president of the Geophysical Society of Finland,
and the Chair of Divison III (Paleomagnetism) of IUGG/IAGA during 1993_x0001_97. The IUA AU:1
nominated the asteroid 1979A as “Pesonen” according to his activities in studies of super_x0002_continents and meteorite impacts. He received the Knight Medal of the First Class Finnish
Lion in 1995. Lauri is author or coauthor of over 150 peer-reviewed articles. He initiated the
Nordic Paleomagnetism Workshops and was a key-person in the developments of the
Precambrian (PALEOMAGIA) and Holocene (GEOMAGIA) paleomagnetic databases. Lauri
organized the International Supercontinent Symposium in 2012 in Helsinki. He has had academic (teaching and
research) positions in Canada, Estonia, Norway, Germany, India, and Colombia. His research topics spread from
supercontinents to the Earth’s ancient magnetic field, impact structures, meteorite petrophysics, archeomagnet_x0002_ism, environmental magnetism, and biomagnetism. He has built three paleomagnetism laboratories, the first one
at the Geological Survey of Finland, the second at the University of Helsinki, the third in Tarto University,
Estonia. His latest interests include constructions of exhibitions of meteorites and impactites at several Finnish
museums.
Johanna M. Salminen is a Docent at the University of Helsinki and has been leading the
research of its Solid Earth Geophysics Laboratory during 2014_x0001_21. Since August 2021, she
has been the Director of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Geological Survey of Finland.
She earned an MSc in Geophysics (2004) and a PhD in Solid Earth Geophysics (2009)
from the Universit