Comparing the drift of Laurentia and Baltica in the Proterozoic:: the importance of key palaeomagnetic poles

Key palaeomagnetic poles are defined as those which pass basic reliability criteria and are precisely and accurately dated. They allow a more rigorous analysis of Precambrian continental drift and continental reconstructions than the traditional apparent polar wander path (APWP) approach using mostly non-key poles. Between ca. 2.45 and 2.00 Ga in the early Palaeoproterozoic, key poles define the drift of the Archaean Superior craton of Laurentia, yielding a result that is quite unlike the drift interpreted in earlier studies using the APWP method. There are no early Palaeoproterozoic key poles for the other Archaean cratons that amalgamated to form Laurentia and Baltica prior to 1.8 Ga, so that a rigorous test of early Palaeoproterozoic reconstruction models is not possible. Key poles from Laurentia between ca. 1.46 and 1.267 Ga and Baltica between 1.63 and 1.265 Ga help to define, in a preliminary fashion, the early Mesoproterozoic drift of the two shields. The key pole age match at ca. 1.265 Ga is consistent with Baltica located adjacent to eastern Greenland, and geological considerations suggest that the most reasonable fit aligns the Labradorian belt of Laurentia with the Gothian belt of Baltica. Although there is limited support from non-key poles and key poles that are not matched in age for such a fit as early as ca. 1.8 Ga, no rigorous assessment will be possible until a match in key pole ages is achieved. In the late Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic, Laurentia's drift is reasonably well documented by seven key poles between 1.235 and 0.73 Ga. There are no key poles in this period from Baltica, however, so that a similar to 90 degrees clockwise rotation of Baltica relative to Laurentia between 1.265 and 1.0 Ga, widely used in the literature, cannot be confirmed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.