• journal_title：Geology
• Contributor：Zheng-Xiang Li ; David A.D. Evans
• Publisher：Geological Society of America
• Date：2011-
• Format：text/html
• Language：en
• Identifier：10.1130/G31461.1
• journal_abbrev：Geology
• issn：0091-7613
• volume：39
• issue：1
• firstpage：39
• section：Articles

Previous paleomagnetic work has appeared to demand the breakup of southwest United States−East Antarctic (SWEAT) type Rodinia reconstructions before ca. 750 Ma, significantly earlier than the stratigraphic record of rift-drift transition between 715 Ma and 650 Ma. Here we reanalyze Australian paleomagnetic and regional tectonic data to produce a model in which the Precambrian Australian continent had a slightly different configuration before the breakup of Rodinia. A cross-continental megashear zone developed along the Paterson and Petermann orogens at ca. 650–550 Ma, during or after the breakup of Rodinia, manifested as an ∼40° clockwise rotation of the South and West Australian cratons relative to the North Australian craton around a vertical axis in Central Australia. This model reconciles major paleomagnetic discrepancies within Australia, and allows for a longer lifespan of SWEAT-like reconstructions of Rodinia that are consistent with the Neoproterozoic stratigraphic records of Australia and Laurentia.