A Middle‐Triassic Paleomagnetic Pole for the Eurasian Plate from Heming (France)

Abstract

The paleomagnetic study of Middle Triassic limestones (91 cores, 160 samples) from a 40 m thick section in Heming (France) yields a paleomagnetic pole for stable Europe at lat=53.5°N, lon=140.8°E, d p =2.3°, d m =3.9°. This pole fills an important gap of the apparent polar wander path (APWP) of the Eurasian plate. The comparison of this pole with available data shows a standstill of the Eurasian plate from the Late Paleozoic to the Middle Triassic, followed by a rapid drift until the Lower Jurassic. The beginning of the rapid drift is contemporaneous with the initiation of main rifting processes in the Tethyan Oceans.