Arctica (continent)
Arctica is a hypothetical continent in the history of the earth that could have existed around 1.8 to about 1.5 billion years ago, on the border between the Paleoproterozoic and the Mesoproterozoic . It consisted of parts of North America and the central parts of Siberia.
Naming
The name Arctica was suggested by John JW Rogers in 1996 . He chose the name Arctica because at a much later time the Arctic Ocean opened up through this hypothetical continent.
Components
Arctica includes longlifety the Canadian Shield , the Wyoming Kraton and the two longlifety constituting the Siberian shield which Aldan Kraton and Anabar / Angara Kraton. However, the arrangement or the position of Siberia relative to the Canadian shield is very uncertain.
Arctica as a geological continent
Arctica was formed about 2.5 billion years ago or 1.8 to 1.5 billion years ago. Arctica could thus have originated from the somewhat older Kenorland through accretion of the Wyoming craton and the two Siberian cratons and the Rae and Nain complexes in Greenland. Around 1.8 billion years ago, Arctica and Baltica were merged into one continent, which was named Nena .
swell
literature
- John JW Rogers: A history of continents in the past three billion years. Journal of Geology, 104: 91-107, Chicago, 1996 ISSN 0022-1376
- John JW Rogers and M. Santosh: Supercontinents in Earth History. Gondwana Research , 6 (3): 357-368, Osaka 2003 ISSN 1342-937X .
Web links
English: