February 2001 Newsmagazine of the Earth Sciences News Notes Tectonics Perfecting Pangaea Debate over the proper alignment of the continents that formed the supercontinent Pangaea has put paleontologists and structural geologists at odds with geophysicists who study paleomagnetism. Many may be unaware that the discord exists, but those in tune know that there is an alternate model for Pangaea that is not commonly printed in textbooks and is often ignored by most geologists.
Some scientists believe that the answer lies in a re-evaluation of Earth s paleomagnetic record.
Any introductory geology textbook offers an illustration of Pangaea Pangaea-A to be exact. This model of the arrangement of Earth s continental landmass during the Triassic is mapped according to corresponding sedimentary layers, mountain chains and fossil beds of Africa and the Americas. The paleomagnetic model of Pangaea is not accepted by geologists, says Rob Van der Voo of the University of Michigan. Van der Voo and his colleague, Trond Torsvik of the Geological Survey of Norway, led a team that has been investigating Earth s past polarity in search of the key that will make the two models fit into one. They presented their work on Dec. 19 at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.