Earth-Science Reviews, 26 (1989) 113-162 113

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam--Printed in The Netherlands

Global Tectonics since the Breakup of Pangea 180 Million

Years ago: Evolution Maps and Lithospheric Budget

RUUD WEIJERMARS

ABSTRACT

Weijermars, R., 1989. Global tectonics since the breakup of Pangea 180 million years ago: evolution maps and
lithospheric budget. Earth-Sci. Rev., 26: 113-162.

Pangea, the Earth's youngest single supercontinent, broke up 180 million years ago. Tectonic plates were
subsequently formed by dispersal of the continental fragments and accretion of new oceanic lithosphere. The
configurations of all the major lithospheric plates at 0, 20, 65, 95, 140, 180 Ma BP are reconstructed on six globes of
the Earth, each with a radius of 10 cm. It appears that plate boundaries maintain a remarkably close fit on model
globes of constant radii if the reconstructions include the recovery of subducted spreading patterns. This is illustrated
with maps in equatorial orthographic, oblique orthographic and transverse Hammer-Aitoff projections. The snug fit of
the tectonic plates at every tested time since the breakup of Pangea 180 Ma BP is consistent with the theory of plate
tectonics on a non-expanding Earth and contradicts rapidly expanding Earth models.
The areas of oceanic lithosphere produced and consumed during the past 180 Ma BP are estimated from surface
measurements of the globes reconstructed on the basis of particular assumptions. These measurements suggest a
consistent increase in the production rate of oceanic lithosphere during the past 140 Ma. It was decided to revise the
assumptions and see if alternative reconstructions of the ancient spreading patterns on the floors of the Tethys and
Eo-Pacific oceans could avoid implying an increase of lithospheric production rates with time. This appeared to be
possible. The revised maps suggest that ophiolites older than 180 Ma BP may have been obducted in Cenozoic
collision zones of the Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, and the western part of the Banda Arc (Timor, New Guinea).
Estimates of the ocean floor production and consumption budget appear to be quite similar for both map series,
and only the possible ranges are summarized here, time averaged for the past 180 Ma. World-wide production and
consumption of oceanic lithosphere appears to have varied between 2.6 and 3.5 km2 a -1 at most. The mean of
world-wide spreading velocities ranges between 2.4 and 3.5 cm a - l and world-wide means of subduction velocities lie
between 4.2 and 6.3 cm a-1. More accurate estimates are possible on the basis of particular assumptions and have
been specified for the various time intervals distinguished: i.e., the Neogene (0-20 Ma BP), Palaeogene (20-65 Ma
BP), Upper Cretaceous (65-95 Ma BP), Lower Cretaceous (95-140 Ma BP), and Middle and Upper Jurassic (140-180
Ma BP).

INTRODUCTION of the spreading pattern map of the modern

Maps of world-wide plate tectonic evolu-
tion and the associated spreading and sub-
duction rate estimates are of major impor-
tance to almost all branches of the earth
sciences. The data required for reconstructing
evolution maps of the dispersal of Pangea
since its breakup 180 million years ago be-
came recently available with the completion
0012-8252/89/$03.50 © 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
ocean floor (Sclater et al., 1980, 1981; Larson
et al., 1985; see also fig. 3 in Wezel, 1988).
Detailed maps of Mesozoic and Cenozoic
plate geometries have previously been pub-
lished by Owen (1983). However, all Owen's
maps of past plate geometries, reconstructed
manually on map projections whilst assuming
a reference globe of constant radius, show
peculiar gaps which he termed gores. Owen
114
subsequently stated that a neat fit between
past plate boundaries is only possible if the
Earth's radius was 80% of its modern value
about 200 Ma BP (Million years Before Pres-
ent). His maps suggest a linear increase in
Earth radius with time such that the Earth's
radius was still only 85% of the modern value
at 140 Ma BP.
Recently, it has been argued that the fast
Earth expansion invoked by Owen (1983) is
contradicted by several physical principles
(Weijermars, 1986). It is therefore desirable
that a world-wide reconstruction of past plate
geometries and positions on a reference globe
of constant radius becomes available. Until
now plate reconstructions on a reference Earth
of constant radius were only available for
particular parts of the Earth (e.g., Pitman and
Talwani, 1972; N o r t o n and Sclater, 1979;
Barron and Harrison, 1980).
A world-wide reconstruction on a con-
stant-radius Earth is attempted here by refit-
ting the outlines of ancient lithospheric plates.
This method does not involve any external
reference frame and therefore provides the
Ruud Weijermars, born in Amsterdam (1956), ob-
tained a Dutch B.Sc. (1977) and M.Sc. (1981) in
structural geology at the University of Amster-
dam. After working as a teaching assistant
(1979-1983) and science journalist (1981-1983),
he moved to Sweden to join the Hans Ramberg
Tectonic Laboratory at Uppsala University. He
was awarded a Swedish Ph.D. in geodynamics
most accurate means of reconstructing past
plate configurations. It was first seriously ap-
plied by Bullard et al. (1965) in a search for
the best fit between the Atlantic outlines of
Africa and South America. However, Bullard
et al. did not have access to a detailed age
pattern of the oceanic lithosphere, which has
only recently been compiled after twenty years
of oceanic exploration (Sclater et al., 1981). A
detailed comparison, between the evolution
maps of Owen (1983) based on a fast Earth
expansion hypothesis, and those obtained here
assuming an approximately constant Earth
radius for the past 180 Ma, is discussed in
Appendix 1.
The oceanic spreading pattern compiled by
Sclater et al. (1981) is used here not only to
reconstruct the tectonic evolution of spread-
ing patterns and geographical positions of
plate boundaries and continents, but also to
estimate the budget of world-wide oceanic
plate production and loss. The velocities in-
volved in the subduction and spreading pro-
cess can also be inferred. Estimates of mod-
ern and some past spreading and subduction
(1987) on the basis of fluid mechanical studies of
mantle convection funded by the Swedish Natural
Science Research Council (NFR). His research
interests cover a variety of topics in geodynamics
and tectonics and have been published in over 40
articles.
Dr. Weijermars also worked as a consultant for
the Swedish mining industry and has taught
graduate courses in microstructures, structural
geology, field mapping and report writing. He is
currently a visiting post-doctoral fellow at the
Geological Department of the EidgeniSssische
Technische Hochschule in Ztirich, Switzerland. His
permanent mailing address is: The Hans Ramberg
Tectonic Laboratory, Institute of Geology, Upp-
sala University, Box 555, S-751 22 Uppsala,
Sweden.

rates have been attempted previously (e.g.,
Deffeyes, 1970; Chase, 1972; Sclater et al.,
1980; Parsons, 1981). Most of these im-
portant estimates have been confirmed in the
present study. Additionally, this paper pays
attention to all the geological data which are
relevant and pertinent to the reconstruction
of the motion of tectonic plates.
M E T H O D O L O G Y A N D MAPPING METHODS
Five major bands were distinguished in the
ocean floor on the basis of an existing compi-
lation (Sclater et al., 1981), and plotted on a
globe of 10 cm radius (Fig. 1). Old oceanic
crust with an age of 180-140 Ma occurs in
three sites: in the Pacific, along the east coast
of North America and along the west coast of
North Africa (Fig. 1). The oldest oceanic
crust of about 180 Ma BP occurs nearest to
the continental margins, which indicates that
Pangea broke up in the Middle Jurassic 180
Ma BP (cf., Sclater et al., 1981). Such old
oceanic crust does not occur along the passive
margins of Southern Africa, South America,
Australia, India, and Antarctica. The spread-
ing pattern record thus implies that the part
of Pangea termed Gondwanaland by Suess
(1885, p. 768) was still a single continent at
the end of the Jurassic 140 Ma BP.
The spreading pattern on the globe of the
present-day Earth (cf. Fig. 1) was used to
reconstruct the evolution of the plate config-
uration since the breakup of Pangea 180 Ma
BP. Details of the construction of the globes
have been outlined elsewhere (Weijermars,
1986). Figs. 1 to 6 summarise the develop-
ment of the oceanic spreading pattern in six
stages (i.e., 180, 140, 95, 65, 20 and 0 Ma BP).
The motion of the tectonic plates is repre-
sented by their successive positions with re-
spect to the geographic grid at particular time
intervals. No reference is made to their Euler
poles of angular rotation, because the trajec-
tory of any point on a plate is generally not a
small circle around a single axis of relative
motion. This is due to the fact that the Euler
pole of any plate may shift its geographic
115
position with time and this can be inferred
from the globes and maps presented here.
This makes the description of plate motions
in terms of subsequent Euler pole positions
and rotation angles very laborious (Cronin,
1987), and it seems therefore most adequate
to simply map the position of tectonic plates
at particular time intervals, a strategy adopted
here.
The oblique and equatorial orthographic
projections in Figs. 1 to 4 are obtained from
photographs of the original globes published
elsewhere (Weijermars, 1986). The projections
of Figs. 5 and 6 have been constructed from
unpublished photographs of globes recon-
structed of the Earth at 140 and 180 Ma BP,
respectively. It should be noted that photo-
graphic techniques to obtain orthographic
maps may introduce minor deviations from
true orthographic projections (c.f., Robinson
and Sale, 1968), but these have been ne-
glected here.
Additionally, all results have also been
transferred to transverse Hammer-Aitoff pro-
jections. This type of projection has been
introduced for the presentation of oceanic
spreading patterns (Weijermars, 1984), be-
cause it gives an overview of the entire ocean
floor in a single map. The equatorial
Hammer-Aitoff projection had been indepen-
dently developed by Hammer from the Lam-
bert azimuthal equal area projection in 1892
and earlier, in 1889, by Aitoff who had
adapted the equidistant projection (c.f.,
Leighly, 1955). The projection applied in Figs.
l g - 6 g is termed a transverse Hammer-Aitoff
projection, because the globe and the projec-
tion net have been rotated 90 ° relative to
each other from the usual equatorial orienta-
tion. This equal area projection places the
north polar axis at the top and south polar
axis in the central node of longitude lines of
the projected ellipse. The geometric centre of
the ellipse is at 0 ° longitude and 70 ° south-
ern latitude, and its axial ratio is 1:2. The
south polar latitude circles stay close to true
circles, but neither parallels nor are meridians
simple curves. Incidentally, this type of pro-
116

Fig. 1. Maps of the oceanic spreading pattern on the modern Earth. a - f : Global views in oblique (a, c-e) and
equatorial (b, f) orthographic projections, g: Overview of the world's modern oceanic spreading patterns, ridges and
transform faults mapped in transverse Hammer-Aitoff projection. Compiled after the data of Sclater et al. (1981).
 117

160 ,180

O C E A N I C CRtJ
Neoge
(0-20

Pelael
(20-6

~ Upper
165-9 - CRUST

Lower
(95-1
I Mlddl~ ont
(140-

More detailed subdivisions and precise dating of the ages distinguished can be found in the time tables of Palmer
(1983), Harland et al. (1985), Berggren et al. (1985), and Kent and Gradstein (1985).
118
jection has been used by oceanographers to
visualize an overview of the global water cir-
culation pattern above oceanic lithosphere
(cf., Dietrich and Ulrich, 1968, fig. 13).
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
The basic assumptions underlying the con-
struction of all the maps in Figs. 1-6 will be
outlined here. These assumptions, valid for
the reconstructions of the tectonic evolution
of the Earth since the breakup of Pangea 180
Ma BP, are that:
(1) manual reconstructions of the move-
ment of tectonic plates on globes of 10 cm
radius are sufficiently accurate;
(2) any Earth expansion has been negligi-
ble;
(3) the surface area of continental litho-
sphere has remained approximately constant
(i.e., only the addition and loss of oceanic
lithosphere is significant to the budget, and
any change in continental area is insignifi-
cant);
(4) Antarctica has remained fixed relative
to both the mantle and the geographic grid;
(5) spreading patterns have been generated
symmetrically about the oceanic ridges (with
special reference to the Pacific);
(6) the Tethyan collision zone may be sim-
plified into a single suture; and
(7) no spreading ridges, other than linear
extension of those still visible today (i.e., the
Pacific Ridge) have been subducted; this par-
ticular assumption was revised in the con-
struction of alternative maps in Figs. 9-12
(see later).
All these assumptions are based on careful
considerations and these will be discussed in
turn below.
(1) Accuracy
Many colleagues have suggested that com-
puter reconstructions of past plate configura-
tions would have been less subjective and
more accurate than manual constructions on
material globes. This criticism can be re-
butted as follows. Computer fits are also sub-
jective in the sense that in the refit procedure
they require a series of algorithms which pre-
scribe the ratio of overlaps and gaps allowed
for, and possibly their preferred location. De-
signing of this algorithm in itself would be a
subjective procedure similar to that occurring
during manual refitting. Such an algorithm
would also be difficult to explain to the gen-
eral reader and therefore makes any com-
puterfit more difficult to reproduce indepen-
dently than those on material globes. The
manual method is pedagogically more power-
ful than any computer method because the
results presented here are reproducible
without the large research budget, machinery
and detailed software needed for computer
simulations. Nonetheless, the manual con-
struction was used here principally because
the development of the software necessary for
computer methods is extremely time-con-
suming in view of the application and alterna-
tive approach considered here. I look forward
to any future corrections of my work on the
basis of computer fits.
Comparing the areas occupied by oceanic
and continental lithospheres on the modern
Earth measured on real globes and digitised
in a computer gives some idea of the dif-
ference (and perhaps accuracy) of the two
methods. Oceanic and continental litho-
spheres occupy 59.5 and 40.5% of the total
surface area, respectively, according to mea-
surements on my reference globe of the mod-
ern Earth, whereas 59 and 41% is the distribu-
tion determined from computer maps of the
modern Earth (Cogley, 1984). The difference
is no more than 0.5% and the accuracy in my
estimates is meaningful, because a non-di-
mensional surface area of 0.5% on my globes
corresponds to about 6 cm 2. More specifi-
cally, the total area of 1256 c m 2 o n any of my
globes corresponds to 5.1. l0 s km 2 on the
real Earth, because the radius (r) of each
globe is 10 cm, that of the real Earth is 6370
km, and the surface area of any sphere is
given by 47rr 2. I assume that my measure-
ments on the globe are accurate within + 1

cm 2, which corresponds to ___(637)2 km 2 or
0.1% of the global area. Thus, the resolution
of data from real material globes with radii of
only 10 cm seems comparable to, if not better
than that of available digitised data.
In practice, refitting the outlines of ancient
spreading patterns on a globe appears to be a
trivial exercise because the fit is well con-
strained by the oceanic fracture pattern, pas-
sive continental margins, ridge triple junc-
tions and the rectangular shapes of the an-
cient plate boundaries outlined by t h e age
contours of the spreading pattern. My recon-
structions (Figs. 1-6) were therefore checked
to the extent that gaps and overlaps between
the ancient outlines of the tectonic plates only
reached 2.6% or less of the global surface area
at any one time (see Appendix 1).
The accuracy of the age contours or iso-
chrons on the spreading pattern map of the
present-day Earth (cf., Sclater et al., 1980,
1981) is likely to be more relevant to the
accuracy of plate tectonic reconstructions than
whether the reconstruction method involves a
computer or not. This accuracy depends
mainly upon the density of the actual data
recovered from the ocean floor and is con-
tinuously improving (Mayer and Burdett,
1986). Sclater et al. (1980) estimated that
well-defined magnetic isochrons cover 60% of
the ocean floor and that these can be confi-
dently extrapolated to another 20% of the
oceans. Therefore, the isochrons used in this
study are somewhat uncertain for only 20% of
the total oceanic area. This implies that any
future studies based on improved spreading
pattern maps of the modern Earth are un-
likely to change my numerical estimates by
more than 20%.
(2) Earth expansion
Earth expansion hypotheses can be divided
into two major types: fast and slow. Fast
Earth expansion hypotheses suggest that the
Earth has been a small planet with a constant
radius of 5100 km (Owen, 1983) or 4000 km
(Carey, 1976; King, 1983) for many billion
119
years, until at about 180 Ma BP when it
suddenly started to expand to its present
radius of 6370 km. These hypotheses assume
that all oceanic lithosphere younger than
about 180 Ma infills the gaps torn in an
initially continuous shell of continental crust
which dispersed as the Earth expanded. All
fast Earth expansion hypotheses can be re-
jected on the basis of geological, geophysical
and cosmological arguments (Weijermars,
1986 and references therein).
Slow Earth expansion hypotheses suggest
that the Earth has expanded since its forma-
tion at about 4.8 Ga BP. Proposed expansion
rates vary with the particular hypothesis. Slow
Earth expansion hypotheses can also be dis-
carded on physical grounds (Weijermars,
1986); all exept one. The possibility of slow
radial expansion by cooling of Earth's liquid
outer core is difficult to exclude. Nonetheless,
even if slow Earth expansion were occurring,
the Earth's radius is likely to have been only
94 km shorter than today when Pangea began
dispersing at 180 Ma BP (Weijermars, 1986).
This could only account for 3.2% of the pres-
ent area of ocean floor if all the surface
expansion was confined to the oceans
(Weijermars, 1986). It therefore seems rea-
sonable to neglect slow Earth expansion in
this study.
(3) Continental growth, compression and ex-
tension
One assumption underlying the refit of the
continents in Gondwanaland and Pangea, 140
and 180 Ma BP, respectively, is that both the
area and shape of the continental crustal frag-
ments have remained constant since their
breakup. This would imply that both (a) con-
tinental growth by crustal accretion, and (b)
lateral compression and extension by tecton-
ics have been negligible during the past 180
Ma BP.
Opinions about the mode and rate of con-
tinental growth are highly divided. Estimates
of the mean age of the continents based on
calculations of isotopic mass budgets range
120
between 1.7 and 3 Ga (All~gre and Jaupart,
1985). There exist a variety of smooth con-
tinental growth curves estimated on the basis
of isotopic systems (e.g., Reymer and Schu-
bert, 1984), but even extreme models with
episodic growth have been suggested (Reymer
and Schubert, 1986). However, such episodes
may be only apparent and due to accelerated
recycling rates of continental material through
former subduction zones whilst the chemical
fractionation of the mantle may still follow a
smooth curve (Gurnis and Davies, 1986a).
Estimates of continental growth rates may
be based either on isotopic systems (cf.,
Kr~Sner, 1985; All~gre and Jaupart, 1985) or
the development of continental freeboard
through geological time (McLennan and
Taylor, 1983; Schubert and Reymer, 1985;
cf., Taylor and McLennan, 1985). Even if one
would adopt estimates of extremely fast net
growth rates of the order of 1 km 3 a -1 (Rey-
mer and Schubert, 1986) this only adds some
(1.8.108 km3/50 km = ) 3.6.106 km 2 to the
continental area in 180 Ma. This is less than
0.01% of the modern surface area of the Earth
and may therefore be neglected in reconstruc-
tions of modern plate tectonics.
Increase of continental areas may also oc-
cur by lateral extension due to rifting, basin-
and-range tectonics and the formation of in-
tercontinental basins by crustal thinning. For
example, seismic reflection profiles of the
continental floor of the North Sea Basin sug-
gest over 100% crustal stretching by normal
faulting during the past 160 Ma (Barton and
Wood, 1984). Palinspastic reconstruction of
the Pannonian Basin in eastern Europe sug-
gests 75-100 km Neogene extension (Royden
et al., 1982). Palaeomagnetic data from the
Basin-and-Range Province in the United
States suggest that 300 km spreading may
have occurred since 90 Ma BP (Frei, 1986) by
extensional tectonics (Wernicke, 1985;
Wernicke and Burchfield, 1982). Very Long
Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measure-
ments suggest that the Basin-and-Range Pro-
vince is still extending E - W today at a rate of
0.3-1.5 cm a -~ (Allenby, 1979). Note also
that part of the overlaps in my maps, in
particular those occurring between the
Atlantic margins of the northern continents
(Fig. 6), may be explained by various mecha-
nisms of crustal stretching operating during
the formation of passive continental margins
(cf., Van der Linden, 1979; Lister et al., 1986).
Continental shortening by compression and
transpression is occurring along subduction
and continental collision zones (cf., Helwig,
1976). Crustal shortening due to nappe
thrusting and ductile thickening in the Pe-
ruvian Andes amounts to at least 115 km
(M6gard, 1984; cf., Jordan et al., 1983) al-
though this may have been partly com-
pensated by coeval continental growth both
due to off-shore accretion of sedimentary
wedges (McCourt et al., 1984) and exten-
sional tectonics such as observed in the con-
tinental crust above the subducting Cocos
plate (Aubouin et al., 1984). Crustal shorten-
ing in the Canadian Rockies has been esti-
mated at 160 to 240 km (Bally, 1981; Price,
1981).
Crustal shortening in continental collision
zones seems much larger than that occurring
above oceanic subduction zones. For exam-
ple, crustal shortening in the Swiss Alps has
been estimated at about 600 km (Trumpy,
1973). More spectacularly, shortening in the
Eurasian continent caused since the collision
of India and Eurasia about 40 Ma BP, may
be of the order of 2000 km (Patriat and
Acharche, 1984; Besse et al., 1984). Most of
this shortening may be due to "escape tecton-
ics" or movement of southeast Asia towards
the Pacific by strike-slip faulting. The crustal
thickening in the Himalayan Chain seems to
account for only 600 km or 30% of the total
shortening (Pelzer, 1989). Crustal thickening
and denudation by exogenic erosion is still
continuing today due to indentation of the
Eurasian continent by the Indian plate at a
rate of about 5 cm a -~ (Tapponier et al.,
1982).
Present knowledge is insufficient to assess
current estimates of the world-wide extension
and thickening budgets of continental litho-

sphere in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. I there-
fore had to assume in my global reconstruc-
tions and the calculation of production and
subduction budget of oceanic lithosphere (see
later) that the net surface area of continental
lithosphere has remained constant during the
past 180 Ma. Even under such assumptions
care should be taken with estimates of sub-
duction rates balanced by spreading, and vice
versa, in view of the possibility that oceanic
lithosphere may be shortened by folding or
thrusting. At least the northeast floor of the
Indian Ocean may have been buckled elasti-
cally into l o n g - w a v e l e n g t h ( 1 0 0 - 3 0 0
km)/small-amplitude (3 km) folds (Weissel et
al., 1980; McAdoo and Sandwell, 1985) and
the Gorda plate may be deformed by shear
zones and kink bands (Wilson, 1986). How-
ever, neglecting such effects seems still justi-
fied so long as the local shortening rates of
ocean floor are small compared to contem-
poraneous subduction rates.
(4) Palaeographic grid
The relative position of tectonic plates in
the past can be recovered by refitting their
ancient outlines, but this approach cannot
recover their absolute or palaeogeographic
position. First, accept that a meaningful geo-
graphic grid should be fixed to the Earth's
rotation axis at any time; only then will the
various (palaeo-) climatic zones be related to
the geographic grid in a fashion similar to
that seen today. However, locating litho-
spheric plates relative to the geographic spin
poles rather than just to each other is com-
plicated by the fact that, like the tectonic
plates, the Earth's rotation axis is also moving
relative to the Earth's mantle. The respective
directions and displacement rates of the poles
and plates need not be similar, for they are
likely to be due to different mechanisms.
That the Earth's rotation axis moves rela-
tive to its interior is now well established.
Geodetic measurements in celestial and satel-
lite reference frames reveal a recent secular
motion of 10 cm a -~ averaged over the past
121
70 Ma (Yumi and Wako, 1970; Enslin, 1978).
It should be noted that this true polar
wandering is in fact, a movement of the whole
Earth relative to the axis of rotation, which
aside from precession an nutation, is assumed
to remain fixed relative to the Sun (Gold,
1955). This reorientation of the Earth in space
is likely to have its origin in core and mantle
dynamics (Goldreich and Toomre, 1969).
Geodetic observations cannot help much
further in unravelling how the Earth's rota-
tion axis has wandered in the remote past,
but other geophysical observations can. Plate
positions relative to the geographic poles can
be constrained using palaeomagnetic and hot
spot data, in combination with palaeoclimatic
data, as follows. The Earth's magnetic dipole
field caused by dynamics in the Earth's liquid
outer core (Busse, 1975) is assumed to be
aligned with Earth's rotation axis if averaged
over long periods. The time-averaging re-
moves the effect of the secular variation of
the magnetic poles relative to the instanta-
neous rotation axis (cf., Brown and Mussett,
1981). Hence, the movement of the geomag-
netic dipole relative to the mantle also reveals
that of the instantaneous rotation axis and
the associated positions of ancient geographic
poles relative to the Earth's mantle.
This is now known in detail. The motion of
the palaeomagnetic pole, relative to a hot spot
reference frame fixed to either the mantle or
core-mantle boundary, depending on the
origin of mantle plumes (cf., Loper, 1984,
1985), has been recently determined for the
past 180 Ma (Andrews, 1985). The past rota-
tion pole has slowly spiralled to its present
position. Its furthest offset occurred about
180 Ma BP when it lay 20 ° from the present
pole. It has since come progressively closer,
so that it has never been offset more than 10 o
during the past 100 Ma.
Consequently, the pole of the geographic
grid has not travelled far relative to the man-
tle. But how far did the indiuidual tectonic
plates themselves displace ooer the underlying
mantle? Africa has been considered as a stable
plate on the basis of stationary hot-spots
122

Fig. 2. The relative distribution of the continents and the oceanic spreading pattern at the end of the Palaeogene 20
Ma BP. Projections as in Fig. 1.
 123

160 180
m \ /

-0

O C E A N I C CRU

Palaeq mp in r e f i t
(20-6

~ Upper v e r l a p in r e f i t
165"9
N T A L CRUST
Lower
(95- 1 ~elf

~ Pre-Ci
12140 ontinent
 ~J

~D

t~

~o
~o
 125

m 160\ /180

-0

3p ~n r e f i t
OCEANIC CRL
Upper verlap in r e f i t
165-9~
NTAL CRUST
Lower
(95-1 1elf

l Pre-Ci
(~-140 )ntlnent
 Cr~

~D

~D

&.

C~
 127

160 180

--0

ap in r e f i t

v e r l a p in r e f i t
OCEANIC CRI

Lower NTAL CRUST

(95-1
1elf
~ Pre-CI
(>140 )ntlnent
128

a /

Fig. 5. The face of the Earth at the end of the Jurassic 140 Ma BP, just before the breakup of Gondwanaland.
Projections as in Fig. 1.
 129

160 180
\ /

-0

ap in r e f i t

verlap in r e f i t

NTAL CRUST

lelf
OCEA

)ntinent
130

Fig. 6. The Earth at the end of the Lower Jurassic 180 Ma BP, just before the breakup of Pangea. Projections as in Fig.
1.
 131

160 ~oo

-0

gap in r e f i t

overlap in refit

4ENTAL CRUST

shelf

0CI
continent

i:-lou md ~r~
132
(Burke and Dewey, 1974), but this is now
contradicted by very mobile traces of hot-
spots suggested by others (Duncan, 1981; Van
Houten, 1983). Absolute plate motions in a
hot-spot reference frame assuming no net ro-
tation of the lithosphere also suggest that
Africa is moving rapidly northeast, but these
movements are only reliable for the past 10
Ma (Minster and Jordan, 1978).
Antarctica seems to lie on a plate which is
most stable relative to the mantle. This is
because it has been surrounded by spreading
ridges since the breakup of Pangea 180 Ma
BP (cf., Knopoff and Leeds, 1972), and only
minor subduction is likely to have occurred
during the Tertiary folding of the Mesozoic
belt that forms the Antarctic Peninsula. Mod-
ern absolute displacement velocities also sug-
gest that the Antarctic plate is nearly sta-
tionary with respect to the mantle (Minster
and Jordan, 1978).
If Antarctica has not travelled far over the
underlying mantle, and if the geographic pole
has not moved very far either, it seems logical
to keep the geographic grid of palaeogeo-
graphic maps fixed relative to Antarctica.
Such a choice is independently supported by
palaeoclimatic observations (cf., King, 1961;
Gill, 1961; Lloyd, 1984), which suggest that
Antarctica has remained at relatively high
southern latitudes during the past 180 Ma. It
is therefore Antarctica that has been kept
fixed relative to the geographic grid in all the
evolution maps of plate tectonics in this study
(Figs. 1-6 and 8-12). Incidentally, polar
wandering may have caused internal defor-
mation of tectonic plates by normal, reverse
and strike-slip faulting (Weijermars, 1985),
but these effects have been neglected here.
(5) Symmetric spreading patterns in the Pacific
Structural development of the Pacific Oc-
ean floor poses the greatest problems to plate
tectonic reconstructions. The Pacific is the
remnant of the Eo-Pacific or Panthalassa, the
single palaeo-ocean occupying Pangea before
its dispersal 180 Ma BP; this Eo-Pacific was
much larger than the modern Pacific. Diffi-
culties met in reconstruction attempts are due
to four boundary conditions: ( 1 ) t h e Eo-
Pacific has been progressively shrinking since
the breakup of Pangea; (2) the Eo-Pacific has
been entirely surrounded by subduction zones,
rather than passive continental margins (pos-
sibly, but not necessarily, since the breakup
of Pangea); (3) back-arc spreading has oc-
curred along the West-Pacific margin; and (4)
the Pacific spreading ridge may not only have
displaced laterally with time, but possibly also
branched once or twice (see later).
Any reconstruction of the Pacific Ocean
floor needs to take account of all these four
problems for complete solutions of its plate
tectonic history. Only partial solutions have
been suggested until now. The displacement
of the margins of the Eo-Pacific was only
recently included in such studies, but is still
poorly documented and then only back to 74
Ma BP (Whitman et al., 1983) or 100 Ma BP
(Rea and Duncan, 1986). The maps in Figs.
1-8 and 8-12 account for the convergence of
the margins and associated decrease in size of
the Eo-Pacific in the last 180 Ma. This was
possible because the entire world-wide
spreading pattern of Sclater et al. (1981) has
been used.
The Eo-Pacific has been diminishing since
the breakup of Pangea, and therefore subduc-
tion has been occurring along its margins
throughout the last 180 Ma even without any
contemporaneous spreading of the Eo-Pacific
ocean floor. Pangea has been a single conti-
nent for at least 100 Ma before it was torn
apart and dispersed (Livermore et al., 1986;
Boucot and Gray, 1983), so that the Eo-Pacific
must have been in existence throughout at
least the Permo-Triassic Period. Given only
one continent (Pangea) and one ocean (the
Eo-Pacific) this implies that the Eo-Pacific
must have comprised a constant area
throughout the Permo-Triassic Period. Note
that there would have been no need for sub-
duction to occur if there were no spreading
ridges in Permo-Triassic times. However, dat-
ing of orogenic phases in the Andes (Mc-

Court et al., 1984) and Rockies (Condie, 1981)
suggests that more or less continuous subduc-
tion has occurred along the Pacific east coast
since the Palaeozoic. This implies that the
floor of the Eo-Pacific must have been ac-
tively spreading even before Pangea broke up.
It is not clear whether or not the West-
Pacific trenches have all been active since 180
Ma BP. Palaeomagnetic reversal data from
the Phillipine Basin suggest that back-arc
spreading has occurred there for the last 65
Ma (Hilde and Lee, 1984; Seno a n d
Maruyama, 1984), so that subduction in the
Mariana Trench must have occurred since
that time at least. Other subduction-related
back-arc spreading regions in the west-Pacific
fall within the same age range (Jurdy and
Stefanick, 1983; McCabe, 1984).
A rigid connection between the floors of
the Pacific and Tethys oceans was suggested
by Hilde et al. (1977) and widely accepted.
This assumption results in a spreading
scenario where the Pacific Ridge migrated
from a westernmost position towards its pres-
ent location in the east-Pacific. If this was so,
either a slow oblique subduction zone or a
passive margin seems likely in the west-Pacific
until about 65 Ma BP. My preliminary recon-
struction of the Pacific Ridge positions in
Figs. 1-6 is largely similar to that of Hilde et
al. (1977), although I neglected the detailed
reorganisation of spreading ridges which may
have occurred during the Tertiary evolution
of the Eo-Pacific (see later, cf. Appendix 3).
This exclusion is accounted for by assump-
tion 7 (p. 134) and has been revised in Figs.
8-12.
The location of the Pacific Ridge at 20 Ma
BP (Fig. 2) was obtained by preserving a rigid
connection with the Antarctic Ridge during
the refit procedure on a globe (cf., Weijer-
mars, 1986). The age pattern of the floor in
the eastern Pacific was subsequently recon-
structed by retracting oceanic lithosphere out
of the subduction zones (mainly the east-
Pacific trenches) making the assumption that
such ocean floor would haoe been generated
essentially symmetrically about the ridge at all
133
times. Note that this assumption is not trivial,
in view of Menard's (1984) suggestion that
spreading ridges may evolve asymmetrically.
The current East Pacific Rise appears to
have been the Mid-Pacific Ridge at 65 Ma
BP, if it is assumed to have been as far west
as the logic allows (Fig. 3). The floor of the
Eo-Pacific in Figs. 4 and 5 also shows the
Pacific Ridge furthest west as it could have
been at 95 and 140 Ma BP, respectively.
These tentative interpretations will be revised
later (Figs. 8-12) after calculation of the
world-wide spreading and subduction budgets
based on the assumption of a single (western-
most) spreading ridge in the evolving Eo-
Pacific (Figs. 1-6).
(6) Single Tethyan suture
The modern subduction pattern in the
Mediterranean region is one of the most intri-
cate on Earth and involves many tiny sub-
plates (e.g., McKenzie, 1972, 1978; Dewey et
al., 1973; Le Pichon and Angelier, 1979). In
fact, the current picture of the Eurasian-Afri-
can plate boundary is so conjectural that a
revision of its western part still seems neces-
sary on the basis of detailed field work in
southern Spain (Weijermars, 1987b, 1988a).
The collision zone between the African and
Eurasian plates is therefore tentatively sim-
plified here into a convenient single suture of
east-west strike after Irving (1977).
Reopening of Tethys appears to be the
only way to refit the Atlantic plate boundaries
at 20 Ma BP snugly (Figs. 2, a and b). Re-
opening of Tethys back in time is seen in the
reconstructions to be a direct consequence of
closure of the Atlantic Ocean. Tethys appears
to have had her maximum extent when
Gondwanaland broke up 140 Ma BP (Fig. 5).
The final refit of the continents in Pangea
(Fig. 6) suggests that Tethys did not yet exist
180 Ma BP. This is a controversial point of
view and will be explained below.
The absence of Tethys in my reconstruc-
tion of Pangea at 180 Ma BP (Figs. 6 and 8)
- - w h e n Panthalassa or the Eo-Pacific was the
134
only ocean in existence--is due to two fac-
tors: (1) a revised fit of Gondwanaland at 140
Ma BP; and consequently, (2) a preferred fit
of Pangea at 180 Ma BP. The fit of the
southern continents in Gondwanaland (Fig.
5) differs from all previous reconstructions
(including that of Weijermars, 1986, figs.
7el-e6). This new fit is favoured because it is
the only one which allows all the southern
continents to have smooth travel paths to-
wards lower latitudes (see Appendix 2). After
the removal of the Caribbean plate between
South and North America (for which there
are good arguments, e.g. Jordan, 1975, and
Durham, 1985) this new fit of the southern
continents in Gondwanaland also allows a
good fit of the northern continents to the
margins of Gondwanaland in which there is
no space for Tethys (Fig. 6).
(7) No subducted spreading ridges
The recovery of ancient spreading patterns
of oceanic plates along active plate margins is
a complex undertaking. The spreading pat-
tern of the Pacific Ocean floor has been re-
constructed by retracting oceanic lithosphere
out of the Circum-Pacific subduction zones
assuming that oceanic ridges have always had
symmetric spreading patterns. However, one
associated problem is that particular spread-
ing ridges may have disappeared completely.
Spreading ridges may change their geom-
etry not only by transform faulting (cf.,
Menard, 1984) but also by the formation of
triple junctions whether this is called plate
breakup or ridge branching. One recently dis-
covered spectacular example of ridge branch-
ing is responsible for the fast formation of the
Easter microplate, a circular Neogene platelet
about 200 km across forming along the East
Pacific Rise between the Pacific and Nazca
plates (Hey et al., 1985; Schilling et al., 1985).
Branching is defined here as the local split-
ting of a spreading ridge into two (not neces-
sarily parallel) spreading centres between
which a new plate of fresh ocean floor may
form. The ancient Chinook microplate which
may have formed in the North Pacific be-
tween 82 Ma and 50 Ma BP before merging
with the Pacific plate (Rea and Dixon, 1983),
would be an ancient example of such branch-
ing.
The other, more widely, recognized mecha-
nism of subplate formation which leads to
changes in spreading ridge geometry is the
breakup of larger plates. A well established
example is the fragmentation of the former
Farallon plate into the Cocos and Nazca
plates due to changes in the intraplate stress
field at 25-30 Ma BP (Wortel and Cloetingh,
1981; Wortel, 1986). Fragmentation of the
plates and consequent changes in spreading
ridge geometry has probably occurred episod-
ically throughout the evolution of the Eo-
Pacific's floor. However, opinions about the
details of the Eo-Pacific's ancient plate con-
figuration are highly varied (see Appendix 3).
Spreading ridges may even die before sub-
ducting. One particular clear example, but
not always recognized as such (e.g., see the
hot spot interpretation of Mahoney et al.,
1983), is the Ninetyeast Ridge in the Indian
Ocean. Spreading at this ridge during the
dispersal of G o n d w a n a l a n d separated
Australia from India until it ceased spreading
at about 20 Ma BP (Figs. 3-5). Since then the
relative positions of the Indian and Australian
continents remained fixed (compare Figs. 1
and 2).
It is very difficult to prove that particular
spreading ridges have existed if they are no
longer directly visible. Still, careful plate re-
construction should be based on logical argu-
ments because only then can the results be
reproducible. A preliminary assumption (Figs.
1-6) therefore was that only the linear exten-
sion of spreading ridges still visible today has
been subducted (i.e., the Pacific Ridge ). This
assumption required that the retracted oc-
eanic lithosphere which appeared during the
retrogressive reopening of Tethys had to be
older than at least 140 Ma. This provides a
firm basis for revising current opinions on the
nature of Tethys (Figs. 8-12) after calcula-
tions of the world-wide spreading and sub-
 135

duction budgets based on this assumption. It
appears useful to revise this assumption and
propose other former spreading ridges in the
retracted floor (see later).
PRODUCTION AND SUBDUCTION BUDGETS
Areal distributions of oceanic and con-
tinental lithosphere on modern Earth were
measured on the globe drawn in Fig 1. Recall
that the measurements are assumed to be
accurate within + 1 cm 2, which corresponds
to +(637) 2 km 2 or 0.1% of the global area.
The area of oceanic spreading patterns of the
various ages distinguished in Fig. 1 are given
in Table I (section a). Note that more than
one third (36%) of the present ocean floor is
20-65 Ma old. In other words, more than
60% of the oceanic lithosphere is of Tertiary
age.
Area of subducted lithosphere
The area of lithosphere subducted since
180 Ma BP can also be estimated from the
globes, as follows. Assume that only oceanic
lithosphere has formed or been subducted in
the last 180 Ma BP. The area of new litho-
sphere produced between, for e example, 65
and 20 Ma BP (which appears almost full-
faced on the globe in Fig. 2) and which
subsequently disappeared from the modern
globe (Fig. 1) allows an estimate of how much
65-20 old lithosphere has been subducted
since its production (Table 1, section b).
This procedure can be applied to obtain
simple loss-estimates for most old oceanic
lithosphere, but reconstruction of the ocean
floor before 140 Ma is somewhat com-
plicated. This is because it is unclear how
much spreading occurred in the period
140-180 Ma BP. Only 10.6.106 km 2 of such
old ocean floor has survived until today, but
it is likely that more existed at 140 Ma BP.
It is obvious that the total surface area
which the modern ocean floor occupies (303.2
• 10 6 km 2) must have been composed entirely
of rocks older than 180 Ma when Pangea
broke up at 180 Ma BP. However, even though
no ocean floor older than 180 Ma has survived
on the modern Earth surface, it can be in-
ferred that at least 303.2-106 km 2 of ocean
floor older than 180 Ma has been subducted.
If the spreading ridges active between 180
and 140 Ma BP produced more than the
10.6- 10 6 k m 2 still preserved today, then this
extra area of 140-180 Ma old ocean floor
should be added to the minimum subduction

TABLE I
Analysis of plate activity since the breakup of Pangea 180 Ma BP, based on the reconstructions in Figs. 1-6

(a) Areal distribution of (b) Area of lithosphere

modern lithosphere subducted since 180 Ma BP
model .1 Earth (%) (sub-%) model Earth (%)
(cm2) (106 km 2) (cm2) (106 km2 )
(I) Oceanic lithosphere
0 - 20 Ma BP 159 64.5 12.7 21.4 12 4.9 1.2
20- 65 Ma BP 270 109.6 21.5 36.2 60 24.4 5.8
65- 95 Ma BP 148 60.5 11.8 19.9 61 24.7 5.9
95-140 Ma BP 143 58.0 11.4 19.2 150 60.9 14.6
140-180 Ma BP 26 10.6 2.1 3.3 747 303.2 .2 72.5
(I1) Total 747 303.2 59.5 100 1030 418.1 .2 100
(III) Continental
lithosphere 509 206.6 40.5
(IV) Total 1256 509.8 100
136

TABLE I (continued)

(c) Area of Earth's lithosphere (d) Mean spreading charac-

produced since 180 Ma BP teristics
(106 km2) (km2 a -1) (%) ridge .4 length rate
(cm) (106 km) (cm a -1)
(I) Oceanic lithosphere
0 - 20 Ma BP 69.4 3.5 16.6 92 58.6 3.0
20- 65 Ma BP 134.9 3.0 32.3 98 62.4 2.4
65- 95 Ma BP 85.2 2.8 20.3 75 47.7 2.9
95-140 Ma BP 118.9 2.6 28.4 58 36.9 3.5
140-180 Ma BP 10.6 ,3 0.3 ,3 2.4 9

(1I) Total 418.1 ,3 _ 100 -

Legend:
Section (a). Surface areas of the oceanic lithosphere measured on the globe of the modem Earth (Fig. 1).
Section (b). Subducted lithosphere measured from the globes mapped in Figs. 1-6.
Section (c). The area of the lithosphere produced since 140 Ma BP can be inferred by adding the estimates of sections
(a) and (b).
Section (d). Rate of production of the oceanic lithosphere was converted to spreading velocities by applying expression
1 in the text, after measuring the ridge lengths from the globes in Figs. 1-6.
*~ 1 cm2 of area on the model globe corresponds to (637) 2 km 2 of the real Earth.
,2 Including rocks older than 180 Ma BP. Minimum estimate.
,3 Minimum estimate. Possible spreading in excess of 10.6- 106 km 2 between 140 and 180 Ma BP has been excluded.
,4 1 cm length on the model globe corresponds to 637 km on the real Earth.

estimates given for ocean floor older than 140
Ma (Table I, section b, see also footnotes
there).
WorM-wide lithospheric production
The minimum estimate for the total area of
oceanic lithosphere subducted in the last 180
Ma BP is 418.1 • 10 6 km 2 (Table I, section b).
Neglecting continental growth and excluding
Earth expansion, it is obvious that the total
amount of ocean floor subducted must equal
that which has surfaced during the same 180
Ma. Details of the surface production of oc-
eanic lithosphere of a certain age have been
estimated (Table 1, section c) by adding the
particular area of lithosphere subducted (Ta-
ble I, section b) to lithosphere of the same age
which is still visible on the present-day Earth
(Table I, section a).
A minimum total production rate of 418.1
• 10 6 km 2 ocean floor in 180 Ma implies a
mean production rate of 2.3 km 2 a -1. Exclud-
ing the minimum estimates of production
older than 140 Ma, the production rate of
407.5 • 106 km 2 in 140 Ma corresponds to 2.9
km 2 a -1. This agrees remarkably well with
the independent estimate of Parsons (1981)
who suggests a mean rate of 2.99 km 2 a - l
Other earlier estimates include 2.65 km 2 a -~
(Deffeyes, 1970) and 3 km 2 a -1 (Chase, 1972)•
The production rate for the last 5-10 Ma
has previously been estimated at 3.1 km 2 a-1
(Garfunkel, 1975), which lies close to m y in-
dependent estimate of 3.5 km 2 a -~ for the
last 20 Ma (Table I, section c). The latter
estimate is in excellent agreement with Sclater
et al.'s (1980) previous estimate of a modern
production rate of 3.45 km 2 a i
EVIDENCE FOR SUBDUCTED SPREADING
RIDGES
The mean production rates of ocean floor
for all the particular time intervals dis-
tinguished here (Fig. 1) are specified in Table
I (section c). These suggest that there has
been a remarkable increase in the lithosphere

3.S
2 a corrected restoration requires a more
t~
t_
t-
o
..l--
t_J
o 1
t_
r~
0
0 20 65 95 it,0
),
Linear time {Ma}
Fig. 7. Histogram showing the steady growth of the
production rate of oceanic lithosphere during the past
140 Ma BP, if the data in Table I (section c) were to be
true. The unlikelihood of such an increase in the pro-
duction rate formed the basis for the revised maps in
Figs. 8 and 9b-12b.
production rate since the breakup of Pangea,
which is plotted in Fig. 7 for the past 140 Ma.
This is a surprising result. Only two possible
explanations are obvious. If the trend in Fig.
7 is real, then large temporal changes in
plate-driving mechanisms seem to be the only
explanation. Alternatively, this trend may only
be apparent, and arise because one of the
basic assumptions in the construction method
is unrealistic. Time-dependent changes in
plate-driving mechanism(s) of the kind re-
quired to explain the trend in Fig. 7 seem
unlikely (see references in Weijermars, 1987a,
1988b, c).
Hence, inductive logic now suggests that
the least likely of the assumptions used in the
above reconstruction of the plate tectonic
evolution (Fig. 1-6) should be revised. The
most vulnerable assumption made above was
that only linear extensions of spreading ridges
still visible today may have been subducted.
The budget estimates of Fig. 7 provide a
strong argument for relaxing this conservative
137
assumption used in the reconstructions of
Figs. 2-5. This simply implies that the area
occupied by oceanic lithosphere older than
140 Ma BP on Figs. 2-5 is too large.
But how could this be corrected? What rules
should be used to add further unseen spreading
ridges to the recovered ocean floor? Obviously,
speculative approach than that used above.
The only areas where active spreading ridges
may have been obliterated in the maps of
Figs. 2-5 are in the Eo-Pacific and Tethys. To
attempt an improved reconstruction of their
past spreading patterns a new boundary con-
dition will be imposed by assuming that the
world-wide production of oceanic lithosphere
has been essentially constant and similar to
the recent rate of 3.5 km 2 a 1 inferred by
Sclater et al. (1980) and confirmed here for
the past 20 M a (Table I, section c). Adopting
a constant production rate seems reasonable
because it would also be compatible with
steady-state recycling models of oceanic litho-
sphere through the mantle (cf. Gurnis and
Davies, 1986a, b).
REVISED SPREADING PATTERNS
In the reconstructions of Figs. 1-6 no dis-
tinction was m a d e between oceanic litho-
sphere produced between 140 and 180 Ma BP
and that produced earlier. The only absolute
certainties were that (1) all the oceanic litho-
sphere when Pangea broke up was older than
180 Ma BP (Fig. 6), and (2) the oldest ocean
floor still preserved on the modern globe con-
sisted of 10.6-10 6 k m 2 of 140 180 Ma old
rocks (Fig. 1). A further distinction was not
possible on the reconstructions for 20, 65, 95
and 140 Ma BP (Figs. 2-5) because the total
area originally occupied by 140-180 Ma old
lithosphere was unknown. Consequently, all
oceanic lithosphere older than 140 Ma had a
uniform annotation on any of the Figs. 1-6.
However, a representative production rate
of 3.5 km 2 a -1 can now be used to estimate
that there was about 140 • 1 0 6 km 2 of 140-180
Ma ocean floor on the Earth at 140 Ma BP
138 160 180

~0

laP in r e f i t

) v e r l a p in r e f i t

ENTAL CRUST

;helf
OCE
:ontinent

Fig. 8. The Earth just before the breakup of Pangea 180 Ma BP. Similar to Figure 6g but with a different map
annotation for consistency with the revised maps in Figures 9a-12b. No spreading ridges are indicated, but they are
likely to have occurred and their approximate locations could be estimated retrospectively on the basis of Figure 9b.
The total ridge length might have been 6 × 10 4 krn and a possible representative production rate for oceanic
lithosphere is 3.5 km 2 a-1, corresponding to a worldwide mean spreading rate of 3 cm a-1.

(Table II) and the rest of the ocean floor
([303-140]. 106 km 2) must have been older.
This estimate can now be used, together with
further geological and geophysical constraint
(see later), to revise the globe for the Earth of
140 Ma BP (Fig. 5). This implies that a new
map annotation needs to be introduced to
distinguish between 140-180 Ma and older
lithosphere. It was decided to reserve the an-
notation used for pre-140 Ma old ocean floor
in Fig. 1 for 140-180 Ma old ocean floor in
the revisions (Figs. 9-12). Note that this
makes revision of Fig. 1 unnecessary. How-
ever, this also implies, for the maintainance of
uniformity of presentation in what follows,
that the map for the Earth at 180 Ma BP (Fig.
6g) needs a new annotation (Fig. 8).
Fig. 9a shows the available data in order to
clarify how I revised my reconstruction for
the Earth of 140 Ma BP. The 140-180 Ma old
remnant of the Pacific plate is shown on the
floor of the Eo-Pacific in the approximate
location suggested by palaeo-latitude data of
Larson and Chase (1972) together with
palaeo-longitude data of Henderson et al.
(1984).
How can these fragments of oceanic litho-
sphere on the base map of Fig. 9a, which
together occupy only 3.3% of the total oceanic
area (cf Table I), lead to a complete re-
construction? Five further constraints are sug-
gested as replacing assumption (7) made
earlier, involving (7) the estimates of the
surface area of particular spreading patterns,
(8) average ridge lengths, (9) inferences from
the available sequence of snapshots (cf. Figs.
1-6), (10) detailed geological observations,
and (11) previous attempts. These additional
assumptions are discussed in turn below.
(7) Table II suggests that at 140 Ma BP
half Earth's oceanic floor comprised 140-180
Ma old lithosphere, whilst the rest was older.
Note that these estimates are based on the
adopted production rate of 3.5 km 2 a -1 in-
ferred from the reconstructions in Figs. 1-6.
(8) The ratio of the assumed steady pro-
duction rate of 3.5 km 2 a -a and representa-
tive world-wide mean spreading velocity of 3
139
cm a 1 (see later) implies that a representa-
tive ridge length is 6 • 104 km, at any time (cf.
eq. 1).
(9) Note that as Tethys did not exist be-
fore 180 Ma BP (Fig. 8) the fragmentation of
Pangea would have created an active spread-
ing ridge on the floor of Tethys at about 180
Ma BP.
(10) There is also geological evidence for a
Tethyan spreading ridge that was still active
when Tethys reached her maximum extent at
140 Ma BP. Obducted ocean floor is now
exposed as ophiolites in the Alpine Chain
extending from the western Mediterranean to
the Indian Ocean (cf. Lagabrielle et al., 1986),
and has ages ranging from 185-138 Ma BP
(Liguria), 180-150 Ma BP (Dinarides, Hel-
lenides), 110-84 Ma BP (Arabia) to 178 158
Ma BP (Pontides-Lesser Caucasus) (see
Knipper et al., 1986).
(11) The author is not aware of any previ-
ous attempts to reconstruct the spreading pat-
tern at the subducted floor of Tethys. How-
ever, precedents do exist for the evolution of
parts of the Pacific ocean floor (see Appendix
3). These are invariably based on somewhat
restricted philosophies because they consider
the tectonic evolution of the Pacific as a
problem isolated from the world context. The
world-wide approach advocated here involves
more constraints for a revised reconstruction.
Existing models for evolution of the Pacific
display a wide variety and even where re-
constructions by different workers agree, the
same tectonic plates may bear different names
(see Appendix 3). Nonetheless, the five
spreading ridges indicated on Fig. 9b as sep-
arating the Kula-Izanagi, Pacific, Farallon,
and Phoenix plates have been suggested pre-
viously (cf., Larson and Chase, 1972; Larson
and Pitman, 1972; Hilde et al., 1977; Menard,
1978; Henderson et al., 1984; and Appendix
3).
Jurassic ridges in Tethys and Eo-Pacific
Both the 185-84 Ma old Tethyan ophio-
lites (Knipper et al., 1986) and the opening of
140 16o 180

-0

Fig. 9. a: Base map of the Earth 140 Ma BP showing the palaeogeographic positions of the continents and the
remnants of 140-180 Ma old ocean floor still preserved today. The location of the 140-180 Ma old remnant of the
Pacific plate in the Eo-Pacific has been inferred from palaeogeographic data of Henderson et al. (1984). b: Revised
map of the Earth at the end of the Jurassic 140 Ma BP, when Gondwanaland broke up. Modified from the transverse
H a m m e r - A i t o f f maps of Figs. 5g and 9a on the basis of Table II and arguments discussed in the text. N o t e that a
 141

160 180
/

_0

lap in r e f i t

~verlap in r e f i t

OCEANIC CRU "NTAL CRUST

l ~ Middle
helf
(140-1

Pre-Mi :ontlnent
(2180 [. . . . . .

distinction has been made between oceanic lithosphere 140-180 Ma old and that older than 180 Ma. Two triple
junctions in the Eo-Pacific separate the following plates: Kula-Izanagi plate (bottom of the ellipse), Pacific plate (east
of Australia), Phoenix plate (adjacent to Antarctica), and the Farrallon plate (American west coast). See also
Appendix 3.
142
160 180

-0

Fig. 10. a: Base map of Earth 95 Ma BP showing the palaeogeographic position of the continents and the remnants of
95-180 Ma old ocean floor still preserved today. The location of the 95-180 Ma old remnant of the Pacific plate in the
 143

160 180
\ /

-0

ileP in r e f i t

O C E A N I C CRU
c~verlap in r e f i t
Lower
(95-1, ENTAL CRUST

Middle ~helf
(140-'

Pre-Mi ,ontlnent
(>180

Eo-Pacific has been inferred from the palaeogeographic data of Henderson et al. (1984). b: Revised map of the Earth
at the end of the Lower Cretaceous 95 Ma BP. Modified from Figs. 4g and 10a on the basis of Table II and arguments
discussed in the text.
144

160 180
\ /

-0

Fig. 11. a: Base map of Earth 65 Ma BP showing the palaeogeographic position of the continents and the remnants of
65-180 Ma old ocean floor still preserved today. The location of the 65-180 Ma old remnant of the Pacific plate in
 145

160
\
~0

-0

OCEANIC CRI.
tap in r e f i t
~ Upper
165-9!
)verlap in r e f i t
Lower
195-1 ENTAL CRUST

Middle ;hell
(140-

~ ] re-M ~ontlnent
(>180 .....

the Eo-Pacific has been inferred from Henderson et al. (1984) and Engebretson et al. (1984). b: Revised map of the
Earth at the end of the Cretaceous 65 Ma BP. Modified from Figs. 3g and 11 on the basis of Table II and the
arguments discussed in the text.
146
160 180
\ /

-0

Fig. 12. a: Base map of Earth 20 Ma BP showing the palaeogeographic position of the continents and the remnants of
20-180 Ma old ocean floor still preserved today. The location of the Pacific spreading pattern is obtained by keeping a
rigid connection with the Antarctic ridge and agrees with that suggested by Whitman et al. (1983). b: Revised map of
 147
160 ~Bo

-0

O C E A N I C CRtJ

Pelaeq
(20-6 gap in r e f i t
~ pper
165-9
o v e r l a p In r e f i t
Lower
(95-1 IENTAL CRUST

Middl( shelf
(140-

Pre-M continent
(>180 .o .~,

the Earth at the end of the Palaeogene 20 Ma BP. Modified from Figs. 2g and 12a on the basis of Table II and
arguments discussed in the text. Note that the Ninetyeast Ridge between Australia and India ceased to spread at this
stage so that both India and Australia become part of a single plate (i.e., the Indian plate) as is portrayed on the map
of the modern Earth in Fig. 1.
148

Tethys by rifting of Pangea into Gondwana-
land and Laurasia at 180 Ma BP (Fig. 8)
imply the former existence of a Tethyan
spreading ridge (Fig. 9b). The fact that
Gondwanaland broke up 140 Ma BP which
later caused separation between India and
Australia, suggests that the Tethyan Ridge
had a triple junction with the proto-Nine-
tyeast Ridge extending southward (Fig. 9b).
Although the area occupied by the 140-180
Ma old ocean floor in Tethys is somewhat
arbitrary (Fig. 9b), the majority of such ocean
floor must have occurred somewhere in the
Eo-Pacific, because about one-fourth of its
total area of 140.10 6 km 2 (Table II) could
find space in the Tethys. Again, the problem
is to decide where the remaining 108 km z of
140-180 Ma old ocean floor was exactly, or
even approximately, located. The Tethyan and
proto-Ninetyeast ridges may only account for
2.104 km length at most (30 cm on my
globe) (and possibly contributed less than the
mean production rate), whereas the repre-
sentative worldwide ridge length has been
estimated at 6 • 10 4 km (assumption 8). This
suggests that at least 4- 10 4 km ridge length
(60 cm on my globes) may have occurred in
the Eo-Pacific.
The ridges in the Eo-Pacific of 140 Ma BP
(Fig. 9b) have been reconstructed on the basis
of the estimated 4 . 1 0 4 km ridge length and
their locations take into account previous
suggestions of palaeo-ridges. The meridian
length across the Eo-Pacific of about 2 . 1 0 4
km, suggests that there was space for two
parallel spreading ridges across the entire
width of the Eo-Pacific. However, as many
previous workers have argued (see Appendix
3), the detailed spreading pattern of the rem-
nant of the Pacific plate on Fig. 9a suggests
the occurrence of three triple junctions. Com-
bination of these two constraints suggests the
geometric solution in Fig. 9b as the most
simple. In particular, the ridges suggested by
Hilde et al. (1977) were helpful in the recon-
struction.
The spreading pattern in the Eo-Pacific at
140 Ma BP (Fig. 9b) is constrained by the
fact that about half the Eo-Pacific's ocean
floor must have consisted of 140-180 Ma old
ocean floor with the rest older (see above).
Most of the transform fault pattern, of course,
is entirely hypothetical and only introduced
to give the map of Fig. 9b a realistic ap-
pearance. However, the large transform fault
indicated between Australia and the Banda

T A B L E II
Data used to revise the reconstructions in Figs. 2 - 5 as illustrated in Figs. 9 b - 1 2 b

(a) Area of lithosphere (b) Difference with (c) To be added

produced since 180 Ma BP Table I, section c on model globes
(km 2 a -1) (106 km 2) (%) (106 km 2) (cm 2)

(I) Oceanic lithosphere

0 - 20 Ma BP 3.5 70 11.2 0 0
20- 65 Ma BP 3.5 158 24.9 23 57
6 5 - 95 Ma BP 3.5 105 16.7 20 49
95-140 Ma BP 3.5 158 24.9 39 96
140-180 Ma BP 3.5 140 22.3 129 318
(II) Total 631 100 - -

Legend:
Section (a). Lithosphere production during each particular time interval on the basis of a constant production rate of
3.5 km2 a 1.
Section (b). Surface area of oceanic lithosphere missing on the maps of Figs. 2-5.
Section (¢). Same as in section (b), but converted to scale model dimensions (1 cm 2 = (637) 2 km2).

Arc is necessary to decouple the floors of the
Eo-Pacific and Tethys oceans, in order to
guide and allow the relatively fast subduction
of the Pacific spreading patterns.
Subduction along the margins of Tethys
was initiated by at least 140 Ma BP, because
Tethys has been shrinking ever since (Figs.
1-5). The polarity of the subduction has been
northward, as can be inferred from geological
field observations in the Alps (Frisch, 1979)
and the Hellenic-Cyprean trenches (Lister et
al., 1984). This has now been independently
confirmed by large-scale tomographic
analyses of body waves in the upper mantle
beneath Europe, the Mediterranean and the
Middle-East. These reveal that a northward
dipping zone of cold (oceanic) lithosphere is
still present beneath the entire length of the
Alpine orogenic belt (Spakman, 1986;
Meulenkamp et al., 1988). The Tethyan Ridge
is therefore being subducted northward under
Europe on the map of 95 Ma BP (Fig. 10b).
This age can be inferred from the fact that
the only ophiolites younger than 95 Ma BP
found in the Mediterranean suture of Tethys
are the 110-84 Ma old Arabian ophiolites
which can be attributed to local spreading
(Knipper et al., 1986).
The progressive evolution of the spreading
patterns in both the Tethys and Eo-Pacific
are indicated in Figs. 9b-12b, which are mod-
ified versions of Figs. 2-5. The base maps
used are indicated in Figs. 9a-12a. These
show the relevant spreading patterns still visi-
ble on the Earth today, and the fit of the
continents along these extended passive an-
cient outlines. The palaeogeographic posi-
tions of the ancient fragments of the Pacific
plate have been inferred from Henderson et
al. (1984), and Whitman et al. (1983). Note
that the incompleteness of preserved ocean
floor (Figs. 9a-10a) cast suspicion on in-
ferences, like those made by Larson and Pit-
man (1972), that there was a period of super-
fast spreading, worM-wide, between 110 and
85 Ma BP.
Note also that both the Indian and the
Australian plates are likely to have overrid-
149
den oceanic lithosphere which is older than
180 Ma (Figs. 9b-12b). Hence this construc-
tion predicts the occurrence of ophiolites older
than 180 Ma in the Himalayas and possibly
in the tectonic melange and thrust zones of
Timor and New Guinea (cf. Hamilton, 1979).
The evolution maps (Figs. 8 and 9b-12b) also
predict the occurrence of ophiolites older than
180 Ma in the Andes and Rockies. For exam-
ple, the extensive Nicoya ophiolite complex in
the northwest part of the Andes (Bourgois et
al., 1984) might comprise such old ocean floor.
The constructions also show why ocean floor
older than 180 Ma BP has not been obducted
in the Mediterranean suture of Tethys, be-
cause Tethys had not yet opened by 180 Ma
BP (Fig. 8).
S P R E A D I N G A N D S U B D U C T I O N VELOCITIES
Table III shows how the assumed produc-
tion rate of 3.5 km 2 a-1 (Table II) results in a
revised subduction budget. The areal litho-
spheric production and subduction rates given
in Table I can be regarded as the slowest
possible (Figs. 1-6), whereas Table III gives a
budget which may be more realistic, or per-
haps a fast extreme (Figs. 9-12). The produc-
tion and subduction rates in Tables I and III
can both be used to obtain estimates of
spreading and subduction velocities (see later).
World-wide spreading velocities
Spreading velocities (VL) can be obtained
from the production rate of lithospheric
surface area (A) and the instantaneous length
(L) of the spreading ridge system:
Vc = A / ( 2 L ) (1)
The factor 1/2 is involved since the spreading
is in two opposite directions and the spread-
ing velocity VL is given relative to the ridge.
The mean world-wide ridge lengths for the
Neogene (0-20 Ma BP), Palaeogene (20-65
Ma BP), Upper Cretaceous(65-95 Ma BP)
and Lower Cretaceous (95-140 Ma BP) have
been estimated from the globes in Figs. 1-4,
150

TABLE III
Analysis of plate activity since the breakup of Pangea 180 Ma BP, corresponding to the revised reconstructions of Figs
8-11

(a) Area of (b) Modem area (c) Area (d) Mean

lithosphere according to subducted spreading
produced since Table I, section (a) 180 Ma BP characteristics
180 Ma BP (106 km2) (106 km 2) (%) ridge length rate
according (cm) (10 6 km) (cm a -1)
to Table II,
section (a)
(106 km 2)
(l) Oceanic lithosphere
0 - 20 Ma BP 70 64 6 1 92 58.6 3.0
20- 65 Ma BP 158 110 48 7.6 103 65.6 2.7
65- 95 Ma BP 105 60 45 7.1 90 57.3 3.0
95-140 Ma BP 158 58 100 15.8 108 68.8 2.6
140-180 Ma BP 140 11 129 20.5 85 54.1 3.2
180 Ma BP 0 0 303 48
(lI) Total 631 303 631 100

Legend:
Section (a). Lithosphere production for each particular time interval on the basis of a constant production rate of 3.5
km 2 a -1
Section (b). Area still present on the modern Earth.
Section (c). Subducted lithosphere inferred from the difference between the estimates in sections (a) and (b).
Section (d). Spreading velocities estimated by applying expression 1 in the text, after measuring the ridge length on the
reconstructions of Figs. 8-11.

respectively. Table I (section d) shows these
ridge lengths together with spreading veloci-
ties obtained by applying expression 1. These
spreading velocities are based not only on
minimum estimates of A, but also on con-
servative ridge lengths. This may partly ex-
plain why my world-wide mean for the mod-
ern spreading velocity of 3 cm a -1 differs
from the 2.5 cm a -1 estimated by Parsons
(1981). Note also that the total ridge length of
58.6- 103 km on the modern Earth estimated
here is slightly different from the 59.2.103
km previously suggested by Forsyth and
Uyeda (1975) before a detailed map of the
oceanic spreading pattern became available
(Sclater et al., 1981).
The revised maps (Figs. 8 and 9b-12b) and
production rates (Table II) may be used to
make alternative estimates for the spreading
velocities. Table III (section d) shows the
ridge lengths estimated from the revised re-
constructions (Figs. 8 and 9b-12b) and the
spreading velocities obtained by applying ex-
pression 1. Comparison of the spreading
velocities in Tables I and III (sections d)
reveals that these alternative approaches both
result in spreading velocities which may have
varied only little about 3 cm a-1 during the
past 180 Ma.
It may be worthwhile to emphasize that to
express plate velocities in cm a -1 is strictly
speaking incorrect, although useful because
its real meaning is easier to envisage than the
physically more correct expression using km
Ma-1. I prefer to quote imaginary velocities,
although plate velocities might not be con-
tinuous on the time scale of years (see Ap-
pendix 4).
WorM-wide subduction velocities
Subduction velocities ( ~ ) can be obtained
from the subduction rate of lithospheric area
(A) and the instantaneous length (S) of sub-
 151

duction zones: due to differences in the instantaneous lengths

K =d/s
Comparison with expression 1 shows that no
factor 1 / 2 is involved here. This is so because
V~ is the absolute subduction or collision
velocity. Lithosphere has disappeared from
the surface at these rates and it makes no
difference whether the rates are due to either
fast spreading toward a relatively stationary
trench, or slow spreading toward a trench
which migrated in the opposite direction; the
collision rate would be the same.
Although the world-wide production and
subduction rates of lithospheric area (A) are
always identical on a non-expanding Earth
without significant change in area of con-
tinental crust, spreading and subduction
velocities may be completely different. This is
of spreading ridges ( L ) and subduction zones
(2) ( S ) at any particular time (compare expres-
sions 1 and 2). The total length of subduction
zones (S) on the m o d e r n Earth has been
measured on the globe of Fig. 1 to be 55.2 • 10 3
km. The m o d e r n production rate (Table 1,
section c) is equal to the subduction rate
(A = 3.5 k m 2 a -1) suggesting a mean long-
term world-wide subduction velocity ( ~ ) of
6.3 cm a 1. This is significantly different from
Parson's (1981) estimate of 8.3 cm a - 1 but he
used a production rate A = 3 km 2 a - 1 and the
subduction length S = 36.1 • 10 3 km esti-
mated by Forsyth and U y e d a (1975).
One could also attempt to distinguish mean
subduction velocities for the Tethyan and
Circum-Pacific trenches, respectively. The re-
spective lengths of these subduction zones are

TABLE IV
Subduction budgets implied by the global reconstructions of Figs. 1-6 and Figs. 8-11

(a) Area of lithosphere (b) Mean areal (c) Mean length (d) Mean
subducted per tectonic subduction of subduction velocity
domain over past 180 Ma rate zones (cm a - l )
model Earth (%) (km 2 a l) model Earth
(cm2) (106 km 2) (cm) (103 km)
Figs. 1-6
(I) Tethys closure 134 54.4 13 0.3 27 17 1.8
(II) Circum-Pacific
Trenches 896 363.6 87 2.0 60 38.2 5.2
(II1) Total 1030 418 100 2.3 87 55.2 4.2
Figs. 8-12
(I) Tethys closure 233 94.6 15 0.5 27 17 2.9
(II) Circum-Pacific
Trenches 1322 536.4 85 3.0 60 38.2 7.9
(III) Total 1555 631 100 3.5 87 55.2 6.3

Legend:
Section (a). (I) The total area of oceanic lithosphere subducted in the Tethys Ocean, measured on the globes of Figs. 5
and 6 (upper half of the table) and Figs. 8-11 (lower half of the table) during the past 180 Ma. (II) The oceanic
lithosphere which disappeared along the Circum-Pacific Trenches can be estimated by subtracting the total amount of
oceanic lithosphere subducted in the Tethys closure from the total area of oceanic lithosphere subducted since 180 Ma
BP (given in Table I, section (b) or Table 3, section (c)).
Section (b). Mean subduction rates during the past 180 Ma, obtained by dividing the areal estimates in section (a) by
180 Ma.
Section (c). Length of subduction zones remained approximately constant during the past 140 Ma and were measured
on the global models of Figs. 1-6 (upper half of the table) and Figs. 8-11 (lower half of the table).
Section (d). The subduction rate of the oceanic surface area can be converted to absolute subduction velocities by
applying expression 2 in the text.
152
given in Table IV (section c). Alternative sub-
duction scenarios can be considered. The sub-
duction in Figs. 1-6 suggests that only 13% of
the subducted ocean floor disappeared in the
Tethys Ocean, whereas 87% was subducted in
the Circum-Pacific Trenches (Table IV, lower
part of section a). Figs. 8-11 suggest respec-
tive percentages of 15% and 85% (Table IV,
lower part of section a). The inferred subduc-
tion rate of lithospheric area (Table IV, sec-
tion b) has been used to estimate the respec-
tive subduction velocities (Table IV, section
d). The estimates of world-wide mean sub-
duction velocities since the breakup of Pan-
gea 180 Ma BP vary between 4.2 and 6.3 cm
a 1. The subduction velocities in Tethys may
have been 1.8-2.9 cm a -1 and that in the
Circum-Pacific Trenches 5.2-7.9 cm a 1.
CONCLUSIONS
The oceanic spreading pattern on the mod-
ern Earth (Fig. 1) was used to reconstruct the
dispersal of continents and tectonic plates
since the breakup of Pangea 180 million years
ago. The completeness of the spreading pat-
tern which lies between passive continental
margins makes the refit of such margins far
easier than refitting those interfering with
subduction trenches. Large parts of the an-
cient outlines of tectonic plates in the Eo-
Pacific and Tethys oceans, are subducted with
the plates and lost to direct study. Several
assumptions are necessary to allow logical
reconstructions. It was therefore tentatively
assumed that spreading patterns have always
been generated symmetrically about spread-
ing ridges and that no ridges other than linear
extensions of those still present today have
disappeared since the breakup of Pangea 180
Ma BP. For the sake of simplicity and in view
of the scale of this study the complex micro-
plate structure of the Mediterranean Collision
Zone (cf. Weijermars, 1987b, 1988a) was ne-
glected.
The maps of Figs. 1-6 visualize a careful
reconstruction of past plate positions and
spreading patterns, and the assumptions al-
lowed very little speculation. The snug fit
between past plate boundaries on model
globes of constant radii is in contradiction to
the recent suggestion that this would only be
possible on an expanding Earth (Owen, 1983;
see for further discussion Appendix 1 and
Weijermars, 1986).
Calculations of the budget of lithospheric
spreading and subduction from these recon-
structions have been specified in Table I and
the upper part of Table IV. The average pro-
duction and subduction rates are estimated to
have been 2.3 km 2 a 1. World-wide spreading
velocities have varied between 2.4 and 3.5 cm
a-1 since the breakup of Pangea at 180 Ma
BP. The world-wide subduction velocity is
found to have been 6.3 cm a -1 during the
past 20 Ma, whereas a mean velocity of 4.2
cm a I may be calculated for the past 180
Ma. Subduction velocities for the Tethyan
Trenches (1.8 cm a 1) appear to have been
much lower than those for the Circum-Pacific
Trenches (5.2 cm a - l ) .
Lithospheric budget calculations based on
the reconstruction of Figs. 1-6 provided a
sound basis for suggesting revisions of the
spreading pattern history. Fig. 7 shows how
the production (and therefore the subduction)
rates of oceanic lithosphere consistently in-
creased during at least the past 140 Ma if the
Figs. 1-6 are entirely correct. It was then
suggested that it may be more realistic, given
the poor constraints of the past spreading
patterns in the Tethys end Eo-Pacific oceans,
to assume a constant production rate of 3.5
km 2 a - l , and see if their past spreading pat-
terns could be adjusted to comply with this.
The assumption of a constant production
rate also allowed a distinction between ocean
floor of 140-180 Ma and older, on the revised
maps of Figs. 8 and 9b-12b. These maps
further differ from those in Figs. 2-6 in that
new constraints were used to restore the
former spreading patterns of the floors of the
Tethys and the Eo-Pacific oceans. These con-
straints are: (1) a particular surface area of
lost oceanic lithosphere implied by the adop-
tion of a constant production rate (Table II);

(2) a representative ridge length of 6 - 1 0 4
km; (3) the opening of Tethys when Pangea
broke up at 180 Ma BP (Fig. 8); (4) the
obduction of 185-84 Ma old Tethyan Ocean
floor (Knipper et al., 1986) most, if not all of
which has since been subducted northward
under Eurasia (Spakman, 1986); and (5) pre-
vious estimates of ancient ridge locations in
the Eo-Pacific (Appendix 3). The direct geo-
logical implications of Figs. 8 and 9b-12b are
the possible occurrences of ophiolites older
than 180 Ma in the Cenozoic collision zones
of the Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, and the
western part of the Banda Arc (Timor, New
Guinea).
The budget of production and subduction
of lithosphere calculated from the revised
maps of Figs. 8-12 are given in Table III and
the lower part of Table IV, respectively. The
mean world-wide production and subduction
rates were fixed at 3.5 km 2 a -a, using data in
Table I. World-wide spreading velocities
would then have varied between 2.6 and 3.2
cm a -1, whilst the mean subduction velocity
would have been 6.3 cm a -1 over the past 180
Ma. The mean long-term subduction veloci-
ties for the Tethyan and Circum-Pacific
trenches being 2.9 and 7.9 cm a -a, respec-
tively.
The most complete spreading patterns ob-
tained here are presented in the H a m m e r -
Aitoff maps of Figs. 1, 8 and 9b-12b. It
should be emphasized that all the maps in
this study aim to be palaeogeographically
scaled and not only reconstructions of rela-
tive plate positions. The geographic grid has
been kept fixed relative to Antarctica for
reasons discussed in detail. The maps thus
obtained provide useful bases to plot
palaeoclimatic data, and eventually, if neces-
sary, readjust the position of the (palaeo-)
geographic poles. Until now, there are no
conclusive data concerning these positions.
Nonetheless, I invite palaeoclimatic experts to
find out if Antarctica has moved significantly
relative to the geographic pole over the past
180 Ma. My chain of arguments (see section
on palaeogeographic grid) shows how this
153
would imply a shift of Antarctica over the
underlying mantle.
The construction of the original globes used
in this study has been outlined elsewhere
(Weijermars, 1986). Alternatively, the spread-
ing data discussed here can be transferred to
flat sheet projections of polyhedral approxi-
mations to a sphere according to a method
outlined by Dutch (1985). Such sheets can be
folded and quickly assembled to form a pseu-
d o g l o b e for assessing the global spreading
pattern in three dimensions. These could be
made commercially available at costs much
lower than that of true globes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The preparation of this article would not
have been possible without the support of
Mrs. Christina WernstriSm, the extremely
skillful draftswoman at the Geological In-
stitute of Uppsala University. She started
drafting in 1983 and transformed the colour
maps of the author into neatly annotated
drawings. She drew all the ornaments by hand
in order to achieve optimum visual contrast
between the various types of lithosphere dis-
tinguished.
Warm thanks are also due to professor
Hans Annersten, who gave his generous and
unreserved support when the project started
to yield potentially useful results. Mr. Sandy
Cruden of Uppsala University and Earth Sci-
ence Reviews editors professor K. Kobayashi,
K. Tamaki and a third anonymous referee are
thanked for very useful comments on the
manuscript. Finally, but certainly not least I
greatfully acknowledge inspiring discussions
with professor C.J. Talbot, Uppsala. I thank
him for being so liberal in allowing me this
and other episodic deviations from me Ph.D
study on thermal convection (1983-1987). The
author was funded by the Swedish Natural
Science Research Council (NFR) under grant
no G-DT 1858-101.
154
APPENDIX 1--COMPARISON OF THE PRESENT
MAPS WITH THOSE OF OWEN (1983) BASED ON
A FAST EARTH EXPANSION HYPOTHESIS
Owen (1983) claims that a close fit between past
plate boundaries is only possible if the Earth's radius
was 80% of its modern value at about 200 Ma BP. He
presents maps which suggest a linear increase of Earth's
radius with time such that this radius on plate tectonic
maps for 140 Ma BP is about 85% of the modern value.
Reconstructions of Pangea (200 Ma BP, or better 180
Ma BP) and Gondwanaland (140 Ma BP) on an Earth
of constant radius should therefore reveal gaps which
occupy 37 and 28% of the Earth's surface, respectively,
if Owen's (1983) expansion hypothesis is correct.
My globes and the derived maps (Figs. 2-6) demon-
strate that, in contradiction to Owen (1983), there is a
remarkable close fit between all the plate boundaries of
the particular ages considered here. In my simple recon-
struction, gaps of 0.4. 2, 2, 1.5 and 2.6% of the total
surface area of the Earth occurred in the reconstruc-
tions of 20, 65, 95, 140 and 180 Ma BP, respectively.
These gaps (indicated in black) occur between North
and South America (Figs. 2a-6a) and along the
Antarctic Ridge (Figs. 4c-4e), the Indian Ridge (Fig.
3d), the North Atlantic Ridge (Fig. 3a), and the
Azores-Gibraltar Fault (Figs. 2a-4a). Significant over-
laps occurred only in the reconstructions of 65, 95, 140
and 180 Ma BP and amounted to 0.5, 0.9, 0.8 and 0.6%
of the total surface, respectively. Overlaps (indicated by
cross-hatching) occur near Greenland (Figs. 3a-6a and
3b-6b) and in the fit of Gondwanaland (Fig. 5, c and
e).
Similar but minor gaps which approximately corre-
spond to those I found on my globes (Figs. 2-6) appear
on Owen's (1983) maps 6, 9 and 12 (Arctic region), 29
and 32 (South Atlantic), 36, 39 and 42 (Indian Ocean)
and 46, 49 and 52 (Pacific Ocean). For example, the
gaps in the Arctic region appearing in Figs. 4g and 5g
here and those in the North Atlantic near Labrador, the
Azores and Panama (Figs. 2g and 3g) correspond in size
and location to the gaps on Owen's (1983) maps 16 and
19. The misfit between Africa and South America in
Owen's (1983) map 32 contradicts the famous recon-
struction of Bullard et al. (1965), but in either case is so
small that it is hardly significant.
However, the large gaps in the Indian Ocean near
the Ninetyeast Ridge (Owen, 1983, map 36) do not
appear if instead a relatively small gap is allowed to
remain between the Australian and Antarctic continen-
tal margins (see Fig. 3g). The misfit in Owen's (1983)
maps 46, 49 and 52 of the Pacific Ocean on an Earth of
constant radius is negligible. The back-arc basins along
the West-Pacific Continental Margin are indicated as
gaps on all three of these particular maps of Owen
(1983). This could be avoided if the back-arc basins are
closed and compensated for by increasing the area of
the older oceanic lithosphere on the eastern side of the
island arcs, just as Owen (1983) did in his maps 48, 50,
51, and 53 of the expanding Earth. The gaps on Owen's
maps 46, 49 and 52 near Panama and in the Bering Sea
occur on my reconstructions as well (Figs. 3g-6g).
The gap which occupies a very large area in Owen's
(1983) maps (i.e., maps 19, 22, 29, 32, 36, 39, 42, 46, 49
and 52) is the Tethys Ocean. For some unstated reason
Owen (1983) does not appear to accept that the bottom
of the Tethys Ocean was no gap but consisted of
oceanic lithosphere. The opening by spreading and sub-
sequent closure of Tethys has been reconstructed here
on transverse Hammer-Aitoff maps (Figs. 1, 8 and
9b-12b). These suggest that any Earth expansion is
unlikely during the past 180 Ma (cf. Weijermars, 1986).
APPENDIX 2--PREFERRED FIT OF GOND-
WANALAND
Gondwanaland comprised Antarctica, Africa, South
America, India, Australia and Madagascar (cf. Suess,
1885). Although there are a number of criteria which
could be used to constrain the detailed fit of the conti-
nents in Gondwanaland, existing models show a great
variety. This fact has been recently emphasized in re-
views of the various Gondwanalands previously pro-
posed (Barron et al., 1978; Powell et al., 1980; Martin
and Hartnady, 1986). Fig. 13a and b show the two
major fits considered before: the west fit (Fig. 13a: Du
Toit, 1937; Smith and Hallam, 1970; Norton and Sclater,
1979) and the east fit (Fig. 13b; Tarling, 1972; Powell et
al., 1980; Barron and Harrison, 1980).
Fig. 13, d and e outline the successive positions of
the southern continents for 0, 20, 65, 95 and 140 Ma BP
Fig. 13. Fits of the southern continents in Gondwana-
land. a: West fit (e.g., Du Toit, 1937; Smith and Hal-
lam, 1970; Norton and Sclater, 1979). b: East fit (e.g.,
Tarling, 1972; Barron and Harrison, 1980). c: New fit
of the southern continents 140 Ma BP proposed here on
the basis of the likelihood of smooth plate travel paths
since the breakup of Gondwanaland. The grid used in a
and b is the central part of a transverse Hammer-Aitoff
projection (i.e., the Southern Hemisphere), which en-
ables direct comparison with the other maps in this
study. Gaps in the refit are black and overlaps are
cross-hatched, d-f: Transverse Hammer-Aitoff equal
area projections showing the displacement of the con-
tinental outlines relative to Antarctica which is here
considered to have been stationary since the breakup of
Gondwanaland 140 Ma BP. Centre of the originally
elliptical maps is at 0 o longitude and 70 o southern
latitude, but the lower part of the ellipses has been cut
away along the equator to preserve space.
 155

a. WEST FIT GONDWANALAND b. EAST FIT GONDWANALAND

-20 0 +20

- ~0 60

< , ",o ~°,- ' ~ ~ 1 1 / /

130 20 ', / - ' " \

, ,/' \ /

i,o -..\ ] ~ ~qL/

" I--~_ J--~5,oo
%0 ~80 180

d -160 180 -160 180

• -140 .+160 e. _14.0 .+160
+14.0 ~ " - , - +14.0

-120 - -120 "< ', r

"+80 ">+80 -" '
- -120 " "+120
-100 ) rJ
-100 ,+60, ~ +100 '-'80 * ~+60/ ', + - < +100

-8-060 -40 -20 0 +20 +4.0 +60+80 ,. -60-4.0 -20 0 +20 +40 +60+80

I _ _.:.,

, / . / / - i\\ -i\"

'" " ~ I: i I~' ~.;.: '.

I] ~,11
. . . . . .i l. L. .:.-.- - - - - - ~ - " P
:::; ;' ; ~',:,'-..i
i i ~----~ = \\ .... ,;,';:-~----------..-" ;','<:'~"~" -- \

~'~-'' " ~2o'~ " -~o -6o ./>~:.,~ -/~tl~.q~' ,"

40 .... ",< '~t
, ~,!V/ ' o,~ ........ , " ;~-- , .. T ', ~ 4 ?
- . ~ - 7 . ~ ....... . . -~ , , . . . ~ o i ~

I ';~ ,+,4.o < .14.o

-- ~ ' ~ 6 5 Ma BP ?- L

/~ ii-444+4

J - ~ ~ 1 4 0 Ma BP ~ -- "
180 ~ 180
156

in transverse Hammer-Aitoff projection. The travel

paths during the past 95 Ma appear to be very smooth,
but sharp bends would have occurred in all continental
travel paths (Fig. 13, d and e) if anyone of the two
major fits of the continents in Gondwanaland (Fig. 13,
a and b) is correct. This would imply a dramatic change
in the general displacement direction of most southem
continents in the Lower Cretaceous. More specifically, a
sudden reorganisation of the convection pattern be-
neath the southern continents would have occurred
between 95 and 140 Ma BP, if one accepts that plate
tectonics is largely due to convection in the Earth's
mantle (see references in Weijermars, 1987a, 1988b, c)
However, dynamically scaled experiments on the sta-
bility of convection rolls suggest that convection fields
under mantle conditions cannot significantly reorganize
on time scales shorter than say 50 Ma (Richter and
Parsons, 1975) and can only occur if boundary condi-
tions would have changed. Any significant collision
with the northern continents before 95 Ma BP cannot
have occurred either because the peak of the Alpine
orogeny took place about 65 Ma BP (Windley, 1984).
~j
Thus, indications for a significant change in the
boundary conditions of plate boundary movement are
-160 180 + not available, so that it is difficult to explain why the
-1/,,0 , 7 i:~:~!60.1~0
f. southern plates and their continental loads would sud-
denly have changed their travel paths with a sharp bend
between 95 and 140 Ma BP.
No such explanation would be necessary if a snug fit
of the continental outlines in Gondwanaland would be
possible without implying sharp bends in their travel
paths. I therefore used the likelihood of smooth travel
paths for continents (and the plates that carry them) in
the refit procedure, a criterion which has not been
considered before. I thus reconstructed Gondwanaland
on my globes by extrapolating the continental travel
paths in Fig. 13f, assuming a smooth continuation be-
tween 95 and 140 Ma BP and still aiming for a snug fit
between the continental outlines. This appeared to be
well possible and the new configuration proposed for
the continents in Gondwanaland is shown in Fig. 13c.
This new fit has been adopted in the maps of 140 and
180 Ma BP used in Figs. 5, 6, 8 and 9. More detailed
arguments for this new fit of the continents in
Gondwanaland and an extensive comparison with pre-
vious fits have been discussed in detail elsewhere
(Weijermars, in prep.).

$1TIONS APPENDIX 3 - - P R E V I O U S RECONSTRUCTIONS

£NTS
lent
OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN FLOOR
MI lip
r////~
Reconstruction of the evolution of the Pacific
65 MI lip
spreading pattern is difficult. This is apparent from the
180
95 MI lip
differences between previous studies. All agree that the
M 140 Me liP Pacific plate must have existed since at least shortly
Fig. 13 (continued) after Pangea broke up at 180 Ma BP. The Pacific plate

was much smaller than today and at 180 Ma BP oc-
cupied an area approximately outlined by the present
remnant of 180-140 Ma old ocean floor in the West
Pacific east of the Mariana Trench (Fig. 1). Hayes and
Pitman (1970) first suggested the existence of a triple
ridge junction in the Mesozoic northwest Pacific, sep-
arating the Pacific plate in the west from the Kula plate
in the north and the Farallon plate in the east as was
adopted here (Fig. 9b).
The Izanagi plate has been suggested as a 120-180
Ma BP precursor of the Kula plate (Woods and Davies,
1982); Rea and Dixon (1983) renamed the same plate
the Bering plate. The Kula plate itself would have
formed by the propagation of a rift through the north-
ern part of the Farallon plate, but not until the Bering
plate was completely subducted (Rea and Dixon, 1983).
A detailed reconstruction of the absolute palaeogeo-
graphic locations of the Pacific-Farallon-Kula (Izanagi)
triple junction has recently been published (Henderson
et al., 1984; Engebretson et al., 1984, 1985).
A second triple junction in the South Pacific (cf. Fig.
9b) could have existed between 180 and 65 Ma BP and
separated the southwestern Phoenix plate from the
northern Farallon and Western Pacific plates (Larson
and Chase, 1972; Larson and Pitman, 1972). Yet another
triple junction, even further south along the Pacific
Ridge (Fig. 9b), may have separated the Pacific and
Phoenix plates from the Indian-Australian-Antarctic
plate (Hilde et al., 1977). On the basis of palaeomagnetic
evidence given earlier (Larson and Chase, 1972), the
latter authors also show the primitive Pacific plate in its
135 Ma BP position 4500 km to the south of where the
180-140 Ma old portion now lies (Fig. 9b).
The younger evolution of the east Pacific seems very
complex. The Farallon plate may have broken up, at
about 55 Ma BP, into a northern Vancouver plate and a
southern part which was still termed the Farallon plate
(Menard, 1978). A breakup of the FaraUon plate would
already have occurred at 100 Ma BP according to Rea
and Dixon (1983; cf. Rea and Duncan, 1986), who
termed the equivalent of the Vancouver plate simply the
North Farallon plate and the southern fragment the
South Farallon plate. They apparently missed Menard's
(1978) paper. Similarly, Whitman et al. (1983) simply
termed the northern and southern Farallon plates F 2
and F 1, respectively, but these would not have been
formed until about 50 Ma BP which agrees with
Menard's (1978) scenario.
The Vancouver (or North Farallon or F2) plate may
have changed name, but is really the Juan de Fuca plate
from the moment its continuation with the (South)
FaraUon (or F1) plate via the East Pacific Ridge was
subducted at about 25-30 Ma BP (Riddihough, 1984;
cf. Barrash and Venkatakrishnan, 1982). Menard's
(1978) scenario for the subsequent evolution of the
(South) Farallon (or F1) plate suggests the formation of
157
the Galapagos spreading centre at about 33 Ma BP, but
in a complex fashion. The northern part was therefore
termed the Guadelupe plate until about 17-12 Ma BP,
when the northern part of the Guadelupe plate gradu-
ally disappeared under California and a new triple
junction formed near the Baja California Peninsula (cf.
Hagstrum et al., 1985). The surviving southern part of
the Guadelupe plate is the present day Cocos plate
(Menard, 1978). The southern part of the (South) Faral-
Ion (or F1) plate is termed the Nazca plate since the
formation of the Guadelupe plate by propagation of the
Galapagos Rift about 30 Ma BP (Menard, 1978).
APPENDIX 4 - - E X P R E S S I O N OF PLATE VELOCI-
TIES
The world-wide mean spreading velocity should be
formally expressed as 30 km Ma-~ rather than 3 cm
a -1, because the motion may be either periodic or
episodic rather than continuous on time scales of years
(which is much shorter than the Maxwell relaxation
time for viscoelastic plates). Geodetic measurements
across the propagating Red Sea Rift and observations
along the Atlantic Ridge near Krafla on Iceland, dem-
onstrate that the walls of these rifts may suddenly be
separated by several metres in connection with fresh
dyke intrusions parallel to the rift axes (Goguel, 1983).
The latter author also suggested that such intermittent
spreading " m a y be explained by elastic strain on the
sides of the crack".
More specifically, intermittent spreading of ridges
could be understood by an adaption of the stick-slip
model used for explaining periodic motions along major
transcurrent faults. The classical stick-slip model as-
sumes that elastic simple shear displacement in the
walls of transcurrent faults is periodically interrupted
by the release of stored elastic energy as sudden slip
motion along the fault plane which causes earthquakes
(cf. Turcotte and Schubert, 1982). A variant suggested
here is that plate-driving forces cause elastic dilation of
an active, but temporarily seismically quiet, shallow
zone in the ridge until stresses are high enough to cause
brittle failure along the ridge axis, producing earth-
quakes and allowing intrusion of fresh dykes from the
pockets of partial melt deep under the ridge axis. The
solidification of the dykes may be an efficient crack-
sealing mechanism and correspond to the stick-stage of
the strike-slip equivalent of this model. Note that this
mechanism is quite different from the steady state ridge
propagation model suggested by Morgan and Parmen-
tier (1985).
It may be worthwhile to emphasize that the lack of
inertia has nothing to do with discontinuities in plate
motions as suggested by Goguel (1983). Inertia is in-
deed negligible in mantle convection and any other
solid state creep of rocks because it is damped by their
158
extremely high viscosity (Weijermars and Schmeling,
1986; Weijermars, 1987a, 1988b, c). In other words,
although the kinetic energy of solid rock deformation
may involve inertia during fracture and earthquake
occurrences, it is always negligibly small in plate mo-
tions by ductile flow. This was earlier recognised by
Goguel (1983) who therefore noted that the term plate
collision is somewhat misleading. In reality, plate diver-
gence or convergence would instantaneously stop
without causing any further internal plate deformation
(neglecting elastic effects) if the driving force of plate
motions were to cease spontaneously. However, to im-
ply that lack of inertia could therefore explain intermit-
tent plate motions is incorrect because the driving forces
of such motions themselves cannot change instanta-
neously. Dynamically scaled convection experiments
show that convection patterns driving tectonic plates
cannot reorganize instantaneously, but may change their
geometry gradually over time scales of at least 50 Ma
and only when boundary conditions are changed
(Richter and Parsons, 1975).
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