Polar Wander and Global Tectonics

SGI 011 

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Boll. Soc. Geol. It., Volume Speciale n. 5 (2005), 00-00, 8 ff. 

Polar Wander and Global Tectonics 

K.M. STORETVEDT (*) 

ABSTRACT 

Evidence suggests that irregularly-distributed degassing of the 

Earth has produced lateral physico-chemical variations in the mantle 

which in turn have instigated changes in the planet’s moments of 

inertia. Intermittent events of spatial reorientation of the globe 

(polar wander) and a mixture of continual and episodic changes of 

planetary spin rate have ensued. Thus, the developing lithosphere 

has time and again been subjected to stepwise latitude-dependant 

torsion (wrenching) producing fold belts along time-equivalent equators, 

with a second set of tectonomagmatic rift belts evolving in 

palaeomeridional settings. Due to Earth’s rotational slowing through 

time, the rift belts – oriented orthogonal to, and breaking away from, 

their corresponding palaeoequators – were of much greater significance 

in the Precambrian than during the Phanerozoic. However, in 

the course of time the global tectonic pattern has changed in concurrence 

with events of polar wander – the equatorial bulge and associated 

fold belt have now and then shifted their position across the 

globe. The relatively fast-spinning Archaean Earth had approximately 

its present spatial setting, but at around the Archaean-Proterozoic 

boundary a major event of polar wander took place, heralding 

a significant change in Earth history. Inertia-driven continental 

rotations, producing the presently-observed discrepancies in palaeomagnetic 

polar wander paths, basically dates from the time of the 

Alpine climax. 

KEY 

WORDS: Planetary degassing, Moments of inertia, 

Polar Wander, Earth’s rotation rate, Gross pattern of 

tectonic belts. 

INTRODUCTION 

It appears that it was the Austrian geologist A. 

Damian Kreichgauer who first suggested a dynamic link 

between global tectonics and the Earth’s rotation (KRE- 

ICHGAUER, 1902). Kreichgauer discovered the pole-fleeing 

force, i.e. the combined effect of the dynamics of Earth 

rotation and the principle of isostasy, later named the 

Eøtvøs force (EØTVØS, 1913). This equatorward force of 

crustal motion, directed away from the poles (Polflucht), 

would have produced fold belts in general alignment with 

time-equivalent equators, while a second set of tectonomagmatic 

belts would have evolved in meridional settings 

– owing to the westward directed tidal drag from the Sun 

and Moon. Based on a straithforward interpretation of 

ancient climates derived from rocks and fossils, polar 

wander seemed a necessity. For dynamical reasons, the 

rotational axis had to be aligned along, or to remain in 

the vicinity of, the principal axis of inertia: it became, 

therefore, an inevitable conclusion that internal axial 

shifts had intermittently occurred during the Earth’s history. 

In other words, the apparent displacement of the 

pole over the surface was a result of the Earth’s body 

(*) Institute of Geophysics, University of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, 

Norway – Fax: +47 55 58 98 83; email: karsten@gfi.uib.no 

intermittently turning over relative to space. In the mid 

1950s the principle of polar wander was confirmed by 

palaeomagnetism (CREER et alii, 1954; RUNCORN, 1955). 

In the Kreichgauer dynamic system, the required 

changes in the Earth’s axes of inertia were brought about 

by the equatorward and westward displacements of the 

entire crust, without significant lateral continental 

motions. Changes of the relative position of the palaeoequator 

would then have given rise to tectonic belts in 

variable orientations across the globe. Thus, by combining 

palaeoclimatic observations with the observed global 

tectonic system, for different geological epochs, Kreichgauer 

was able to draw polar paths that show remarkable 

similarities to modern polar wandering curves based on 

palaeomagnetic data (STORETVEDT, 1997, 2003). In Kreichgauer’s 

scheme, the meridional ‘mountain belts’ were 

rifted zones (Strichen) trending at approximately right 

angles to their corresponding downfaulted and compressed 

equatorial seating – the classical geosynclines – 

constituting an elongated crustal depression (Äquatormülde) 

around the globe. Fig. 1 shows the palaeoequators 

for the late Proterozoic (a) and late Archaean (b) respectively, 

drawn by KREICHGAUER (1902). 

Reflecting on the battle surrounding the interpretation 

of palaeomagnetic data in the late 1950s, it is difficult 

to understand that the prominent English pysicists, 

at the principal scenes of fact gathering and global geomagnetic 

discussion, did not consider seriously (if at all) 

the role of inertia effects as the adequate driving force for 

continental mobility – to account for intercontinental 

palaeomagnetic discrepancies. After all, Kreichgauer’s 

global model – explaining prominent aspects such as the 

repositioning of the global climate system through time, 

the phenomenon of polar wander, and the shifting tectonic 

configuration since the Precambrian – had in fact a 

much greater explanatory power than Wegener’s continental 

drift or any other global tectonic model, past and 

present. Regarding palaeoclimatology and polar wander 

Wegener built extensively on Kreichgauer’s work, but 

being a meteorologist he was basically ignorant about 

geology and tectonics, and therefore he overlooked Kreichgauer’s 

tectonic scheme. It is important to note that 

Kreichgauer’s continental arrangement is still valid to a 

good first order approximation, as the needed changes of 

continental azimuths, to account for intercontinental 

palaeomagnetic discrepancies, are only minor (STO- 

RETVEDT, 1990, 1997, 2003). In any case, it certainly 

required no deep perception on Wegener’s part to see that 

Kreichgauer’s model was at variance with his own pet 

idea: lateral continental motions. Thus, preconception 

was certainly an important part of the reason why 

Wegener rejected much of Kreichgauer’s work, accusing 

him of having a muddled understanding of Earth history.

2 K.M. STORETVEDT 

Fig. 1 - Tentative orientation of the palaeoequator for two different 

different Precambrian epochs, based on a combination of ancient 

climates (from rock evidence) and the location of time-equivalent 

tectonomagmatic belts: (a) late Proterozoic and (b) late Archaean. 

Simplified after KREICHGAUER (1902). 

But drifting continents clearly provided a more ‘dramatic’ 

and entertaining story than the fairly ‘static’ crustal model 

of Kreichgauer, and probably for that reason alone, 

Wegener’s book was translated into several languages, 

including English, while Kreichgauer’s work does not 

seem to have reached beyond the German speaking 

world. One may wonder what would have been the outcome 

had Kreichgauer’s treatise, rather than Wegener’s, 

been translated into English and then been available to 

the British palaeomagnetists in the mid-1950s. After all, 

the latitude-dependant inertia forces invoked by Kreichgauer, 

would be liable to produce in situ rotations of the 

continental lithospheric blocks in recent geological time 

[basically of late Cretaceous to early Tertiary age] – providing 

the cause of the observed discrepancies between 

the established polar wander paths. However, the principal 

palaeomagnetic workers of the 1950’s and 60’s were 

so blinded by Wegenerian-type lateral motion, that they 

failed to recognize the alternative inertia-driven mobilistic 

system. 

The present author has always sheared the view that 

the overall pattern of global palaeomagnetic data underpins 

the concepts of polar wandering and relative continental 

motions. But owing to the many apparently unsolvable 

complications associated with Wegenerian-type 

continental fittings and the never-ending flow of ad hoc 

provisions in plate tectonic depictions, I was already in the 

early 1970s in search for an alternative dynamo-tectonic 

framework. By 1989 my long-time speculations regarding 

the dynamo-tectonic ‘system of the Earth’ eventually paid 

off – a radical recasting of the association of many wellknown 

phenomena and observations, dismissing all plate 

tectonic principles, was about to take shape (STORETVEDT, 

1990, 1992). It was the compelling need to find an alternative 

way of making sense of global palaeomagnetic data 

that ultimately led to a new theory of the Earth – Global 

Wrench Tectonics (STORETVEDT, 1997, 2003). All of a sudden, 

changes of planetary rotation had become a key facor 

for understanding tectonics as well as a range of other 

facets about the Earth. WEGENER (1929/1966) had 

referred to Kreichgauer’s book, a volume that was not 

available at my university, or could be traced elsewhere in 

Scandinavia. During a study visit to the Geological Institute 

in Innsbruck in May 2000 I had for the first time the 

opportunity to read Kreichgauer’s book. To my surprise, I 

found that the link between Earth’s rotation and global 

tectonics, a central element in my Global Wrench 

Tectonics, had already been outlined by him a century ago. 

Kreichgauer compared the orientation of tectonomagmatic 

belts with time-equivalent equators based on rock 

evidence of palaeoclimate. My own starting point had 

been a combination of palaeomagnetically-estimated continental 

palaeolatitudes and kinematics, polar wandering 

based on combined fossil climate evidence and palaeomagnetism, 

and the global pattern of tectonomagmatic 

belts. To account for the shifting axis of inertia, with associated 

polar wander, Kreichgauer adhered to tide-driven 

transposition of some outer crystalline layer, assuming 

that the Earth’s interior had reached thermo-chemical 

equilibrium at an early stage – an assumption that, as 

against present evidence, can no longer be supported. 

The interior of the Earth must provide the energy 

source for its dynamics and surface physiographic and 

geological change. In view of the apparent heterogeneous 

deep interior inferred from modern mantle tomography – 

including deep mantle roots beneath the continents, the 

presence of diamonds in chaotic mantle rock assemblages 

explosively emplaced into surface levels, the continuous 

flow of unoxidized hydrocarbons through the crystalline 

crust, and the increase in rock porosity with depth in the 

crust provide strong evidence for a relatively cold interior 

undergoing degassing. In other words, evidence suggests 

that the planet’s internal constitution is far from being in 

chemical equilibrium, and that the body of the Earth has, 

since its very beginning, been striving to attain such a 

state. Based on this starting point we have a new basis for 

understanding changes in the planet’s moment of inertia, 

with aligned polar wandering, and above all we have 

thereby established an effective driving mechanism to 

instigate geological processes. 

THE INTERNAL MACHINERY 

With regard to the formation of the solar system, the 

old idea of the planets having developed from relatively 

homogeneous co-rotating nebular disk eddies – the planetesimal 

theory – still prevails, even though the many failures 

and the various ad hoc exceptional provisions surrounding 

this scenario (CAMERON, 1962, 1978, 1985; 

LEVY, 1987; BOSS, 1990) strongly indicate that an adequate 

understanding of the planetary system’s evolution 

has yet to be drafted. An adequate sequence of events may 

run as follows (STORETVEDT, 2003): 

a) The planets formed from condensation of individual 

rotating spherical masses of cold concentrated gas

POLAR WANDER AND GLOBAL TECTONICS 3 

and mineral dust in variable proportions, expelled from 

the contracting and rotating protosun. Owing to the turbulent 

expulsion forces, the various proto-planetary 

objects attained differing angular momenta. Thus. 

b) The Earth aggregated from a rotating ‘ball’ of cold 

nebula material enriched in mineral constituents – being 

transformed into a proto-planet through progressive conglomeration 

of essentially micrometer- to smaller-sized 

condensates. The transfer of groups of particles within 

the relatively dense mineral cloud was affected by 

dynamic, gravitational and magnetic forces. 

c) A significant proportion of heavier elements in the 

cold proto-planetary cloud, including radioactive elements 

like Thorium and Uranium, was forced dynamically 

towards the outer geosphere were gradual decay of 

unstable isotopes gave rise to heating. On the other hand, 

magnetic attraction between ferromagnetic particles and 

clusters led to their coalescence into large and irregular 

bodies upon which gravitational forces outweighed 

dynamic ones. Thus, aggregations of magnetized iron 

particles expectedly led to the gravitational accretion of 

the heavier inner body – gradually building up a central 

core dominated by iron or iron alloys. 

d) The outcome of this early mass segregation was an 

outer region heating up through radioactive decay 

processes while the deeper interior remained in its relatively 

cold state. However, differential tidal variation 

between core and mantle is likely to have led to frictional 

heating and partial melting within the core-mantle 

boundary zone – the D” layer, leading to further transfer 

of ferromagnetic material into the high-conductivity 

outer core, while the bulk of the mantle – due to its lower 

thermal conductivity – is likely to have remained in a relatively 

cold state with slow chemical reaction rates. 

e) Owing to the suggested relatively low temperatures 

of at least the bulk of the silica-rich mantle, degassing of 

its largely undifferentiated interior – in its run towards 

thermo-chemical equilibrium – can be expected to have 

been a slow process that is still in progress. 

In the new theory of the Earth – Global Wrench Tectonics 

– it is the slow internal degassing, with its associated 

mass transfer processes (see STORETVEDT, 2003), 

which provide the ‘engine’ for planetary change. Dynamical 

segregation within the inferred relatively fast spinning 

pre-consolidated proto-Earth produced a thick pan-global 

felsic (anorthositic-dioritic) cover layer without a distinct 

lower boundary. There are reasons for believing that, 

within the gas-filled protoplanet, coalescence of ferromagnetic 

planetesimals – through gravitational and magnetic 

accretion processes (TUNYI et alii, 2001, 2004) – 

gradually led to heavier concretions for which the gravitational 

influence outbalanced the centrifugal effect. In 

consequence, the heavier iron-rich masses settled inwards 

through the relatively less dense gaseous mass, gradually 

building up a high-density core. However, as elements 

like sulphur, carbon, silicon, hydrogen and oxygen easily 

dissolve in high pressure metallic mixes (STEVENSON, 

1981; HUNT, 1992; OKUCHI, 1997), these lighter constituents 

can be expected to have followed iron alloys into 

the core. Furthermore, as the gravitational pressure at 

depth must have increased as a consequence of iron alloy 

migration, any fraction of free hydrogen may have been 

turned into a metallic state, adding additional substance 

to the inferred well-known density deficit of the core (relative 

to expectation). According to GOTTFRIED (1990), the 

core must be the host of a significant amount of hydridemetal 

compounds while the silicate-rich lower mantle 

must include an appreciable volume of silicides, notably 

silicon carbide (SiC). As some high pressure form of silica 

may be an important constituent of the lower mantle, 

TSUCHIDA & YAGI (1989) carried out high pressure studies 

of heated α-quartz. The experiments showed that, 

under pressure conditions assumed for the lower mantle, 

silica transforms to the slightly denser form stishovite or 

a similar phase. Thus, in order to attain gravitational stability, 

stishovite would have to transform into a much 

denser structure, combining for example with MgO to 

form perovskite currently believed to be the dominant 

mineral in the lower mantle (POIRIER, 2000). In any case, 

with the many lighter elements now regarded as possible 

constituents of the deep Earth, it is of paramount importance 

to consider the geodynamic and geological consequences 

of buoyant volatiles – including a range of hydrocarbon 

compounds – escaping from the Earth’s core. 

Owing to its high abundance ratio, silicon may be a 

very important element of the core’s metal hydrides, its 

low density giving it differential buoyancy. In this manner, 

masses of less-dense metal hydrides can ascend in 

the mantle, probably representing one of the most important 

mechanisms of internal mass reorganization – instigating 

planetary change. Following this line of thought, 

the interior of the Earth has been subjected to slow 

degassing, with associated outwardly directed element 

transport, leading to substantial chemical and mineralogical 

transformation of the primordial felsic incrustation, 

along with implantation of the Moho and an irregular 

asthenospheric layer (STORETVEDT, 2003). In this 

process, hydrous fluids caused overpressures within the 

outer regions, producing upwardly migrating eclogitization 

and associated gravitational instability of the transformed 

felsic rocks – thereby thinning the lighter cover 

layer from the bottom upwards (STORETVEDT, 2003). 

According to STEVENSON (1981), the core is not in 

equilibrium with the mantle, and the presence of an irregular 

D” topography (MORELLI & DZIEWONSKI, 1987) is 

further evidence of a thermo-chemically active and heterogeneous 

zone. Due to a combination of chemical and 

tidal heating, it appears likely that buoyant masses arise 

from the topographically-elevated segments of the D” 

zone. Fig. 2 shows that, when projected onto the Earth’s 

surface, regions of the core-mantle layer that stand proud 

correspond to deep oceanic depressions. This observation 

may hint at the possibility that processes at the outer core 

and/or D” layer release energy as well as buoyant masses 

which eventually lead to chemical transformation, crustal 

thinning, and formation of deep oceanic depressions. The 

irregular degassing from the deep Earth ought to produce 

systematic differences between continental and oceanic 

mantles – in composition, temperature and porosity – giving 

rise to variations in seismic velocities. Thus, the 

degassing Earth model seems to readily account for the 

seismic evidence for deep continental roots – reflecting a 

relatively clear distinction between continental and 

oceanic mantles (MACDONALD, 1964; DZIEWONSKI, 1984; 

FORTE et alii, 1995). 

On the question of upward transfer of energy from 

the core-mantle boundary layer, GREGORI (2001) considered 

the potential of ‘topographic’ elevations to initiate 

tidal heating. He suggested that electrical currents would


that natural diamonds or diamondiferous kimberlites (an 

ultrabasic rock of mantle provenance) may contain inclusions 

of SiC or unoxidized carbon-bearing fluids 

(MELTON & GIARDINI, 1974; LEUNG et alii, 1990), and that 

methane and other hydrocarbons are being emitted continuously 

through the crystalline basement (WELHAN & 

CRAIG, 1983; MCLAUGHLIN-WEST et alii, 1999; LUPTON et 

alii, 1999) provide strong prima facie evidence that the 

internal temperature is over all relatively low. Hence, 

throughout its history, the Earth must have been out of 

thermo-chemical stability. Therefore, in the natural 

process of reaching such an equilibrium state, mass reorganization 

– aided by buoyant volatiles – must have been 

at work since the planet’s very beginning. These operations 

have given rise to a progressive reorganization of 

interior mass – triggering episodic inertia-driven changes 

of planetary rotation, with the associated evolutionary 

course of spasmodic geological activity. 

CHANGES OF THE EARTH’S ROTATION 

Fig. 2 - Diagrams demonstrating topography of the core-mantle 

boundary obtained by inversion of PcP residuals (upper), PKP 

residuals (middle), and the two data sets combined (lower), corrected 

for lower mantle heterogeneity. Simplified from MORELLI & 

DZIEWONSKI (1987). 

concentrate on the top of such ‘bumps’ releasing anomalous 

amounts of heat which, due to the presumed low 

thermal conductivity of the silicate mantle, does not propagate. 

Thus, Gregori described the upward-directed transfer 

of energy as electrodynamic rather than thermodynamic, 

and as resembling an electric soldering iron being 

pushed into a block of ice. In the presence of sufficient 

concentration of pore spaces – kept open by the high 

internal gas pressures – Gregori’s mechanism may provide 

an efficient way of mantle degassing and internal elemental 

reorganization. 

Diamonds, the high pressure form of carbon, are neither 

stable nor in equilibrium at low pressures, but when 

transported rapidly to the surface – driven by the high 

internal gas pressures – from their source in the mantle, 

diamonds can survive long enough to avoid being converted 

into the low-pressure form of graphite. The fact 

The moment of inertia of a rotating body is a way of 

expressing the concentration of its mass about the centre 

of gravity. The greater the concentration of mass, the 

greater its moments of inertia, and the faster the body will 

spin. Thus, any net inward motion of mass increases the 

Earth’s moment of inertia and therefore increase its rate 

of rotation; similarly, any net outward (equatorward) 

mass transport decreases the moment of inertia and 

reduces the planet’s spin rate. For example, the gradual 

magneto-gravitational accretion of the core referred to 

above, interchanging angular momentum between the 

proto-core and the proto-mantle, would have led to 

increasing planetary spin, adding to the ‘preset’ high rotation 

rate presumed for the pre-consolidated Earth 

(ALFVEN & ARRHENIUS, 1976). An observation supporting 

the hypothesis of a relatively faster spin velocity in the 

geological past (than now) is that the present Earth has a 

certain excess flattening, making its equatorial bulge some 

200m larger than that expected. MUNK & MACDONALD 

(1960) suggested that this non-hydrostatic bulge is a relic 

of a faster rate of rotation in the past, the lag in gaining 

hydrostatic equilibrium being ascribed to the high viscosity 

of the mantle. However, long-term internal degassing, 

producing upward mass transfer, has inevitably caused 

planetary slowing, increasing the length of day. Compilation 

of growth rings in fossil shells (CREER, 1975) has similarly 

unfolded progressive, but variable, slowing of the 

Earth’s rotation over the past 500 Ma. 

The build-up of high volatile pressures in the outer 

shells of the planet evidently has triggered eclogitization – 

causing gravitational instability of the chemically transformed 

shell – eroding the crustal layer from the bottom 

upwards. Therefore, at particular times in the Earth’s history, 

periods of crustal uplift, releasing over-pressured 

volatiles, alternating with crustal subsidence – the latter 

being triggered by the sinking of masses of heavier eclogitized 

crustal material to some lower level of the (presumed) 

low-viscosity upper mantle – would inevitably 

have generated periodic acceleration of the planet’s spin 

rate. As shown by CREER (1975) these sharper changes of 

rotation rate – break-points for which periods of 

enhanced deceleration have alternated with periods of 

acceleration – correspond to the well-established global


tectonic events. According to Global Wrench Tectonics it is 

the ‘jerks’ in planetary spin rate that triggers torsion of 

the pan-global lithosphere, turning the time-equivalent 

palaeoequatorial belts into overall transpressive (or 

transtensive) tectonic regimes, along with occasional rifting 

along palaeomeridian sections. 

As long as the major axis of inertia – the axis of figure 

– stays near the astronomical spin axis, the relative pole 

will have a fairly stationary position (GOLDREICH & 

TOOMRE, 1969). According to the degassing model, however, 

suggesting that irregular redistribution of internal 

mass has taken place since Archaean times – inevitably 

changing the orientation of the inertia axes – it is to be 

expected that, from time to time, the Earth’s body must 

have turned over relative to the ecliptic. We have already 

associated global tectonics per se with changes in the rate 

of planetary rotation and, in the furtherance of that idea, 

it can be predicted that certain palaeoequatorial belts 

have been the sites of ancient fold belts, and that major 

rift structures have evolved in perpendicular (i.e. 

palaeomeridional) settings. This extended link between 

tectonics and the Earth’s palaeorotation may therefore be 

the key to solving a basic and long-standing problem in 

geology: the temporally shifting position of large-scale 

zones of structural deformation and magmatic activity 

across the globe. 

ORIGIN OF FUNDAMENTAL FRACTURE SYSTEMS 

Based on the consideration above, it can be assumed 

that in the early Archaean heating from combined radiogenic, 

tidal and chemical processes gave rise to an effective 

degassing of the outer few hundred kilometres of the 

Earth, accompanied by the installation of partial melt 

pockets at upper mantle levels – representing the embryonic 

stage of the present-day irregular asthenospheric 

zone – while the deeper parts of the planetary body are 

likely to have maintained largely their original low temperatures. 

Aided by buoyant volatiles, the outer regions of 

the geosphere – including present-day upper mantle – 

were depleted of a number of incompatible and other elements, 

to be correspondingly enriched in the surface 

layer, resulting in mineralization, plutonism, greenstone 

belt volcanism, and pervasive potassium (metasomatic) 

granitization of the crust. These processes were particularly 

momentous in Upper Archaean and earliest Proterozoic 

times, probably having impressed strong and widespread 

remobilization and isotopic age resetting of older 

rocks. Furthermore, by late Archaean times, the Earth’s 

surface regions had apparently cooled significantly; 

hence, the hot and ductile state of the early-mid Archaean 

outer shell had been replaced by more brittle conditions. 

Increasing solidification of the outer layers, combined 

with cooling and sustained planetary degassing, then led 

to brittle fracturing. First of all, cooling gave rise to a 

minor amount of planetary shrinking which, in turn, 

catalysed deep great-circle contraction dislocations – the 

disrupted remnants of which one of them are to be seen 

in the present-day peri-Pacific Benioff system. 

Evidence suggests that the relatively fast-spinning 

cooling Archaean Earth (undergoing a minor degree of 

contraction) had approximately its present spatial orientation 

(STORETVEDT, 2003), and therefore one would 

expect to observe clear differences in structure of the 

Benioff zone between the present-day eastern and western 

Pacific borders – at low to intermediate latitudes. 

Thus, a fast-spinning late Archaean Earth, with an outer 

crystalline layer being subjected to westward-directed 

inertia drag, would be liable to produce a compressive 

and relatively shallow-inclined cooling fracture in the 

direction of planetary rotation (i.e. as per the present-day 

eastern Pacific), while tensional conditions and a relatively 

steeply inclined cooling fracture would result in the 

wake of that motion (corresponding to the western 

Pacific). These predictions are fully confirmed by the distinct 

differences in structure and seismotectonics 

observed between eastern and western Pacific Benioff 

planes. 

With the progressive build-up of upper mantle gas 

pressures, producing a certain pan-global extensional 

‘surface’ regime, along with the increasing brittleness of 

the cooling late Archaean crust, the time was ripe for 

implantation of tension fractures. It is suggested that 

these conditions set the scene for the development of the 

omnipresent orthogonal fracture systems which formed 

along palaeomeridians and palaeolatitudes, respectively. 

Thus, the development of this orthogonal rupture system 

expectedly had a close connection with planetary rotation; 

on the basis of a relatively fast spinning Archaean 

Earth, it is reasonable to think that outgassing was 

strongest along the palaeoequatorial belt (owing to the 

maximum centrifugal effect along that ‘plane’) and that 

the orthogonal rupture system expanded from that zone 

towards higher palaeolatitudes. Thus, a simple pan-global 

tectonic fabric was established – inculcating a structural 

anisotropy of ultimate importance for subsequent geological 

development. Once formed, these fractures would be 

prone to repeated rejuvenation and intensification 

throughout the Earth’s dynamo-tectonic history – the latter 

being controlled by more distinct changes in planetary 

rotation instigating lithospheric wrenching. 

The combined gas pressure build-up – causing surface 

upheaval – and subsequent sub-crustal attenuation in 

association with upper mantle gas release leading to 

crustal subsidence, must have produced a distinct ‘expansion-contraction’ 

pulsation of the globe. Moreover, the 

preset fracture network would affect the architecture of 

subsequent fold belts. Following the theory of Global 

Wrench Tectonics, the most extensive tectonic belts have 

developed along their time-equavalent palaeoequators. 

Therefore, segments of such belts that fall along one of 

the two fundamental fracture sets will be expected to display 

relatively smooth elongate geometries, while those 

parts of the tectonic belt that cut across the preset elongate 

fracture network will form a ruptured en echelon 

structure. 

According to the new theory of the Earth, the most 

important phase of wrench deformation of the outer layers 

– including relative in situ rotations of the remaining 

continental masses (i.e. those parts of the surface layer 

that had not been significantly affected by ‘oceanization’ 

processes) – took place in Alpine time. Therefore, by 

applying world-wide joint orientation data established by 

Adrian Scheidegger and numerous coworkers (SCHEIDEG- 

GER, 1995, for a review), correcting them for Alpine-age 

continental rotations established by palaeomagnetic data 

(STORETVEDT, 1990, 1992, 1997), it should be possible to 

retrace the spatial palaeo-setting of the globe and the initial 

orientation of the conjugate orthogonal fracture sets.


tectonomagmatic belts gradually replaced the Archaean 

greenstone belts (WINDLEY, 1995). 

THE WRENCH TECTONIC SYSTEM DURING 

THE PROTEROZOIC 

Fig. 3 - Strike directions for one of the characteristic orthogonal joint 

axes as established on different continents. Plots are on a Mercator 

projection and after correction for Alpine age in situ continental 

rotations, but without altering continental azimuths. These corrected 

joint trends will intersect close to the present geographic 

poles, thus defining a system of longitudes. Similarly, the nearly E-W 

striking orthogonal set of fractures will specify a system of parallels. 

In other words, the original configuration of the ubiquitous orthogonal 

joint sets formed a simple global pattern – representing a system 

of palaeogrids probably implanted during the Upper Archaean. 

From STORETVEDT (2003). 

The outcome of such an exercise is shown in fig. 3, 

depicting the inferred strike directions of one of the characteristic 

orthogonal joint axes. When extended across 

the globe, these corrected joint trends will intersect close 

to the present geographic poles, defining a system of longitudes. 

The similarity with Kreichgauer’s late Archaean 

palaeoequator (fig. 1b) is striking. Similarly, the nearly 

east-west striking orthogonal set of joints (not displayed 

in the diagram) will specify a system of parallels. 

The Upper Archaean was the time of formation of the 

greenstone belts, and the massive amount of magmatism 

associated with these elongate zones of depression – having 

developed along particular zones of weakness, corresponding 

to the already established network of orthogonal 

fractures – suggests that upper mantle upwelling and 

interior mass reorganization was at force. Therefore, at 

some stage, the maximum axis of inertia would have 

changed sufficiently to bring about an inevitable spatial 

reorientation of the planet. Such a resetting of the equatorial 

bulge, along with a greater polar flattening due to a 

faster spin velocity at that time, would have produced 

extensional conditions, notably in the new intermediatelow 

palaeolatitude regions, giving rise to intrusions into 

the preset orthogonal fracture network. Attendant 

increase in the exhalation of water vapour, carbon-dioxide 

and hydro-carbon gases (in association with 

organometallics, eventually depositing ore concentrations) 

would naturally result. 

There are reasons for believing that such a profound 

change in global dynamics took place at around the 

Archaean-Proterozoic boundary, loosely dated at ca. 2.5 

Ga, heralding a major change in Earth history. From then 

on, carbonate deposits became more widespread, life 

became more abundant, major sedimentary basins with 

banded iron formations developed, and more modern-type 

The question arises as to the spatial position in which 

the Earth eventually settled after the inferred dynamic 

instability around the Archaean-Proterozoic boundary. In 

principle, palaeomagnetic data should provide adequate 

information to this question, but unfortunately published 

results for these early times constitute a jungle of inconsistent 

and undoubtedly unreliable data. Remagnetization 

and unresolved multi-component remanences are likely 

to feature prominently in older rocks – as can be judged 

from the unjustified disparities in shape of the pre-Lower 

Palaeozoic polar paths for the Atlantic-bordering continents. 

Nevertheless, one may wonder whether the predicted 

turning over of the Earth’s body at around 2.5 Ga 

ago occurred in a single event or had a more protracted 

stepwise progression. In this regard, Neoproterozoic 

palaeomagnetic poles from the northern cratonic regions 

define reasonable clusters at antipodal positions of ca. 

65ºE, 20ºN and 115ºW, 20ºS respectively (STORETVEDT, 

1997). With the continental masses in their pre-Alpine 

azimuthal orientations this late Precambrian palaeoequator 

runs along Arctic Canada and Labrador Sea (fig. 4), 

further along present-day Central and South Atlantic (fig. 

5), it ‘touches’ present-day Antarctica, cuts through Australia, 

continues across north-western Pacific, before 

rejoining the Arctic Canada branch. This Upper Precambrian 

palaeoequator, defined by palaeomagnetic evidence, 

is surprisingly similar to the one proposed by KREI- 

CHGAUER (1902) on a completely different basis (fig. 1a). 

It should not come as a great surprise if this palaeoequator 

actually had remained relatively unchanged for the 

entire Proterozoic. The rational behind that prediction is 

that, during the Precambrian, the rate of internal mass 

reorganization apparently was relatively slow making 

polar wander a rare phenomenon. In fact, it is thought 

that the inferred Proterozoic palaeoequator remained relatively 

unchanged until around mid-Ordovician times 

during which another major event of polar wander 

occurred, providing a fundamental shift of the tectonic 

pattern across the globe. 

The Proterozoic-Lower Palaeozoic palaeoequator can 

be linked to many important tectonic features. Thus, 

many elongate mobile zones with a spread of late Precambrian 

to Lower Palaeozoic ages, exposed on presentday 

continents, show overall near-perpendicular orientations 

with respect to the inferred palaeoequator, 

suggesting that they originated as ensialic transtensivetranspressive 

crustal bands in response to changes of 

planetary spin rate. However, the palaeo-equatorial girdle, 

with its aligned fold belt, is largely positioned in present-day 

oceanic regions, having been disrupted by later 

events of crustal thinning and ‘basification’ processes and 

concealed eventually by oceanic sediment and water 

masses. In fact, the late Precambrian to early Palaeozoic 

equatorial zone (with its aligned fold belt) is only exposed 

in the Arctic Canada to Labrador Sea sector and through 

Central Australia – the latter transect comprising the Adelaide 

Geosyncline and Warburton-Georgina-Bonaparte 

basins.


Fig. 4 - The (late) Proterozoic to Lower Palaeozoic (pre-450 Ma) 

equator seen in conjunction with recognized Grenvillian (ca. 1 Ga) 

and Cadomian (ca. 600 Ma) tectonic provinces of the Arctic and 

North Atlantic regions. The land masses are in their pre-Alpine 

azimuthal orientations. Apart from the insular region of Arctic 

Canada, the palaeoequator-aligned (circum-globe) fold belt is 

located within present-day oceanic regions, but a range of late Proterozoic 

metamorphics have been recovered from the Central 

Atlantic Ridge (see STORETVEDT, 1997, 2003 for data base). Note 

that the principal Arctic-North American lithotectonic belts have 

near-perpendicular orientations with respect to their time-equivalent 

equator, indicating that they formed through rifting and shearing 

during events of global lithospheric torsion. This latitude-dependent 

wrench deformation, which has its maximum effect along the 

(palaeo)equator, is indicated by curved solid arrows. Abbreviations 

are: G.P., Grenville Province; M.R., Mid-continent Rift; W.C., Western 

Cordillera; F.I., Franklin-Innutian Belt; E.G., Ellesmerian-North 

Greenland Belt; S.N., Sveco-Norwegian Belt. 

A substantial proportion of the Proterozoic anorogenic 

magmatic rocks in the world occur in a broad belt 

across the North American continent, from Labrador to 

southern California (EMSLIE, 1985). In the wrench tectonic 

system, this magabelt – dated to around 1.4 Ga 

(GOWER et alii, 1990) – would be connected to a transtensional 

regime brought about by one or more events of 

planetary deceleration (STORETVEDT, 2003). Such tectonically 

rather quiet conditions apparently came to a close at 

around 1.3-1 Ga after which time renewed planetary 

acceleration gave rise to enhanced wrench deformation, 

reactivating many pre-existing rifts. The most famous of 

these major late Proterozoic lithotectonic zones is the 

Grenville Province, the main deformation of which 

occurred around 1 Ga (SCHAERER & GOWER, 1988), 

extending from coastal Labrador to south-western USA. 

With the time-equivalent equator passing across the Arctic 

Canada-Labrador Sea region (fig. 4), the present NE- 

SW striking set of fundamental crustal discontinuities, 

originally oriented approximately N-S, was in line for 

strong reactivation. The Grenvillian phase of rifting and 

associated shearing may indeed have affected the entire 

Fig. 5 - The inferred Proterozoic to Lower Palaeozoic equator seen in 

conjunction with the main segments of the Pan-African and Brazilian 

tectonomagmatic provinces. The continents are in their pre-Alpine 

setting. Abbreviations are: A.B., Amazon Belt; M.B., Mauritanides 

Belt; C.A.B., Central African Belt; D.B., Damaran Belt; C.B., Cape 

Belt. Other specifications are as for fig. 4. After STORETVEDT (2003). 

North American craton, extending west beyond the present-day 

Canadian Cordillera (COOK, 1995). If the 

Grenville Province became transpressively deformed in 

response to planetary acceleration (eastward), the evolving 

tectonic belt ought to have a western west-directed 

thrust front. Such a western frontal upthrust is indeed a 

characteristic feature of the Grenville Province, and 

COCORP seismic profiling across the tectonic zone of the 

Grenville Front (GREEN et alii, 1988; CULOTTA et alii, 

1990) has revealed a 30 km wide frontal zone dipping ca. 

30º to the south-east and extending at least to Moho 

depths. 

With the Grenvillian event having affected the whole 

of present-day North America, thousands of kilometres 

away from the actual palaeoequator, it would be logical 

to think that it also contributed similar large-scale 

ensialic rifting into the opposite palaeohemisphere – cutting 

across the present-day North Atlantic, which formerly 

was a continental domain. Following this line of 

thought the late Precambrian to Lower Palaeozoic segments 

of the Pan-African and Brazilian lithotectonic belts 

(fig. 5) can be readily accounted for; the embryonic East 

African Rift and the Trans-Antarctic belt can be similarly 

explained. 

Nowadays, it is generally believed that the Sveco-Norwegian 

tectonic sector in southern Scandinavia represents 

a direct continuation of the Grenville belt proper 

(STARMER, 1993; ANDERSEN, 1997), but such a close


Fig. 6 - Palaeoclimatically based equators for three differents time 

intervals: Carboniferous (C), Permian (P) and Lower Tertiary (LT). 

Based on descriptions by KREICHGAUER (1902) and WEGENER (1929). 

lithotectonic correlation does not necessarily apply. In 

fact, during Grenville time, global wrenching not only 

affected Europe along the Sveco-Norwegian sector, but 

also the basement of south-western England, the Channel 

Islands and of the European Alps were all subjected to 

strong tectonomagmatic reactivation at that time 

(NEUBAUER et alii, 1989; POWER et alii, 1990). In particular, 

the European sector of the deep great-circle 

Archaean-age contraction dislocation – along which the 

Tethyan Basin and, finally, the Alpine-Himalayan belt 

developed – would have been prone to repeated rifting 

and wrench deformation in Proterozoic and Lower 

Palaeozoic times. This is equivalent to the prolonged Proterozoic 

and younger tectonic history of the western 

Cordillera of North America (STORETVEDT, 2003). 

From Grenville time onwards, the Earth is presumed 

to have experienced several changes in its rate of rotation. 

An example of such a predicted change may have 

occurred in Vendian to Middle Ordovician time when the 

protracted Cadomian deformation phase developed, in 

consequence of which belts of Grenvillian age around the 

world would have been liable to repeated overprintings, 

encompassing both transpressive and transtensive events. 

In the Humber Zone of Newfoundland, for example, 

Grenvillian basement units occur as significant discrete 

massifs, and rocks from late Precambrian rifting in that 

region (diabase and granite intrusions) give radiometric 

ages of around 600 Ma (WALDRON et alii, 1998). In the 

European sector, polyphase magmatism, deformation 

and metamorphism have similarly been reported (NEU- 

BAUER et alii, 1989; BROWN et alii, 1990; DALLMEYER et 

alii, 1992). 

EVENTS OF PHANEROZOIC POLAR WANDER 

AND ASSOCIATED FOLD BELTS 

The Earth’s spatial orientation was apparently quite 

steady during the Proterozoic and well into the Lower 

Palaeozoic, but recurrent tectonic activity during this ca. 2 

Ga long period suggests that progressive degassing gave 

rise to shorter-term oscillations of the planet’s rotation 

rate. Therefore, it would only be a matter of time before 

the consequent transformation of the Earth’s interior mass 

would have changed the moment of inertia sufficiently to 

propel an event of polar wander. Such a geodynamic revolution 

took place at around mid-Ordovician time during 

which the Earth’s setting, relative to the ecliptic, changed 

by about 70º. Since the Silurian, the Earth has experienced 

a number of progressive polar shifts – the palaeoequators 

having formed a age-progressive southward system oriented 

at right angles to the present Greenwich meridian, 

defining two regions of mutual intersection at the present 

equator, at around 90ºW and 90ºE (STORETVEDT, 1997, 

2003, and references therein). A simple presentation of this 

palaeoequatorial/polar wander system, without correction 

for the moderate in situ continental rotations that occurred 

in Alpine time, is delineated in fig. 6. However, before the 

Earth had settled into this simple time-progressive 

arrangement, there was – according to palaeomagnetic evidence 

(STORETVEDT, 1997) – a specific transition period in 

the Upper Ordovician; during this period, the palaeoequator 

had a more northerly trend, passing along the northern 

North Atlantic and Barents Sea regions with a south-easterly 

continuation across Central Siberia. 

Degassing in a rotating Earth would have produced 

certain concentrations of fluid flow along palaeo-equatorial 

belts giving rise to more effective sub-crustal erosion 

and the formation of coaxially-aligned sedimentary 

troughs (geosynclines). In the European sector, the late 

Ordovician (Taconic) equator was sufficiently separated 

from the ‘Devonian’ (Acadian) equator to form two separate 

Caledonian segments: an Arctic branch and a north 

central European division. In the North American sector, 

however, the two palaeoequators were much closer 

together and, therefore, they merged into a united elongated 

geosyncline-tectonic zone. 

The orientation of the linear Lower-Middle Palaeozoic 

sedimentary trough that evolved along the eastern 

seaboard of North America was clearly predetermined by 

the prevailing north-easterly structural grain (i.e. present – 

post-Alpine – azimuthal orientation). It formed along, and 

the developing tectonic processes interfered, in part, with 

the Grenville Province proper which – within a different 

palaeotectonic setting – had formed some 800-600 Ma earlier. 

According to the fossil ‘clock’ data compiled by CREER 

(1975), the Lower-Middle Ordovician was a time of planetary 

deceleration which, theoretically, should have produced 

overall transtensional conditions within the worldencircling 

Appalachian-Caledonian tectonic belt, thereby 

paving the way for increased regional magmatic activity. 

Thereafter, from the latest Ordovician and throughout the 

Devonian, the Earth seems to have experienced overall 

acceleration. Hence, the associated forces of inertia would 

have led to overall transpressive conditions along the 

palaeoequatorial geosyncline, providing adequate explanations 

for both the Taconic and Acadian phases of deformation. 

However, the compressive forces were not strong 

enough to produce anything but insignificant crustal thickening 

– in other words, the amount of sub-crustal thinning 

that led to formation of the Appalachian-Caledonian geosyncline 

was not compensated for by the transpressive 

processes that turned the sedimentary trough into a mobile 

belt. This lack of tectonic crustal thickening along fold 

belts is well demontrated by seismic profiling across the 

Newfoundland Appalachians (JACKSON et alii, 1998). 

Sectors of the globe-girdling belt that fall along one of 

the preset orthogonal fracture lineaments would naturally


attain a relatively smooth outline. On the other hand, in 

regions where the palaeoequator cuts across the actual 

conjugate system of fractures, the evolving tectonic zone 

would not attain a smooth equator-aligned construction, 

but rather develop an en echelon structure, occasionally 

taking more marked offshots, as rifted zones, along one 

of the fundamental fracture systems. This is apparently 

the explanation of the East Greenland-Svalbard branch(es) 

of the Caledonides, as they take on more northerly excursions 

away from the north-easterly course of the timeequivalent 

equator. 

Fig. 7 depicts the pre-Alpine reconfiguration of the 

present northern continents, along with the late Precambrian 

and mid-Palaeozoic equators. One notes that the 

Appalachian and trans-European tectonic belts line up with 

the Middle Palaeozoic equator suggesting a common tectonic 

history at least in Acadian time. According to CREER 

(1975), the Siluro-Devonian time was one of acceleration, 

and the associated inertia effects may therefore be related 

to the Salinic-Acadian phases of crustal-lithospheric deformation. 

The thick curved arrows in fig. 7 demonstrate the 

resulting inertial motions, with clockwise torsion in the 

northern palaeohemisphere and counter clockwise torsion 

in the southern palaeohemisphere. This dynamo-tectonic 

system readily explains major fault zones that run parallel 

or sub-parallel to many fold belts, e.g. the North Anatolia 

Fault Zone in the Alpine belt, and the Great Glen and Cabot 

faults in the Caledonian-Appalachian tectonic system. The 

mid-Palaeozoic wrench deformation would naturally have 

led to strong reactivation of the fundamental conjugate 

fracture system of eastern North America (originally oriented 

approximately N-S, but upon the Alpine-age lithospheric 

wrenching it has acquired a NE-SW axis), and it is 

likely that the north-easterly trending zonation within the 

Newfoundland Appalachians primarily owes its origin to 

extensive strike-slip motions along the tectonic belt at that 

time. The several kilometres of Moho offset, seen across the 

north-eastern extension of the Dover Fault (separating the 

Newfoundland Appalachian belt from the Precambrian 

Avalon block to the south), suggests that the extended 

Dover Fault represents a major strike-slip fracture. Within 

the overall transpressive regime of the Acadian deformation 

belt, one might expect that stress-induced remelting would 

have occurred in places, and that associated intrusive activity 

would have developed in areas of localized transtension 

(MILLER et alii, 2001; STORETVEDT, 2003). 

At later stages of Earth history, notably from the late 

Jurassic onwards, attenuation and basification processes 

(‘oceanization’) of the original dioritic-felsic crust advanced 

more rapidly than before so that, by the early Tertiary, the 

deep oceanic depressions were approaching their present 

global distribution. In concert with the pronounced 

mechanical weakening associated with the major crustallithospheric 

thinning, the ensuing geodynamic event – the 

Alpine revolution – pitched the Earth into a tectonic 

calamity. During this period, inertia-driven relative continental 

rotations occurred for the first time in the Earth’s 

history, producing significant deformation and faulting 

within the thin and mechanically weak oceanic crust. 

In the pre-Alpine azimuthal orientation of the continents 

(STORETVEDT, 1997, 2003), the southward extension 

of the Caledonian-Appalachian fold belt runs 

through southern Mexico, cuts into the north-western tip 

of the South American Andes, continues along a main 

segment of the present East Pacific Rise, further along 

Fig. 7 - Pre-Alpine configuration of the North Atlantic depicting the 

position of the Grenville/Sveco-Norwegian terranes and the 

Appalachian/North-Central European Caledonides. The corresponding 

palaeoequators are shown for comparison. Note again that the 

late Precambrian to early Palaeozoic equator (1) has a near-orthogonal 

setting in relation to the Grenville and Sveco-Norwegian 

provinces, suggesting that they are segments of megascale rift zones. 

On the other hand, the mid-Palaeozoic palaeoequator (2) is closely 

aligned to the mid-Palaeozoic branches of the trans-Atlantic 

Appalachian/Caledonian fold belt. Note that the Sveco-Norwegian 

Province occurs at asimilar distance from the Precambrian equator 

(1) as the ‘westernmost’ extension of the Grenville Province proper. 

Solid arrows demonstrate the global wrenching in mid-Palaeozoic 

time, giving rise to the palaeoequator aligned Appalachian/North- 

Central Caledonian belt. From STORETVEDT (2003). 

Fig. 8 - In the pre-Alpine azimuthal orientation of Australia, the late 

Proterozoic equator becomes co-linear with the Adelaidean lithotectonic 

zone (A.B.), but is cut in turn by the younger Tasman belt 

(T.B.) which represents a segment of the globe-girdling, palaeoequator-aligned 

Caledonian/Appalachian tectonic structure. In this 

consideration, the Tasman-Adelaidean tectonic junction has its 

antipodal counterpart in the tectonic junction of the Newfounland 

region depicted in fig. 7. From STORETVEDT (2003). 

the Tasman fold belt in Australia, proceeds across Asia 

before finally linking up with its Arctic and North Atlantic 

segments discussed above. Thus, in the pre-Alpine continental 

arrangement, the Caledonian-Appalachian belt 

runs in close agreement with the early-mid Palaeozoic 

equatorial zone. Fig. 8 delineates the locations of the late


Precambrian and mid-Palaeozoic equators viewed in conjunction 

with the pre-Alpine orientation of Australia. 

Note that these palaeoequators fall along the Adelaidean 

and Tasman fold belts respectively. The Tasman-Adelaidean 

tectonic junction has its antipodal counterpart in 

the Newfoundland region where the late Precambrian to 

early Palaeozoic equator intersects the mid-Palaeozoic 

equatorial zone at a fairly steep angle (fig. 7). 

According to the global tectonic system advanced 

here, the principal tectonomagmatic belts are to be found 

in two palaeogeographic settings: either as deformed geosynclines, 

running approximately along time-equivalent 

equators, or as rift zones breaking out at steep angles 

from their respective palaeoequators. The principal operating 

forces in the formation of these structural belts are 

a combination of the centrifugal force of rotation, the 

pole-fleeing force, the Coriolis force, and the tidal effects 

of the Moon and Sun. Thus, the tectonic arrangement 

versus geological time has, generally speaking, followed 

the shifting relative position of the equatorial bulge; i.e. 

the phenomenon of polar wander is intimately associated 

with both regional and global tectonic development. 

Inferentially, the Precambrian Earth had a rotation 

rate that was a good deal faster than it is now and, as a 

thin and mechanically weak oceanic crust had not yet 

been formed, the surface layer must have been relatively 

brittle in the context of mechanical forces. For these reasons, 

the late Precambrian rift zones – exemplified by the 

Grenville Province, the Pan-African belts, and the East 

African Rift System – are all of relatively large dimension 

compared to their post-Precambrian relatives, such as the 

Oslo Graben, North Sea Graben and Rhine Graben. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS 

The new global tectonic framework – Global Wrench 

Tectonics – submits that the principal tectonomagmatic 

belts on Earth, with their temporally shifting locations, 

are intimately related to changes of planetary rotation, 

being the product of both variations in spin velocity and 

shifts in the planet’s spatial orientation (with respect to 

the ecliptic). In essence, all tectonomagmatic structures 

around the globe seem to have developed through intermittent 

processes of lithospheric torsion (wrenching) 

associated with planetary degassing and related internal 

reorganization of mass. The main tectonic structures 

have defined either (a) globe-encircling mobile belts running 

in close alignment with time-equivalent equators, or 

(b) rift structures (or grabens) oriented at steep angles to 

– and spreading away from – these palaeoequators. The 

scale of these rift structures has diminished through geological 

time, in concert with the protracted slowing of the 

Earth’s rotation. 

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