Paleomagnetism in tectonics: A user’s guide

Roger Fu, Douwe J.J. van Hinsbergen 

Paleomagnetism can reveal the direction of the ancient geomagnetic field recorded in rocks and provides
an invaluable quantitative reference for the study of tectonics. This chapter describes the basic principles
of how the magnetic field is stored in rocks, how it may be measured, and how common pitfalls in
paleomagnetic analysis may be recognized and corrected for. We then explain how paleomagnetic data of
coherent tectonic units, such as continents, plates, or plate circuits, may be combined into apparent polar
wander paths that tracked the 'absolute' motions of tectonic plates or continents relative to the Earth's spin
axis. Finally, we provide a practical guide how relative paleomagnetic displacements may be computed
from such absolute positional or motion constraints, and how these provide quantitative constraints on
(plate) tectonic motions of deformed crust.