Dissecting the Jurassic monster polar shift: Paleomagnetic analyses of Middle–Late Jurassic sedimentary rocks from Ethiopia

• Applicant: Edoardo Dallanave, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Palaeontology ; Geophysics
• Term: from 2021 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465492305

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

According to a preliminary selection of key paleomagnetic poles from the literature, from 160 to 148 Ma the continents bordering the Atlantic and the Pacific plate underwent a simultaneous clockwise rotation of 30° around a common equatorial Euler pole located near the Bay of Benin (offshore west Africa). This event is referred to as the ‘Jurassic monster polar shift’ (JUMPS). In order to dissect this major geodynamic event, we performed a paleomagnetic investigation of key localities in two cratonic area, namely NE Africa and Europe. Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks were sampled near Dejen (Ethiopia) and at the Ebermannstadt quarry near Bamberg (Franconian Alb, Germany). Three sites were sampled near Dejen: DJ01, DJ02, and DJ03, for a total of 246 samples collected and oriented in the field. Paleomagnetic results from Site DJ01 and DJ02 were combined in a single dataset as they belong to the same rock body. Comparing the obtained paleomagnetic pole with reference data from the literature, it appears to be closer to the early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) part of the global apparent polar wander path (APWP). Because of the uncertainty of the age assignation (despite the information from the literature), the samples sediments are currently under inspection for calcareous nannofossil content. Data from Site DJ03 appear to have been remagnetized during younger times, likely early Cenozoic. At Ebermannstadt, analysis on 107 collected samples resulted in a total of 79 paleomagnetic directions of generally low quality. Nevertheless, the calculated paleomagnetic pole falls plotted in an African reference frame appears to picture an early stage of the JUMPS.

Publications

• Absolute Paleolatitude of Northern Zealandia From the Middle Eocene to the Early Miocene. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(9).
  Dallanave, Edoardo; Sutherland, Rupert; Dickens, Gerald R.; Chang, Liao; Tema, Evdokia; Alegret, Laia; Agnini, Claudia; Westerhold, Thomas; Newsam, Cherry; Lam, Adriane R.; Stratford, Wanda; Collot, Julien; Etienne, Samuel & von, Dobeneck Tilo
  
• Neogene Mass Accumulation Rate of Carbonate Sediment Across Northern Zealandia, Tasman Sea, Southwest Pacific. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 37(2).
  Sutherland, R.; Dos Santos, Z.; Agnini, C.; Alegret, L.; Lam, A. R.; Westerhold, T.; Drake, M. K.; Harper, D. T.; Dallanave, E.; Newsam, C.; Cramwinckel, Marlow J.; Dickens, G. R.; Collot, J.; Etienne, S. J. G.; Bordenave, A.; Stratford, W. R.; Zhou, X.; Li, H. & Asatryan, G.
  
• Timing of Eocene compressional plate failure during subduction initiation, northern Zealandia, southwestern Pacific. Geophysical Journal International.
  Stratford, W. R.; Sutherland, R.; Dickens, G. R.; Blum, P.; Collot, J.; Gurnis, M.; Saito, S.; BordenaveG, A.; Etienne, S. J. G.; Agnini, C.; Alegret, L.; Asatryan, G.; Bhattacharya, J.; Chang, L.; Cramwinckel, M. J.; Dallanave, E.; Drake, M. K.; Giorgioni, M.; Harper, D. T. ... & Zhou, X.
  
• Agulhas Plateau Cretaceous Climate. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program. International Ocean Discovery Program.
  Uenzelmann-Neben, G.; Bohaty, S.M. & Childress, L.B.
  
• Paleoposition and Paleogeography of Egypt During the Phanerozoic Era. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, 123-131. Springer International Publishing.
  Kirscher, Uwe; Dallanave, Edoardo & Bachtadse, Valerian
  
• The Late Miocene‐Early Pliocene Biogenic Bloom: An Integrated Study in the Tasman Sea. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 38(4).
  Gastaldello, M. E.; Agnini, C.; Westerhold, T.; Drury, A. J.; Sutherland, R.; Drake, M. K.; Lam, A. R.; Dickens, G. R.; Dallanave, E.; Burns, S. & Alegret, L.
  
• Assessing the reliability of paleomagnetic datasets using the R package PmagDiR. Scientific Reports, 14(1).
  Dallanave, Edoardo
  
• Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and biochronology across the Eocene-Oligocene transition: the record at IODP Site U1509 (Tasman Sea) and a global overview. Newsletters on Stratigraphy, 57(1), 1-23.
  Viganò, Allyson; Dallanave, Edoardo; Alegret, Laia; Westerhold, Thomas; Sutherland, Rupert; Dickens, Gerald R.; Newsam, Cherry & Agnini, Claudia
  
• Calcareous Nannofossils and Paleoclimatic Evolution Across the Eocene‐Oligocene Transition at IODP Site U1509, Tasman Sea, Southwest Pacific Ocean. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 39(2).
  Viganò, A.; Dallanave, E.; Alegret, L.; Westerhold, T.; Sutherland, R.; Dickens, G. R.; Newsam, C. & Agnini, C.
  
• European Arid Anomaly explained with southward drift of Eurasia during the Late Jurassic Polar Shift. Wiley.
  Muttoni, Giovanni; Dallanave, Edoardo & Porta, Giovanna Della
  
• Integrated record of the Late Lutetian Thermal Maximum at IODP site U1508, Tasman Sea: The deep-sea response. Marine Micropaleontology, 191, 102390.
  Peñalver-Clavel, Irene; Agnini, Claudia; Westerhold, Thomas; Cramwinckel, Marlow J.; Dallanave, Edoardo; Bhattacharya, Joyeeta; Sutherland, Rupert & Alegret, Laia