A new global Paleocene–Eocene apparent polar wandering path loop by “stacking” magnetostratigraphies: Correlations with high latitude climatic data

A new apparent polar wander path (APWP) from the beginning of the Paleocene (65 Ma) to the middle of the mid-Eocene (42 Ma) is shown to be correlated with polar climatic data of the same time period. Rather than applying the classical method based on analysis of site-based poles, we “stacked” the APWPs obtained from magnetostratigraphies. Magnetostratigraphies have the advantage of displaying an unbroken record of local APWPs through time and, for a magnetozone (defined as the a combination of normal and reversed polarity intervals), the instantaneous poles are synchronous. Seven magnetostratigraphies located on 4 different plates covered sufficient time to be used in the analysis. An average APWP was then determined with respect to age at the magnetozone level for the African plate, which was arbitrarily chosen as a reference frame; virtual geomagnetic poles were transferred onto the African plate using ocean kinematic Euler rotations. The calculated APWP is characterized by a loop with two main changes of direction at magnetozones 26–25 (61.5–56.5 Ma) and 24–22 (56.5–48.6 Ma) distinct at a 95% level of probability, and indistinct poles related to magnetozones 29–27 (65.5–61.5 Ma) and 21–19 (48.6–40.6 Ma). We also show that the implied rapid shift of the lithosphere with respect to the geographic pole, possibly an episode of true polar wander, was coeval with the time evolution of vertebrate occurrence on Ellesmere Island (Canadian Arctic) and with the tree ring growth rate in Western Antarctica.