Research team times breakup of Baltica, Laurentia ancient supercontinents

A team of scientists from China and Yale University have found evidence detailing a direct link between Baltica and Laurentia, a pair of supercontinents that existed during the Meso to Neoproterozoic Era.

According to the research, published by Science Direct, the geologic and paleomagnetic history indicated that the two continents were connected in both the Nuna and Rodinia supercontinents in different orientations.

The study, according to data in Science Direct, continues to follow existing paleomagnetic data that hypothesizes that the two continents were linked until about 1.27 billion years ago, when the slit and Baltica shifted by 90 degrees from Laurentia.

Over the years, scientists have debated the tectonic mode during this period in the early Earth’s history, according to data published in Science Direct. One camp of scientists maintains a single-lid tectonic system was under way during the Nuna and Rodinia supercontinent periods from 1.6 billion to 1 billion years ago.

Moreover, the research sheds light on the ever-evolving geologic and tectonic processes that shaped Earth during its earliest periods, according to the publication. The latest discovery shifts the theories about how Baltica and Laurentia were connected and how the planet’s land masses shifted during the Meso to Neoproterozoic Era.

The study, according to the report, also spotlights the need to use multiple paleomagnetic and geological data to uncover the mysteries of the earliest periods in Earth’s history.