Figure 1
From: The initial break-up of Pangæa elicited by Late Palæozoic deglaciation
Early Permian paleo-geographic map reconstructions of Pangæa via open-source software GPlates 1.5 and the database provided within: http://www.gplates.org/index.html.
Please refer to “method” section for detailed settings and list of references. Further geological features such as: pre-existing suture15, orogeny belts and glacial deposits (Dataset S1) are superimposed on the paleo-geographic locations. (a) Gondwana during the Gzhelian stage (299 Ma–303 Ma) showing the distribution of pre-existing Precambrian (thick green lines) and Cambrian (thick purple lines) suture zones and orogenic belts (dark brown region). The pink region marks the distribution of Pan-African (ca. 500 Ma) magmatism45. The continent rift margin that separated the Cimmerian terranes is marked by dark green dashed line that does not follow pre-existing suture zones but cuts through Pan-African (500 Ma) magmatic rocks. (b) Glacial cover before the Gzhelian stage (299 Ma–303 Ma) indicated by the distribution of glacial deposits on land (grey cross, Dataset S1). (c) Maximum glacial extent through Asselian to Sakmarian stage (290 Ma–299 Ma) indicated by the distribution of glacial deposits on land (grey cross) and glacial marine diamictite (grey diamond). (d) The beginning of Neotethys rifting and breakoff of Cimmerian terranes around the Artinskian stage (280 Ma–290 Ma). The blue square (Oman), red circle (Kashmir) and orange cross (Tibet) mark the location of Early Permian basalts. The red region marks the continent rift margin. Both temporal and geographical correlation can be observed for the glacial retreat, continent rift margin and the distribution of Early Permian basalts. (e) Continued spreading of the Neotethys Ocean and further rifting between Africa, India and Australia (red region) during the Rodian stage (269 Ma–272 Ma). (f) Fracture tessellation defined by major rift margins around Jurassic time (~200 Ma). Such configuration is similar to an icosahedron arrangement composed of numerous pentagons with hexagons as marked by the white dashed lines10.
