Fig. 4: Hypothetical latitudinal motions typical of 0–600 Myr plate tectonics.
From: Hadaean to Palaeoarchaean stagnant-lid tectonics revealed by zircon magnetism
a, Two hypothetical continents, one backtracked north (blue) and the other south (red, orange), from a starting latitude of 24.5° corresponding to the 3.4–3.45-Ga palaeolatitude of the BGS13 (hemisphere is unknown and arbitrarily set as N). Northward motion (blue arrow) and maximum latitudinal motion (Δλ) highlighted. Blue square represents the median Δλ value observed for continental plates of the past 600 Myr. b, Same as a but the continent backtracked south is highlighted (in red and red arrow). Red square represents the median maximum latitudinal value observed for continental plates of the past 600 Myr. c, Dipole relationship between field intensity and latitude, set to the palaeolatitude of the BGS at 3.4–3.45 Ga (hemisphere is unknown and arbitrarily set as N), and the BGS/JH field strength value. Squares as in a and b. d, BGS and JH palaeointensity data (W. Australia + S. Africa) shown as the standard error of the 100-Myr bin mean (violet band) with predicted latitude history for a site moving northward (a) or southward (b). Squares as in a and b. Open circles are the values for which the backtracked palaeolatitude began to differ from the observations. e, 2D histogram of the relative latitudinal distance and maximum latitude motion (Δλ) characteristics of equatorial crossing plates of the past 600 Myr. Colour scale shows the number of unique plate pairs that exhibit motion as in b. Data are grouped into 2.5° bins. Dashed lines are the BGS/JH palaeointensity constraints (d; see ‘Statistical analysis of BGS and JH zircon palaeointensity data’ section in Methods). f, Expanded view of e, shown as the probability of sampling a pair of equatorial crossing plates with these relative latitudinal distance and Δλ characteristics. Dashed lines and arrows are the BGS/JH palaeointensity constraints.
