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Issue: Vol. 3 No. 2: June 2026
Type: Review
Published: 2026-06-30
DOI: 10.11646/mesozoic.3.2.7
Page range: 207-221
Abstract views: 46
PDF downloaded: 26

Mesozoic true polar wander: Evidence, uncertainties, and the East Asian record

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100049; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100049; China
Capital Normal University; Beijing 100048; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
true polar wander Mesozoic East Asia Pangaea breakup Jurassic monster shift

Abstract

True polar wander reorients the solid Earth relative to the spin axis when mass redistribution changes the planetary inertia tensor. Rather than repeating a general history of true polar wander, this review assesses the confidence of proposed Mesozoic true polar wander events and explores their potential links with independent surface records. Specifically, we evaluate post-Pangaea rotations at ca. 250–200 and 200–150 Ma, the disputed Late Jurassic monster polar shift, smaller Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous rotations and loops, and the Late Cretaceous 86–78 Ma oscillation. Their support varies widely because palaeomagnetic records differ in age control, remanence reliability, and reference-frame dependence, and are susceptible to local rotation, inclination shallowing, remagnetization, and unresolved plate motion. We therefore rank candidates using five criteria: multi-region coherence after plate restoration, robust age control, reliable palaeomagnetic data, geodynamically reasonable amplitude and rate, and surface records that match the predicted geographical pattern. East Asia provides a useful case because competing Jurassic–Early Cretaceous palaeolatitude models can be compared with regional aridification, basin evolution, volcanic-lacustrine deposits, and the Yanliao-Jehol fossil record. True polar wander is unlikely to be a single cause of environmental or biological change; its diagnostic value is spatial, because equatorward, poleward, and return motions should produce different climatic, stratigraphic, and biogeographic patterns. Progress will require tighter chronology, stronger tests of primary remanence, improved plate reconstructions, and explicit comparison of predicted true polar wander sectors with sedimentary, geochemical, palaeoclimate, and fossil archives.

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