Palaeomagnetism in the Coronation Geosyncline and arrangement of continents in the middle Proterozoic

The supracrustal rocks of the Coronation Geosyncline and associated aulacogen contain upwards of 10 000 m of rocks with good stratigraphic control. In this paper new palaeomagnetic poles from four rock units are described, bringing the total from the sequence to 10. The poles are as follows: Seton Formation 02° N, 093° W, A93= 6°, Rb/Sr isochron — 1870 Ma; Douglas Peninsula Formation 17° S, 102° W, A95= 16°; Takiyuak Formation 13° S, 111° W, A95= 8°; Peninsular sill 22° S, 097° W, A95= 7°, Rb/Sr isochron — 1800 Ma. Overprinted magnetizations from the Seton and Douglas Peninsula Formations are described. The poles from the Coronation Geosyncline delineate a polar loop — the Coronation loop. Two previously observed poles from the Stark and Tochatwi do not fall on this loop and new evidence is presented which indicates that they have been affected by local rotations. Comparisons are made with results from Africa and Australia, and it is argued that there is no basis in the palaeomagnetic evidence for the proposition that the continental crust was assembled into a single unchanged pangaea during the whole of the interval −2200 to −1300 Ma.