Reconstructions of the continents around the North Atlantic at about the 60th parallel

Late Carboniferous-Early Tertiary apparent polar wander (APW) paths (300-40 Ma) for North America and Europe have been tested in various reconstructio ns. These paths demonstrate that the 500 fathom Bullard et al. fit is excel lent from Late Carboniferous to Late Triassic times, but the continental co nfiguration in northern Pangea changed systematically between the Late Tria ssic (ca. 214 Ma) and the Mid-Jurassic (ca. 170 Ma) due to pre-drift extens ion. Best fit North Atlantic reconstructions minimize differences in the La te Carboniferous-Early Jurassic and Late Cretaceous-Tertiary segments of th e APW paths, but an enigmatic difference exists in the paths for most of th e Jurassic, whereas for the Early Cretaceous the data from Europe are nearl y non-existent. Greenland's position is problematic in a Bullard et al. fit , because of a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic regime of compression (> 300 km ) that would be inherently required for the Norwegian Shelf and the Barents Sea, but which is geologically not defensible. We suggest a radically new fit for Greenland in between Europe and North America in the Early Mesozoic . This fit keeps Greenland 'locked' to Europe for the Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic and maintains a reconstruction that better complies with the offsh ore geological history of the Norwegian Shelf and the Barents Sea. Pre-drif t (A24) extension amounted to approximately 450 km on the Mid-Norwegian She lf but with peak extension in the Late Cretaceous. (C) 2001 Published by El sevier Science B.V.