Following the pioneering works on plate tectonic reconstructions, paleomagnetism has been increasingly used as a fundamental tool to assess the tectonic evolution of deformed areas all over the world because of its great and exclusive potential in quantifying vertical axis-rotations in an absolute way. In the last 50 years paleomagnetic data have been extensively applied to tackle tectonic problems at different scales in several orogenic systems. In particular, paleomagnetism has been increasingly used as key quantitative information for unravelling tectonic deformation in fold and thrust belts and for defining the timing of the bending by its ability to determine the distribution and magnitude of vertical axis rotations. Together with classic structural geology analysis, reliable paleomagnetic vectors allow a spatial and temporal understanding of fold and thrust belts, including complex case-studies of non-cylindrical and non-coaxial structures. For this reason, paleomagnetism has been recently proposed as a primary tool to restore (and validate) 3D geological reconstructions with a lower level of uncertainty (an old idea suggested 20 years ago).

This session is intended to stimulate researchers in presenting recent advances, methodological developments in paleomagnetism, and applications of paleomagnetic studies to fold and thrust belts or other deformed systems. We focus on 1) the analysis of resolution and reliability of data as well as the establishment of error sources. 2) the contribution provided by paleomagnetic data in understanding kinematics of geological structures at different scales (from local to global). 3) We welcome works dealing with quantitative assessment of the amount and the timing of vertical axis rotations to analyse the amount and the rate of tectonic processes. 4) Studies of complex tectonic structures, as well as integration of paleomagnetic and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) analyses are also very welcome.

Solicited Speakers:
Arlo B. Weil
Massimo Mattei