Editing Cambrian (section)

=== Gondwana ===
Gondwana was a massive continent, three times the size of any of the other Cambrian continents. Its continental land area extended from the south pole to north of the equator. Around it were extensive shallow seas and numerous smaller land areas.<ref name="Torsvik-2017" />

The [[craton]]s that formed Gondwana came together during the Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian. A narrow ocean separated [[Amazonian craton|Amazonia]] from Gondwana until c. 530 Ma<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Evans |first=David A. D. |date=2021 |title=Pannotia under prosecution |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP503-2020-182 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=503 |issue=1 |pages=63–81 |doi=10.1144/SP503-2020-182 |bibcode=2021GSLSP.503...63E |issn=0305-8719}}</ref> and the [[Arequipa-Antofalla]] block united with the [[South America]]n sector of Gondwana in the early Cambrian.<ref name="Torsvik-2017" /> The [[Kuunga orogeny|Kuunga Orogeny]] between northern ([[Congo craton|Congo Craton]], [[Madagascar]] and [[Geology of India|India]]) and southern Gondwana ([[Kalahari craton|Kalahari Craton]] and [[East Antarctic Shield|East Antarctica]]), which began c. 570 Ma, continued with parts of northern Gondwana over-riding southern Gondwana and was accompanied by [[metamorphism]] and the [[Igneous intrusion|intrusion]] of [[granite]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Grantham |first1=Geoffrey H. |last2=Satish-Kumar |first2=M. |last3=Horie |first3=Kenji |last4=Ueckermann |first4=Henriette |date=2023 |title=The Kuunga Accretionary Complex of Sverdrupfjella and Gjelsvikfjella, western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmps/118/ANTARCTICA/118_230125/_html/-char/ja |journal=Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences |volume=118 |issue=ANTARCTICA |pages=230125 |doi=10.2465/jmps.230125|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Subduction|Subduction zones]], active since the Neoproterozoic, extended around much of Gondwana's margins, from northwest Africa southwards round South America, [[South Africa]], [[East Antarctic Shield|East Antarctica]], and the eastern edge of West Australia. Shorter subduction zones existed north of [[Arabian-Nubian Shield|Arabia]] and India.<ref name="Torsvik-2017" />

The [[Famatinian orogeny|Famatinian]] [[continental arc]] stretched from central Peru in the north to central Argentina in the south. Subduction beneath this proto-[[Andean orogeny|Andean]] margin began by the late Cambrian.<ref name="Domeier-2016" />

Along the northern margin of Gondwana, between northern Africa and the [[Armorican terrane|Armorican Terranes]] of southern Europe, the continental arc of the [[Cadomian Orogeny]] continued from the Neoproterozoic in response to the [[oblique subduction]] of the Iapetus Ocean.<ref name="Murphy-2021">{{Cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=J. Brendan |last2=Nance |first2=R. Damian |last3=Cawood |first3=Peter A. |last4=Collins |first4=William J. |last5=Dan |first5=Wei |last6=Doucet |first6=Luc S. |last7=Heron |first7=Philip J. |last8=Li |first8=Zheng-Xiang |last9=Mitchell |first9=Ross N. |last10=Pisarevsky |first10=Sergei |last11=Pufahl |first11=Peir K. |last12=Quesada |first12=Cecilio |last13=Spencer |first13=Christopher J. |last14=Strachan |first14=Rob A. |last15=Wu |first15=Lei |date=2021 |title=Pannotia: in defence of its existence and geodynamic significance |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP503-2020-96 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=503 |issue=1 |pages=13–39 |doi=10.1144/SP503-2020-96 |bibcode=2021GSLSP.503...13M |issn=0305-8719|hdl=20.500.11937/90589 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> This subduction extended west along the Gondwanan margin and by c. 530 Ma may have evolved into a major [[transform fault]] system.<ref name="Murphy-2021" />

At c. 511 Ma the [[Flood basalt|continental flood basalts]] of the [[Kalkarindji]] [[large igneous province]] (LIP) began to erupt. These covered an area of > 2.1 × 10<sup>6</sup> km<sup>2</sup> across northern, central and Western Australia regions of Gondwana making it one of the largest, as well as the earliest, LIPs of the Phanerozoic. The timing of the eruptions suggests they played a role in the early to middle Cambrian [[Extinction event|mass extinction]].<ref name="Murphy-2021" />

==== Ganderia, East and West Avalonia, Carolinia and Meguma Terranes ====
The terranes of [[Ganderia]], East and West [[Avalonia]], [[Carolina terrane|Carolinia]] and [[Meguma terrane|Meguma]] lay in polar regions during the early Cambrian, and high-to-mid southern [[latitude]]s by the mid to late Cambrian.<ref name="Domeier-2016" /><ref name="Keppie-2024"/> They are commonly shown as an island arc-transform fault system along the northwestern margin of Gondwana north of northwest Africa and Amazonia, which rifted from Gondwana during the Ordovician.<ref name="Domeier-2016" /> However, some models show these terranes as part of a single independent [[Continental fragment|microcontinent]], Greater Avalonia, lying to the west of Baltica and aligned with its eastern ([[Timanide Orogen|Timanide]]) margin, with the Iapetus to the north and the Ran Ocean to the south.<ref name="Keppie-2024"/>
[[File:Gondwana, China and Siberia.png|thumb|Approximate positions of Siberia, Gondwana, North and South China, Baltica and smaller terranes in the middle Cambrian (c. 500 Ma). AN: Annamia, CM: Central Mongolian terrane, JA: Japan arc, KHT: Kazakhstania terranes, MOO: Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean, NC: North China, QT: Qinling terrane, SC: South China, TA: Tarim microcontinent, VT: Variscan terranes. Plate boundaries: red - subduction; white - ridges; yellow - transform.<ref name="Torsvik-2017" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Domeier |first=Mathew |date=2018-05-01 |title=Early Paleozoic tectonics of Asia: Towards a full-plate model |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987117302074 |journal=Geoscience Frontiers |series=Greenstone belts and their mineral endowment |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=789–862 |doi=10.1016/j.gsf.2017.11.012 |bibcode=2018GeoFr...9..789D |issn=1674-9871|hdl=10852/71215 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> |alt=Paleogeographic map showing Gondwana close to the south pole, Siberia, North and South China near the equator and Baltica to the south of Siberia.]]