Late Mesoproterozoic Rapid True Polar Wander Recorded in the Jingeryu Formation, North China Craton

Disentangling short-duration (≤10 Ma) true polar wander (TPW) events in the Precambrian presents a significant challenge, necessitating the acquisition of high-resolution and -quality paleomagnetic data and well-determined age relations. This study reports new paleomagnetic results from carbonate sequences of the Jingeryu Formation in the North China craton (NCC), which correlate with the lower part of the ca. 1,100 Ma Nanfen Formation. Detailed rock magnetic examination, the presence of magnetic reversals and the distinguishable characteristic remanent magnetization isolated from different parts of the section support the interpretation that the remanence is primary. Integrated with cyclostratigraphic age models, these quasi-continuous data document a rapid paleolatitudinal drift of the NCC from mid-to high-latitudes at ∼28 cm/yr. The average pole shift rate of ∼5.4°/Ma during deposition of the Jingeryu Formation represents a TPW event preceding the ca. 1,109–1,083 Ma volcanism within the North American Midcontinent Rift. This newly identified short-duration TPW episode (∼9.3 Ma duration) likely operated independently from the long-term (ca. 1,165–1,015 Ma) inertial interchange TPW. We interpret this rapid TPW as Earth's rotational response to transient solid Earth mass redistribution during the Nuna–Rodinia supercontinent transition. Mass anomalies arising from widely distributed mafic dike swarms, subduction-related magmatism, and accretionary orogenies may have contributed to this rapid TPW event. Critically, validating this global event requires more high-resolution paleomagnetic records from temporally precisely coeval sections in other continental blocks.