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A significant number of new palaeomagnetic poles have become available since the last time a compilation was made (assembled in 2005, published in 2008) to indicate to us that a new and significantly expanded set of tables with palaeomagnetic results would be valuable, with results coming from the Gondwana cratonic elements, Laurentia, Baltica/Europe, and Siberia. Following the Silurian Caledonian Orogeny, Laurentia's and Baltica's apparent polar wander paths (APWPs) can be merged into a Laurussia path, followed in turn by a merger of the Laurussia and Siberia data from latest Permian time onward into a Laurasian combined path. Meanwhile, after about 320 Ma, Gondwana's and Laurussia/Laurasia's path can be combined into what comes steadily closer to the ideal of a Global Apparent Polar Wander Path (GAPWaP) for late Palaeozoic and younger times. Tests for True Polar Wander (TPW) episodes are now feasible since Pangaea fusion and we identify four important episodes of Mesozoic TPW between 250 and 100 Ma. TPW rates are in the order of 0.45-0.8o/M.y. but cumulative TPW is nearly zero since the Late Carboniferous. With the exception of a few intervals where data are truly scarce (e.g., 390–340 Ma), the palaeomagnetic database is robust and allows us to make a series of new palaeogeographic reconstructions from the Late Cambrian to the Palaeogene.

The Nyanzian System lavas of western Kenya are believed to be the oldest rocks of the Tanzanian Craton. Intrusive age relationships suggest an age [ges]2850 Ma although direct attempts at dating the Nyanzian have produced disparate results. Our study involves a suite of samples collected from the Nyanzian basalts, pillow basalts, andesites and rhyolites from sixteen sites in western Kenya. These rocks yield a tilt-corrected paleomagnetic pole at 14[deg]N, 150[deg]E (K=59, dp=5[deg], dm=7[deg]). This pole is constrained to be older than the first (D1) deformation (>2472+/-30 Ma) by positive fold, conglomerate and reversal tests. Analysis of the paleomagnetic data base for three African cratonic nuclei (Tanzanian, Kaapvaal/Zimbabwe and West Africa) for the time period from 2.0 Ga to 3.0 Ga demonstrates a paucity of well-dated poles, although there are several poles from the Kaapvaal/Zimbabwe and Tanzanian Cratons which allow "spot-readings" of their relative positions. We demonstrate, based on these data, that the Kaapvaal/Zimbabwe and Tanzanian Cratons were drifting independently at ~ 2875 Ma, ~ 2700 Ma and ~ 2450 Ma. This independent motion of the Tanzanian and Kaapvaal/Zimbabwe Cratons indicates that previously proposed models involving African cratonic coherence can no longer be considered valid for the time period from 2850 to 2500 Ma.

Late Carboniferous–Early Tertiary apparent polar wander (APW) paths (300–40 Ma) for North America and Europe have been tested in various reconstructions. These paths demonstrate that the 500 fathom Bullard et al. fit is excellent from Late Carboniferous to Late Triassic times, but the continental configuration in northern Pangea changed systematically between the Late Triassic (ca. 214 Ma) and the Mid-Jurassic (ca. 170 Ma) due to pre-drift extension. Best fit North Atlantic reconstructions minimize differences in the Late Carboniferous–Early Jurassic and Late Cretaceous–Tertiary segments of the APW paths, but an enigmatic difference exists in the paths for most of the Jurassic, whereas for the Early Cretaceous the data from Europe are nearly 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 offshore geological history of the Norwegian Shelf and the Barents Sea. Pre-drift (A24) extension amounted to approximately 450 km on the Mid-Norwegian Shelf but with peak extension in the Late Cretaceous.