NO RELATIVE ROTATION DETECTED BETWEEN CORSICA AND SARDINIA

Forty dikes of Upper Paleozoic age have been investigated paleomagnetically on both sides of the Straits of Bonifacio to detect a possible rotation of Sardinia relative to Corsica. A primary component of magnetization has been isolated after thermal and alternating field cleaning. Eleven sites in Corsica yield a paleomagnetic mean of D = 134.7, I = -11.3 (α95 = 6.8), while 11 sites from Sardinia showed a paleomagnetic mean of D = 132.7, I = -1.6 (α95 = 7.3). The two directions are not significantly different at the 95% confidence level. No relative rotation between Corsica and Sardinia occurred across the Bonifacio Straits and the two islands maintained the present spatial relationship since the Upper Paleozoic. A mean paleomagnetic direction of D = 133.7, I = -6.5 (α95 = 5.1) for the Sardo-Corso Massif yield a corresponding virtual mean pole position at 249.4°E, 33.7°N coincident with Upper Paleozoic data of the Mediterranean region. This data implies about 70° of counterclockwise rotation of the block respect stable Europe. © 1990.