ABSTRACT
Recent attempts to reconcile Paleozoic plate reconstructions based on paleomagnetic data and paleoclimatic data have largely been unsuccessful. Paleomagnetic data tends to place various Asian blocks such as Siberia and Kazakhstan in high latitudinal positions, but fossil data suggests these blocks were located in temperate to tropical climatic conditions, but fossil data suggests these blocks were located in temperate to tropical climatic conditions. As an example of this, we have recently collected a large, diverse Famennian echinoderm fauna from the northern margin of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang Province, China. By Famennian time, this area formed the leading edge of Kazakhstan as it converged with the Tarim block. Final suturing between these blocks occurred in the Late Paleozoic. Although the echinoderm fauna has strong tropical affinities, new paleomagnetic data place the Junggar block at 45° North latitude during the Late Devonian.
