Editing Palaeogeography

{{Short description|Study of physical geography of past landscapes}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Palaeography]], the study of ancient handwriting}}
[[File:Eastern North American Paleogeography Middle Devonian.gif|thumb|upright=1.2|Paleogeographic reconstruction showing the [[Appalachian Basin]] area during the [[Middle Devonian]] period.<ref name="url">{{cite web |url=http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/rcb7/nam.html
 |title=Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America
 |first=Ron |last=Blakey |publisher=Northern Arizona University
 |work=Global Plate Tectonics and Paleogeography |access-date=2008-07-04
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621201253/http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/rcb7/nam.html
 |archive-date=2008-06-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
{{Geography sidebar}}

'''Palaeogeography''' (or '''paleogeography''') is the study of [[historical geography]], generally physical [[landscape]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|author=Stanley, Steven M.|author2=Luczaj, John A. |title=Earth system history
 |isbn=978-1-4292-5526-4|edition=4th|location=New York |oclc=881875780|year=2014}}</ref>  Palaeogeography can also include the study of human or cultural environments.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} When the focus is specifically on [[landform]]s, the term paleogeomorphology is sometimes used instead. [[Paleomagnetism]], [[paleobiogeography]], and [[Tectonics|tectonic]] history are among its main tools.

Palaeogeography yields information that is crucial to scientific understanding in a variety of contexts. For example, palaeogeographical analysis of [[sedimentary basins]] plays a key role in the field of [[petroleum geology]], because ancient [[geomorphological]] environments of the [[Earth]]'s surface are preserved in the [[stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] record.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Königshof|first=P.|date=2009|title=Devonian change: case studies in palaeogeography and palaeoecology – an introduction|journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications|language=en|volume=314|issue=1|pages=1–6|doi=10.1144/SP314.1|bibcode=2009GSLSP.314....1K|s2cid=129313287|issn=0305-8719}}</ref> Palaeogeographers also study the [[Sedimentary depositional environment|sedimentary environment]] associated with [[fossils]] for clues to the [[evolution]]ary development of extinct species.<ref name=":1" /> Palaeogeography is furthermore crucial to the understanding of [[palaeoclimatology]], due to the impact of the positions of continents and oceans on influencing global and regional climates.<ref name="GlobalPlateBoundaryEvolutionAndKinematics">{{cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=Kara J. |last2=Maloney |first2=Kayla T. |last3=Zahirovic |first3=Sabin |last4=Williams |first4=Simon E. |last5=Seton |first5=Maria |last6=Müller |first6=R. Dietmar |date=November 2016 |title=Global plate boundary evolution and kinematics since the late Paleozoic |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818116302417 |journal=[[Global and Planetary Change]] |volume=146 |pages=226–250 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2016.10.002 |bibcode=2016GPC...146..226M |hdl=2123/20837 |s2cid=133473925 |access-date=26 November 2022|hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Palaeogeographical evidence contributed to the development of [[continental drift]] theory, and continues to inform current [[plate tectonics|plate tectonic]] theories, yielding information about the shape and latitudinal location of [[supercontinent]]s such as [[Pangaea]] and ancient oceans such as [[Panthalassa]], thus enabling [[Plate reconstruction|reconstruction]] of prehistoric continents and oceans.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Torsvik, Trond H.|author2=L. Robin M. Cocks|title=Earth history and palaeogeography|isbn=978-1-107-10532-4|location=Cambridge, UK|oclc=968155663|year=2017}}</ref>

==See also==

* {{annotated link|Paleoclimatology}}
* {{annotated link|Paleoceanography}}
* {{annotated link|Paleocontinent}}
* {{annotated link|Paleoecology}}
* {{annotated link|Paleogeography of the India–Asia collision system}}
* {{annotated link|Paleohydrology}}
* {{annotated link|Paleontology}}, often involving [[fossil]]s and pollen ([[palynology]]).
* {{annotated link|Paleopedology}}
* {{annotated link|Paleosol}}
* {{annotated link|Physical geography}}
* {{annotated link|Plate tectonics}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |first=Edward |last=Irving |title=The Role of Latitude in Mobilism Debates |journal=PNAS |date=February 8, 2005 |pages=1821–1828 |volume=102 |issue=6 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0408162101|bibcode = 2005PNAS..102.1821I |pmid=15684058 |pmc=548542|doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Palaeogeography}}
*[https://map.paleoenvironment.eu An interactive tool to visualize paleogeography and reconstruct data (map.paleoenvironment.eu)]
*[https://deeptimemaps.com/ Deep Time Maps]
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[[Category:Paleogeography| ]]
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