Late Palaeozoic–Mesozoic geomagnetic reversal paths and core-mantle boundary

An analysis of transitional virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) from the Late Permain-Early Triassic through to the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, shows them to be located in preferred areas which coincide with present-day zones of fast seismic velocity at the core–mantle boundary (CMB), as has been observed for Late Cainozoic transitional VGP paths. It is therefore suggested that the similar geometries of Late Palaeozoic–Mesozoic and Late Cainozoic polarity transitions have been impressed by sources of the CMB which have persisted through the Mesozoic and Tertiary to the present.