The Vérard et al. (2015) method for 3D palaeogeographic reconstructions: How solid is its base?

• Main Author: A.J. (Tom) van Loon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2015-07-01
• Series: Journal of Palaeogeography
• Subjects: palaeogeography; reconstruction; 3D model
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095383615000048

Veacute;rard and co-workers proposed in an earlier issue of this journal a method to reconstruct the 3D palaeogeography “anywhere in the world at any time”. The present contribution is a discussion of some of the assumptions on which the method of Veacute;rard et al. is based. The reason for this discussion is that the method will give, at least seemingly, illogical outcomes for numerous situations. Moreover, some assumptions used by Veacute;rard and his team pose theoretical problems. It is deduced that the method developed by Veacute;rard and co-workers may occasionally help, indeed, to obtain a rough picture of the altitude of the sedimentary surface on the continents and of the depth of the sedimentary surface in the oceans in the geological past. The outcomes should, however, be treated with utmost care as several of the assumptions on which the interpretative 3D method is based have no solid basis, so that even the rough outcomes of the method must be considered questionable.