Based on an entirely redesigned concept, this map integrates the state of the art geological knowledge of our planet at the turning-point of the XX/XXI centuries. This 3rd edition of the map intends to give a better global overview of the mega-structures, and the most important geological assemblages resulting from the complex history of our planet throughout 4 billion years.
A cartography significantly improved, in particular as concerned: the limit between continental crust/oceanic crust; major continental faults and oceanic fracture zones; axes of oceanic accretion; subduction zones; sedimentary accretionary prisms, morphostructures of the seafloor (seamounts, hotspot tracks, etc.)
Several innovations such as: representation of the continental platform (<200m); subdivision of the Proterozoic in 3 eras; discrimination of "Large Igneous Provinces" (LIP) since the end of the Paleozoïc (continental traps, "oceanic plateaus") with indication of mean age of the major volcanic episode; representation of 45 "hotspots"; crustal deformation zones (diffuse boundary) between some plates; distribution of Meso-Cenozoic ophiolites, etc. This sheet includes two legends, one for the onshore zones and another for the offshore, and an inset with data on the 45 "hotspots".
