摘要：During the late Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian, fundamental changes to global plate motions were accompa- nied by the final breakup of Rodinia and the amalgamation of Gondwana. The ancient margins of Gondwana record a highly varied evolution during the Paleozoic. Some parts of that mar- gin were severed and displaced, were incorporated into younger Paleozoic orogens and were further dispersed by the breakup of Pangaea. Other parts of the margin, although tectonically active, remained either attached or proximal to that margin. The term ‘peri-Gondwanan terranes’ was origi- nally introduced as a collective term to describe terranes along the northern margin of Gondwana, but in this spe- cial publication, the term is used more generally to include all Paleozoic ter- ranes that originated along the periph- ery of Gondwana.
