Ancient Supercontinents and the Paleogeography of Earth

Lauri J. Pesonen is an Emeritus Professor of solid earth geophysics at Physics Department of University of Helsinki. He is a graduate at the Helsinki University of Technology and obtained PhD in 1978 at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and has been the president of the Geophysical Society of Finland, and the Chair of Divison III (Paleomagnetism) of IUGG/IAGA during 1993_x0001_97. The IUA AU:1 nominated the asteroid 1979A as “Pesonen” according to his activities in studies of super_x0002_continents and meteorite impacts. He received the Knight Medal of the First Class Finnish Lion in 1995. Lauri is author or coauthor of over 150 peer-reviewed articles. He initiated the Nordic Paleomagnetism Workshops and was a key-person in the developments of the Precambrian (PALEOMAGIA) and Holocene (GEOMAGIA) paleomagnetic databases. Lauri organized the International Supercontinent Symposium in 2012 in Helsinki. He has had academic (teaching and research) positions in Canada, Estonia, Norway, Germany, India, and Colombia. His research topics spread from supercontinents to the Earth’s ancient magnetic field, impact structures, meteorite petrophysics, archeomagnet_x0002_ism, environmental magnetism, and biomagnetism. He has built three paleomagnetism laboratories, the first one at the Geological Survey of Finland, the second at the University of Helsinki, the third in Tarto University, Estonia. His latest interests include constructions of exhibitions of meteorites and impactites at several Finnish museums. Johanna M. Salminen is a Docent at the University of Helsinki and has been leading the research of its Solid Earth Geophysics Laboratory during 2014_x0001_21. Since August 2021, she has been the Director of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Geological Survey of Finland. She earned an MSc in Geophysics (2004) and a PhD in Solid Earth Geophysics (2009) from the University of Helsinki. Her research interests lie in continental reconstructions, Precambrian supercontinents, deep-time evolution of the Earth, Cenozoic magnetostrati_x0002_graphy, environmental magnetism, and biomagnetism. Her professional recognitions include Academy of Finland Research Fellowship (2015_x0001_20) and Early Career Scientist Award by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IAGA) (2015). She is a coleader of the Deep Time Digital Earth paleomagnetism working group Sten-Åke Elming is Prof. Emeritus in Geophysics, , Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology. He is a graduate of Uppsala University and obtained a PhD in Geophysics at Luleå University of Technology (1982). Sten-Åke is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (2006) and was a member of the Academy jury for the Craaford prize in geosciences, 2014. He has been in the committee and steering group for geosciences of the Swedish Natural Science Research Council. He has been building research capacity and departments in Geophysics/geosciences at universities in developing countries, including Nicaragua, Thailand and Mozambique. Sten-Åke is the author and co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles on topics that include basic as well as applied research, with focus on paleomagnetism and plate tectonics, rock magnetism, regional geophysics, exploration of water and mineral resources. He established and supported the building of two paleomagnetic laboratories, one at Luleå University of Technology and another at Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. David A.D. Evans is a professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University and the Director of its Paleomagnetism Laboratory. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology & Geophysics from Yale University (1992) and a PhD in Geology from the California Institute of Technology (1998). He is author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications on paleo_x0002_magnetism and evolution of Earth’s geodynamo, Precambrian supercontinent reconstruc_x0002_tions, and deep-time paleoclimatology and evolution. His professional accolades include a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, Blavatnik Award Finalist, and the George P. Woollard Award of the Geological Society of America “for outstanding contributions to geology through the application of the principles and techniques of geophysics.” He has led two UNESCO International Geoscience Program (IGCP) projects on Precambrian super_x0002_continents. Since 2016, he has served as Head of Berkeley College, a residential college at Yale University. Toni Veikkolainen is a geophysicist at the Institute of Seismology, University of Helsinki. He completed his PhD degree in 2014. His thesis handled the geocentric axial dipole model of the Precambrian geomagnetic field. He has been the first author or coauthor in 16 peer_x0002_reviewed publications on various aspects of geophysics, from supercontinent reconstruc_x0002_tions to theoretical aspects of paleomagnetic data, and seismic and thermal structure of the Fennoscandian lithosphere. He has been the administrator of the global paleomagnetic data_x0002_base PALEOMAGIA since 2014. He has served as the secretary of the Geophysical Society of Finland since 2013. He is an active member of the Finnish amateur astronomy commu_x0002_nity and has significantly contributed to the dissemination of scientific knowledge to the public. Currently, he works with the development of seismological analysis systems and databases and monitoring of seismic risk associated with commercial projects.