Paleogeographic provinciality is a subject that has attracted attention for more than 150 years. Most of the early models of distribution of paleogeographic provinces conformed to the concept that the major cratonic areas of the world had remained geographically stable through geologic time and that the rate of dispersal of biota through barriers between these stable areas varied during geologic history. Such models were challenged critically by the concept of "drifting" continents. The recent model of plate tectonics appears to present a mechanism for moving and variously connecting and disconnecting cratonic masses. This idea has resulted in renewed interest in many different fields of geology and suggests reevaluation of all types of pertinent data that bear on the sub ect of paleogeographic provinces.

The intent of the 1972 SEPM Research Symposium is to examine many of the different aspects that contribute to the development, changes, and stability of provinciality and the paleogeographic patterns of different types of provinciality. A broad spectrum of interpretations on this diverse subject is drawn from sedimentology, oceanography, zoology, paleontology, paleobotany, clay mineralogy, tectonics, climatology, and paleomagnetism. These interpretations outline the magnitude, extent, and direction of many changes in physical and paleobiological geography during the geologic past.

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