Geodynamic implications of paleomagnetic data from Tertiary sediments in Sakhalin, Russia (NW Pacific)

N‐S trending right‐lateral strike‐slip faults, which were active in the Tertiary, transect Sakhalin, Russia, while Mesozoic forearc and accretionary rocks testify to an earlier period of subduction. Several kinematic models have been proposed for the region, but the details required to constrain these models, such as the timing of the transition from subduction to strike‐slip tectonics in Sakhalin, are still unknown. Even first‐order tectonic features, such as the boundaries of the plates with which Sakhalin evolved during the Tertiary, are poorly known. Paleomagnetic results from around Sakhalin were obtained to constrain the geodynamic evolution of the region. Comparison of paleomagnetic inclination data with the apparent polar wander paths for the Eurasian, Pacific, and North American Plates suggests that Sakhalin probably evolved with the North American Plate, although a history including the Eurasian Plate cannot be ruled out. Paleomagnetic declination data suggest that significant clockwise vertical axis rotation has occurred in Sakhalin since the mid‐Paleocene. It is likely that this rotational deformation was accommodated by Tertiary activity on right‐lateral strike‐slip faults, which may be associated with the opening of the Japan Sea, Tatar Strait, and Kuril Basin. These data contradict a published kinematic model for eastern Sakhalin, where counterclockwise vertical axis rotations were predicted for Neogene basins in the East Sakhalin Mountains. Agreement is better, however, with published paleomagnetic data from southern Sakhalin, where clockwise vertical axis rotations were documented.