Four paleomagnetic poles are reported from red beds of the Adrar de Mauritanie, cratonic West Africa. Thirteen localities were occupied, and 224 samples were collected in seven units from a middle Proterozoic to early Paleozoic sedimentary section. Two poles are reported from middle and late Proterozoic strata; a third pole is reported from Cambrian strata. The magnetizations for these reside in stable high-temperature components, revealed by progressive thermal demagnetization analysis to 675 ¿C. The fourth pole is interpreted to reflect a Permian overprinting in the Cambrian strata. Two Cambrian-Ordovician units sampled contained directions too scattered to allow the calculation of any pole. The pole from middle Proterozoic strata (998¿32 Ma; Rb-Sr date on argillite), derived from four localities (52 samples, single polarity), plots at 48.7 ¿N, 206.9 ¿E (dp=1.1¿, dm=2.9¿). The pole from late Proterozoic strata (775¿52 Ma; Rb-Sr date), derived from two localities (15 samples, mixed polarity), plots at 34.0 ¿N, 246.9 ¿E (dp=4.6¿, dm=8.6¿). Neither has correlatives in age in the paleomagnetic data set for cratonic West Africa, nor are there obvious correlatives with the paleomagnetic data set from the remainder of Africa. The pole that we cosider to reflect a Cambrian direction comes from three localities (23 samples, mixed polarity), plotting at 0.3 ¿S, 249.3 ¿E (dp=5.7¿, dm=11.5¿).

Its antiparallel pole corresponds with one group of Cambrian poles reported from Africa but differs markedly from another group of Cambrian poles. The late Paleozoic overprint direction obtained from three units (50 samples from four localities, single polarity) provides a (reversed polarity) pole that plots at 47.2 ¿S, 42.6 ¿E (dp=1.5¿, dm=3.0¿), which is in good agreement with Permian poles reported from elsewhere in Africa. In spite of the large number of poles already reported from Africa. In spite of the large number of poles already reported from Africa, additional data are needed before a reliable apparent polar wandering path can be constructed for the Paleozoic and Proterozoic of Africa. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988