This worked involved the documentation of 'polar wander paths' for the continents of Gondwaland, through the analysis of their ancient magnetic signatures.
From there, Briden went to the University of Leeds, which had a strong African geology research group led by Robert Shackleton.
[4] He also began to use paleomagnetic techniques in younger rocks to look at the cooling, uplift and erosion histories of the Caledonian mountains.
[1] Briden was appointed professor of geophysics in Leeds in 1975,[5] and was awarded the Murchison Medal in 1984 in recognition of his work on paleomagnetism.
[1] In 1986, Briden was appointed to the new position of director of Earth Sciences for the UK research funding agency, NERC.