| Caledonian Orogeny |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT CALEDONIAN OROGENY | |
| orogeny | |
| silurian | |
| devonian | |
| geology of the united kingdom | |
| geology of norway | |
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The Mesozoic Era is marked by the existence of a supercontinent, Pangaea , in which most of the land mass was conjoined into a single large continent surrounded by a single large ocean, Panthalassa . The Caledonian range already existed and was contiguous to the ancestor of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. The origin of the Caledonian range occurred earlier, during the assembly of Pangaea by the convergence of more ancient plates. In the preceding Ordovician Period, ca. 488-444 Mya, the largest continent, Gondwana , containing the plates of the future Africa , South America , and Antarctica , was located between the South Pole and the Equator . A second land mass, Laurentia , containing the future northeast section of North America , straddled the equator. To the northeast was the Siberian Plate, separated from Gondwana by the Palaeotethys Ocean; to the southeast, the Baltic Plate, or Baltica , separated from Gondwana by Iapetus Ocean . In the Iapetus Ocean was a long Archipelago , Avalonia , containing New England , Nova Scotia and the British Isles . It was divided from Gondwana by an oceanic Rift . In the Ordovician Period, the rift began to open, pushing Baltica and Avalonia in the direction of Laurentia by sea-floor spreading. Baltica and northern Avalonia collided first, causing the Caledonian Origeny of the Silurian. At the end of the Silurian and in the subsequent Devonian, the rest of Avalonia collided, causing the Acadian Orogeny of North America, which raised the early Appalachian Mountains . EXTERNAL LINKS
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