What is Laramide orogeny?
[[File:Shallow subduction Laramide orogeny.gif|thumb|right|336px|The Laramide orogeny was caused by subduction of a plate at a shallow angle.]] The '''Laramide orogeny''' was a time of [[mountain]] building in western [[North America]]. It started in the [[Upper Cretaceous]], 70 to 80 million years ago. It ended 35 to 55 million years ago. The Laramide orogeny occurred in a series of pulses, with quiet phases in between. The main feature was a deep-seated [[orogeny]], from [[Canada]] to northern [[Mexico]]. The easternmost mountain-building is the [[Black Hills]] of [[South Dakota]]. When [[Pangaea]] broke up, the Americas moved West. The buckling effect of this was the [[Andes]] and the [[Rockies]]. They over-rode existing continental plates and buckled up to produce the mountain ranges on the west of the Americas.<ref>English, Joseph M. & Johnston, Stephen T. 2004. The Laramide Orogeny: what were the driving forces?. ''International Geology Review''. '''46''' (9): 833–838. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2747/0020-6814.46.9.833]</ref> == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Orogenies]] [[Category:Geography of North America]] [[Category:Geology]]