What is Variscan orogeny?
[[File:Distribution of varisican orogenies.png|300px|thumb|Orogenies with similar ages to the Variscan orogeny (shaded)]] The '''Variscan orogeny''' (Hercynian orogeny) is an ancient [[orogeny|mountain-building]] event in the late [[Palaeozoic]] [[era]]. It was caused by a continental collision between [[Euramerica]] ([[Laurussia]]) and [[Gondwana]] to form the [[supercontinent]] of [[Pangaea]].<ref>Matte P. 2001. The Variscan collage and orogeny (480 ±290 mya) and the tectonic definition of the Armorica microplate: a review. ''Terra Nova''. '''13''': 122–128. [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-3121.2001.00327.x]</ref> It explains many older features of the present-day world.<ref>Ziegler P.A. 1990. ''Geological Atlas of Western and Central Europe''. 2nd ed, Shell Internationale Petroleum, Maatschappij BV. ISBN 90-6644-125-9.</ref> The [[Appalachians]] in [[North America]] and the [[Massif Central]] in [[France]] are two examples. Other examples are the [[Pyrenees]], [[Sardinia]], the [[Rhine Massif]], the [[Anti-Atlas]] in [[Morocco]]. To the east, the Variscan caused the [[Urals]], the [[Pamir]], the [[Tian Shan]] mountains. This geologic mountain-building event took place mostly in the [[Devonian]] and [[Carboniferous]] periods. By then Pangaea was more or less complete. In the [[Triassic]] period of the [[Mesozoic]], there was land between [[Siberia]] over the [[North Pole]] to [[Antarctica]] over the South Pole. Later in the Mesozoic, the opening of the [[Atlantic]] split Pangea. The various parts of the huge mountain belts ended up widely apart on the modern globe. Higher mountain chains on present-day [[Earth]] are the product of a later episode of mountain-building known as the [[Alpine orogeny]]. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Orogenies]] [[Category:Palaeozoic]]