avalonian terranes that constitute avalonia are the following modern-day regions: northern france, belgium (the ardennes), england, wales, southeastern ireland, eastern newfoundland, nova scotia, southern new brunswick and some coastal parts of new england. the basement consisted of late precambrian age arc rocks, and is believed to come from the margin of gondwana, sometime in the early ordovician. avalonia rifted from gondwana, during the onset of igneous activity in the ardennes, wales, and se ireland that consumed the tornquist sea oceanic crust. it drifted in a northerly direction and probably collided with baltica in the late ordovician, and then with laurentia in the late devonian. evidence for this is consistent with paleomagnetic data which place avalonia at a temperate latitude during the ordovician and in a subtropical latitude during the late ordovician through the devonian.