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Avalonia

The Old Red Sandstone Continent in the Devonian

Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Palaeozoic era. Parts of this old microcontinent lie under south-west Great Britain, southern Ireland, and the eastern coast of North America. Bits of it are in Europe, Canada, and parts of the East coast of the United States. Avalonia is named after the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland.

Location of the Caledonian/Acadian mountain chains in the Early Devonian Epoch. Present day coastlines are shown for reference. Red lines are sutures, capitalized names are the different continents/super-terranes that joined during the Caledonian orogeny.

Avalonia started as a chain of volcanoes on the northern margin of Gondwana. It became a drifting microcontinent. The Iapetus Ocean in front of it slowly shrank.

Avalonia collided with other continents. It ended up in the middle of Pangaea. When Pangaea broke up, Avalonia's remains were divided by the rift which became the Atlantic Ocean.

That is how it came to be part in western Europe, and part in eastern North America.

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Avalonia
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