The Caledonian orogeny is a mountain building event recorded in the mountains and hills of northern Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, and west Norway. This event occurred during the Silurian and Devonian Periods of the Palaeozoic Era, roughly 444-416 Mya. This orogeny has been named for Caledonia, the Latin name for Scotland. Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom, England and Wales and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... The Silurian is a major division of the geologic timescale that extends from the end of the Ordovician period, about 443. ... == == Disambiguation: Devonian is sometimes used to refer to the Southwestern Brythonic language, and the people of the county of Devon are sometimes referred to as Devonians The Devonian is a geologic period of the Paleozoic era. ... The Palaeozoic is a major division of the geologic timescale, one of four geologic eras. ... Orogeny is the process of mountain building, and as such is both a tectonic structural event, a geographical event and a chronological event, in that orogenic events happen within a time frame, affect certain regions of rocks and crust, and cause distinctive structural phenomena and related tectonic activity. ... Caledonia is an old Latin name (given by the Roman Empire) for a region corresponding approximately to the part of modern-day Scotland north of a line between the estuaries of the rivers Forth and Clyde. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

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 Mesozoic is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. ... Map of Pangaea Pangaea separation animation Pangaea or Pangea (derived from Παγγαία, Greek for all earth) is the name given to the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, before the process of plate tectonics separated each of the component continents into their current configuration. ... Panthalassa (Greek for all seas) was the vast ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea during the late Paleozoic era and the early Mesozoic era. ... A rainy day in the Great Smoky Mountains, Western North Carolina The Appalachian Mountains (French: les Appalaches) are a vast system of North American mountains, partly in Canada, but mostly in the United States, forming a zone, from 100 to 300 miles wide, running from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 1500...

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. The Ordovician period is the second of the six (seven in North America) periods of the Paleozoic era. ... Pangaea was formed by the merging of two continents, Laurasia and Gondwana East African and Kuungan Orogens 550 Ma reconstruction showing final stages of assembly The southern supercontinent Gondwana (originally Gondwanaland) included most of the landmasses which make up todays continents of the southern hemisphere, including Antarctica, South America... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The South Pole is the southernmost point on the Earth. ... The equator is an imaginary circle drawn around a planet (or other astronomical object) at a distance halfway between the poles. ... North American craton. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Baltica is the craton beneath northwestern Eurasia. ... The Iapetus Ocean was an Ocean that existed in the Southern Hemisphere between Scotland, England and Scandinavia between 400 and 600 million years ago. ... An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. ... Avalonia was a paleomicrocontinent also known as a Terrane. ... The states of New England are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages None (English,French,Gaelic) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 11 10 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 12th 55,283... The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland (usually) and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ... In geology, a rift is a place where the Earths lithosphere is expanding. ...

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. The Acadian orogeny is a middle Paleozoic deformation, especially in the northern Appalachians, between Alabama and Newfoundland. ... A rainy day in the Great Smoky Mountains, Western North Carolina The Appalachian Mountains (French: les Appalaches) are a vast system of North American mountains, partly in Canada, but mostly in the United States, forming a zone, from 100 to 300 miles wide, running from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 1500...

External links

• Middle Ordovician (Continent Map)
• MIddle Silurian (Continent Map)
• Emplacement timing of the Galway Granite ...
• Re-defining the Caledonian
• Caledonian in the Shetlands
• Britain's formation