The map above shows parts of North America, Europe, and Africa that were once part of the so-called Central Pangean Mountain Range from the historical supercontinent, Pangea.
Here are the following areas highlighted in the map that belonged to the aforementioned historical mountain range:
- Watkins Range that covers eastern Greenland
- Appalachian Mountains that comprise of eastern Canada and United States (North America)
- Highlands that covers the whole of Ireland and most of the United Kingdom (Europe)
- Scandinavian Mountains that consist of western Norway (Europe)
- Atlas Mountains that consist of northwestern parts of Morocco and Western Sahara (Africa)
To put this into context, Scotese et al. devised this map of Pangea with emphasis on the Central Pangean Mountain Range at the Equator estimated around 285 million years ago, shown below.
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This Paleozolic-era mountain range came about after continental plates collided that formed the Pangea supercontinent around 250 million years ago, by a tectonic event called the Alleghanian Orogeny.
The central mountain range is actually part of a larger mountain range that stretched throughout Pangea, and was actually formed when two historical continents, Laurasia and Gondwanaland, collided with each other, as well as when the Rheic Ocean collapsed.
Over time, however, the Central Pangean Mountain Range eroded, and its remnants are spread in present-day mountain ranges around the world, including the Appalachian mountains in North America, as well as mountain belts in Europe. In fact, the Pangean remains form sediments made of carbon deposit-rich coal, particularly in the Appalachians.
The rainy and windy weather in the whole continent is influenced by the central Pangean mountains. In addition, forests surround the whole mountain range.
Despite being long gone because of erosion, these mountains, or what was left of them, are important evidence in various studies, such as plate tectonics, how these historical supercontinents were formed in the first place, and the long-term study of the Earth’s crust.
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