Geologic Timeline
| ~2300-2200?? Ma | Baltica | The Baltic Shield (Fennoscandia) was formed from five province blocks: Svecofennian, Sveconorwegian, Karelian, Belmorian and Kola, |
|---|---|---|
| 2300-2100 Ma | Baltica | The Sarmatian craton was formed from other blocks, |
| ???? Ma | Baltica | The Volgo-Uralia shield was formed, |
| 1900-1800 Ma | Baltica | The East European craton (≈ Baltica) was formed from the above three cratons, to become a part of the supercontinent Columbia, |
| ~1500 Ma | Baltica | The Nena Continent composed of Arctica, East Antarctica and Baltica, was splitoff from Columbia, |
| ???? Ma | Baltica | East Antarctica was shaved off from Nena, |
| ~1100 Ma | Baltica | Baltica and Arctica, now part of a Laurentia block, was joined to Rodinia, |
| ~750 Ma | Baltica | The Baltica/Laurentia block, AKA Proto-Laurasia, was shaved off the splitup Rodinia, |
| ~550 Ma | Baltica | Proto-Laurasia broke apart, forming Baltica and Laurentia, |
| ~530 Ma | Avalonia | Avalonia broke off from Gondwana by rifting |
| ~450 Ma | Avalonia | Avalonia came in contact with Baltica |
| ~440 Ma | Balt./Aval. | Laurentia and Baltica collided to form Euramerica, Avalonia attached to the eastern coast of Laurentia. Mountains built up in this event can be seen in the British Isles and Norway, along with the Appalachians of New England in North America. |
| ~350 Ma | Balt./Aval. | Euramerica collided with Gondwana forming Pangea, while Avalonia was squished to a narrow strip in between Gondwana and Laurasia. |
| ~300 Ma | Balt./Kaza. | Siberia and Kazakhstania were the last continents to adjoin Pangea towards the Baltica block, thereby forming a Laurasia subcontinent of Pangea. The Ural Mountains are a remainder of this tectonic event. |
| ~270 Ma | Cimmeria | The Cimmerian Plate split off from Gondwana by rifting, |
| ~190 Ma | Baltica | Laurasia split off from Gondwana by the widening of the Atlantic Ocean, and very soon afterwards split into Laurentia (North America) and a Eurasian continent. |
| 50 Ma — present | As the continents approached their present configuration, Europe experienced periods of land connection to North America via Greenland, resulting in colonization by North American animals. During these times, higher than present sea levels sometimes fragmented Europe into island subcontinents. As time passed, sea levels fell, with seas retreating from the plains of western Russia, establishing the modern connection to Asia. Asian animal species then colonized Europe in large numbers. |
Read more about this topic: Geology Of Europe