List of orogenies
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of orogenies
Orogeny
Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates. Response to such engagement results in the formation of long tracts of highly deformed rock called orogens or orogenic belts...

 organised by continent/country, starting with the oldest at the top.

North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n orogenies

  • Wopmay orogeny
    • Along western edge of Canadian shield, 2100–1900 Ma.
  • Hudsonian orogeny
    Trans-Hudson orogeny
    The Trans-Hudson orogeny, Trans-Hudsonian orogeny, Trans-Hudson orogen , or Trans-Hudson Orogen Transect , , was the major mountain building event that formed the Precambrian Canadian Shield, the North American craton , and the...

     or Trans-Hudson orogeny
    Trans-Hudson orogeny
    The Trans-Hudson orogeny, Trans-Hudsonian orogeny, Trans-Hudson orogen , or Trans-Hudson Orogen Transect , , was the major mountain building event that formed the Precambrian Canadian Shield, the North American craton , and the...

    • Extends from Hudson Bay
      Hudson Bay
      Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

       west into Saskatchewan
      Saskatchewan
      Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

       then south through the western Dakotas and Nebraska. Result of the collision of the Superior craton
      Superior craton
      The Superior craton forms the core of the Canadian Shield at the heart of the North American continent. It extends from Quebec in the east to eastern Manitoba in the west...

       with the Hearne craton and the Wyoming craton
      Wyoming craton
      The Wyoming craton is a craton located in the west-central United States and western Canada – more specifically, in Montana, Wyoming, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and parts of northern Utah...

       during the Proterozoic
      Proterozoic
      The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...

      .
    • Lasted from 2000–1800 Ma.
  • Penokean orogeny
    Penokean orogeny
    The Penokean orogeny was a mountain-building episode that occurred in the early Proterozoic about 1.85 to 1.84 billion years ago, in the area of North America that would eventually become Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario...

    • Wisconsin
      Wisconsin
      Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

      , Minnesota
      Minnesota
      Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

      , and Michigan
      Michigan
      Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

      , U. S. A. and southern Ontario
      Ontario
      Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

      , Canada
      Canada
      Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

      , 1850-1840 Ma.
  • Big Sky orogeny
    • Proterozoic collision between the Hearne craton and the Wyoming craton
      Wyoming craton
      The Wyoming craton is a craton located in the west-central United States and western Canada – more specifically, in Montana, Wyoming, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and parts of northern Utah...

       in southwest Montana, 1770 Ma.
  • Ivanpah orogeny
    • Mojave province, south western USA
  • Yavapai orogeny
    • mid to south western USA, 1760-1700 Ma.
  • Mazatzal orogeny
    • mid to south western USA, circa 1600 Ma.
  • Grenville orogeny
    Grenville orogeny
    The Grenville Orogeny was a long-lived Mesoproterozoic mountain-building event associated with the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia. Its record is a prominent orogenic belt which spans a significant portion of the North American continent, from Labrador to Mexico, as well as to Scotland...

    • Worldwide during the late Proterozoic
      Proterozoic
      The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...

      , 1300–1000 Ma. Associated with the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia
      Rodinia
      In geology, Rodinia is the name of a supercontinent, a continent which contained most or all of Earth's landmass. According to plate tectonic reconstructions, Rodinia existed between 1.1 billion and 750 million years ago, in the Neoproterozoic era...

      . Formed folded mountains in Eastern North America from Newfoundland
      Newfoundland and Labrador
      Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

       to North Carolina
      North Carolina
      North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

      , 1100–1000 Ma.


  • Caledonian orogeny
    Caledonian orogeny
    The Caledonian orogeny is a mountain building era recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that occurred from the Ordovician to Early Devonian, roughly...

    • the East Greenland Orogen
      East Greenland Orogen
      The East Greenland mountain range or East Greenland orogen is the linear mountain range along the eastern Greenland coast, from 70 to 82 degrees north latitude....

      , formed from Cryogenian
      Cryogenian
      The Cryogenian is a geologic period that lasted from . It forms the second geologic period of the Neoproterozoic Era, preceded by the Tonian Period and followed by the Ediacaran...

       to Devonian
      Devonian
      The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...

    • the Taconic phase
      Taconic orogeny
      The Taconic orogeny was a mountain building period that ended 440 million years ago and affected most of modern-day New England. A great mountain chain formed from eastern Canada down through what is now the Piedmont of the East coast of the United States...

       in the NE U.S. and Canada during the Ordovician
      Ordovician
      The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...

       Period.
    • the Acadian phase
      Acadian orogeny
      The Taconic, Acadian and Alleghenian orogenies are the three tectonic phases responsible for the formation of the present Appalachian Mountains. The Acadian orogeny is a middle Paleozoic mountain building episode dating back 325-400 million years which should not be regarded as a single event but...

       in the Eastern U.S. during Silurian
      Silurian
      The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...

       and Devonian
      Devonian
      The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...

       Periods.
  • Appalachian orogeny, usually seen as the same as the Variscan orogeny
    Variscan orogeny
    The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...

     in Europe.
    • Appalachian Mountains
      Appalachian Mountains
      The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

       is a well studied orogenic belt resulting from a late Paleozoic
      Paleozoic
      The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...

       collision between North America
      North America
      North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

       and Africa
      Africa
      Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

      .
    • Taconic orogeny
      Taconic orogeny
      The Taconic orogeny was a mountain building period that ended 440 million years ago and affected most of modern-day New England. A great mountain chain formed from eastern Canada down through what is now the Piedmont of the East coast of the United States...

    • Acadian orogeny
      Acadian orogeny
      The Taconic, Acadian and Alleghenian orogenies are the three tectonic phases responsible for the formation of the present Appalachian Mountains. The Acadian orogeny is a middle Paleozoic mountain building episode dating back 325-400 million years which should not be regarded as a single event but...

    • Alleghenian orogeny
      Alleghenian orogeny
      The Alleghenian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 1957....

  • Ouachita orogeny
    Ouachita orogeny
    The Ouachita orogeny was a mountain building event that resulted in the folding and faulting of strata currently exposed in the Ouachita Mountains...

    • Ouachita Mountains
      Ouachita Mountains
      The Ouachita Mountains are a mountain range in west central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The range's subterranean roots may extend as far as central Texas, or beyond it to the current location of the Marathon Uplift. Along with the Ozark Mountains, the Ouachita Mountains form the U.S...

       of Arkansas
      Arkansas
      Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

       and Oklahoma
      Oklahoma
      Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

       is an orogenic belt that dates from the late Paleozoic
      Paleozoic
      The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...

       Era and is most likely a continuation of the Appalachian orogeny west across the Mississippi embayment
      Mississippi embayment
      The Mississippi Embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. The embayment...

       - Reelfoot Rift zone.
  • Antler orogeny
    Antler orogeny
    The Antler orogeny is a mountain-building episode that is named for Antler Peak, at Battle Mountain, Nevada. The orogeny extensively deformed Paleozoic rocks of the Great Basin in Nevada and western Utah during Late Devonian and Early Mississippian time...

    • Ancestral Sierra Nevada western United States
      United States
      The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

      .
    • Late Devonian
      Devonian
      The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...

       - early Mississippian.
  • Innuitian orogeny
    Innuitian orogeny
    The Innuitian orogeny, sometimes called the Ellesmere orogeny, was a major tectonic episode responsible for the formation of a series of mountain ranges in the Canadian Arctic. The episode started with the earliest Paleozoic rifting, extending from Ellesmere Island to Melville Island.-External...

     or Ellesmerian orogeny
    • Innuitian Mountains
      Innuitian Mountains
      The Innuitian Mountains are a mountain range in Canada's Arctic territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. They are part of the Arctic Cordillera and are largely unexplored, due to the hostile climate. They are named after the northern indigenous people, who live in the region. In some...

      , Canadian Arctic, extending from Ellesmere Island
      Ellesmere Island
      Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...

       to Melville Island
      Melville Island, Canada
      Melville Island is a vast, uninhabited member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with an area of . It is the 33rd largest island in the world and Canada's eighth largest island. Melville Island is shared by the Northwest Territories, which is responsible for the western half of the island, and...

      , Mississippian 345 Ma.
  • Sonoma orogeny
    Sonoma orogeny
    The Sonoma orogeny was a period of mountain building in western North America, which occurred during the Permian / Triassic transition, around 250 million years ago...

    • Rocky Mountains, western North America, 270–240 Ma.
  • Nevadan orogeny
    Nevadan orogeny
    The Nevadan Orogeny was a major mountain building event that took place along the western edge of ancient North America between the Mid to Late Jurassic...

    • Developed along western North America during the Jurassic
      Jurassic
      The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

       Period.
  • Sevier orogeny
    Sevier orogeny
    The Sevier orogeny was a mountain-building event that affected western North America from Canada to the north to Mexico to the south. This orogeny was the result of convergent boundary tectonic activity between approximately 140 million years ago and 50 Ma. The Sevier River area of central Utah...

    • Rocky Mountains, western North America, 140–50 Ma.
  • Laramide orogeny
    Laramide orogeny
    The Laramide orogeny was a period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 70 to 80 million years ago, and ended 35 to 55 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the orogeny are in dispute, as is the cause. The Laramide...

    • Rocky Mountains
      Rocky Mountains
      The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

      , western North America, 40–70 Ma.

Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an orogenies

  • The Svecofennian orogeny
    • Formation of the Baltic Shield
      Baltic Shield
      The Baltic Shield is located in Fennoscandia , northwest Russia and under the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Shield is defined as the exposed Precambrian northwest segment of the East European Craton...

      , which includes southern Norway
      Norway
      Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

      , nearly whole Sweden
      Sweden
      Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

      , Finland
      Finland
      Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

       and small part of Russia
      Russia
      Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

       near the Finnish border.
  • The Timanide orogeny affecting the northern Baltic Shield during the Neoproterozoic
    Neoproterozoic
    The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1,000 to 542.0 ± 1.0 million years ago. The terminal Era of the formal Proterozoic Eon , it is further subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran Periods...

     Era.
  • The Cadomian orogeny
    Cadomian Orogeny
    The Cadomian Orogeny was a tectonic event or series of events in the late Neoproterozoic, about 650-550 Ma, which probably included the formation of mountains. This occurred on the margin of the Gondwana continent, involving one or more collisions of island arcs and accretion of other material at a...

     on the north coast of Armorica
    Armorican terrane
    The Armorican terrane, Armorican terrane assemblage, or simply Armorica, refers to a microcontinent or group of continental fragments that rifted away from Gondwana towards the end of the Silurian and collided with Laurussia towards the end of the Carboniferous during the Variscan orogeny...

     in the Ediacaran
    Ediacaran
    The Ediacaran Period , named after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia, is the last geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era and of the Proterozoic Eon, immediately preceding the Cambrian Period, the first period of the Paleozoic Era and of the Phanerozoic Eon...

    .
  • The Caledonian orogeny
    Caledonian orogeny
    The Caledonian orogeny is a mountain building era recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that occurred from the Ordovician to Early Devonian, roughly...

    • Formation of the highlands of western Norway
      Norway
      Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

      , Britain
      Great Britain
      Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

       and Ireland
      Ireland
      Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

       in the Ordovician
      Ordovician
      The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...

       Grampian phase and the Silurian
      Silurian
      The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...

       Scandian phase.
  • Uralian orogeny
    Uralian orogeny
    The Uralian orogeny refers to the long series of mountain building events that raised the Ural Mountains, starting in the Late Carboniferous and Permian periods of the Palaeozoic Era, ca. 318-299 and 299-251 Mya, and ending with the last series of continental collisions in Triassic to early...

    • Formation of the Ural Mountains
      Ural Mountains
      The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...

      , Eurasia
      Eurasia
      Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...

      , during the Permian
      Permian
      The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...

       Period.
  • The Variscan orogeny
    Variscan orogeny
    The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...

     (also called the Hercynian orogeny)
    • Formation of the mountains of western Iberia
      Iberian Peninsula
      The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

      , SW Ireland
      Ireland
      Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

      , SW England
      England
      England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

      , central France
      France
      The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

      , southern Germany
      Germany
      Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

       and Czech Republic
      Czech Republic
      The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

       during the Devonian
      Devonian
      The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...

       and Carboniferous
      Carboniferous
      The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

       Periods.
  • The Alpine orogeny
    Alpine orogeny
    The Alpine orogeny is an orogenic phase in the Late Mesozoic and Tertiary that formed the mountain ranges of the Alpide belt...

    , encompassing:
    • the Formation of the Alps
      Alps
      The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

       during the Eocene
      Eocene
      The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

       through Miocene
      Miocene
      The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

       Periods.
    • the Carpathian orogeny building the Carpathian Mountains
      Carpathian Mountains
      The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

       of eastern Europe during the Jurassic
      Jurassic
      The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

      -Cretaceous
      Cretaceous
      The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

       to Miocene
      Miocene
      The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

       Period.
    • the Hellenic orogeny in Greece
      Greece
      Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

       and the Aegean
      Aegean Sea
      The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

       area during Eocene
      Eocene
      The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

       through Miocene
      Miocene
      The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

       Periods.
  • Ongoing (happening now):
    • the Mediterranean Ridge
      Mediterranean Ridge
      The Mediterranean Ridge is a wide ridge in the bed of the Mediterranean Sea, running along a rough quarter circle from Calabria, south of Crete, to the southwest corner of Turkey, and from there eastwards south of Turkey, including Cyprus....

      .

Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n orogenies

  • The Aravalli-Delhi Orogen (precambrian
    Precambrian
    The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...

    )
  • The Altaid Orogeny (Paleozoic
    Paleozoic
    The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...

    )
  • The Cimmerian
    Cimmerian Orogeny
    The Cimmerian Orogeny, is an orogeny that created mountain ranges that now lie in Central Asia. The orogeny is believed to have begun 200 - 150 million years ago , when the Cimmerian plate collided with the southern coast of Kazakhstania and North and South China, closing the ancient Paleo-Tethys...

     and Cathayasian orogenies
    • Active through Triassic
      Triassic
      The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...

       and Jurassic
      Jurassic
      The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

       Periods along south and southeast Asia
      Asia
      Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

      .
  • Alpine orogeny
    Alpine orogeny
    The Alpine orogeny is an orogenic phase in the Late Mesozoic and Tertiary that formed the mountain ranges of the Alpide belt...

    , encompassing:
    • The Himalayan orogeny
      Geology of the Himalaya
      The geology of the Himalaya is a record of the most dramatic and visible creations of modern plate tectonic forces. The Himalayas, which stretch over 2400 km between the Namche Barwa syntaxis in Tibet and the Nanga Parbat syntaxis in Pakistan, are the result of an ongoing orogeny — the result...

      , forming the Himalaya Mountains, as a result of the ongoing collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate
      Eurasian Plate
      The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...

      .

The Dabie-Sulu Orogen (Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...

)

South American orogenies

  • Transamazonian orogeny
  • Brasiliano-Pan African orogeny
  • Chonide orogeny
  • Pampean orogeny
  • Famatinian orogeny
  • Gondwanide orogeny
  • Toco orogeny
    • Chilean Coast Range
      Chilean Coast Range
      The Chilean Coastal Range is a mountain range that runs from north to south along the Pacific coast of South America parallel to the Andean Mountains, extending from Morro de Arica in the north to Taitao Peninsula, where it ends at the Chile Triple Junction, in the south. The range has a strong...

       300–330 Ma.
  • Andean orogeny
    • Andes
      Andes
      The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

       Mountains, 0–200 Ma.

Australian orogenies

  • Sleaford Orogeny (2440–2420 Ma), Gawler Craton
    Gawler craton
    The Gawler Craton covers approximately 440,000 square kilometres of central South Australia. Its Precambrian crystalline basement crustal block was cratonised ca. 1550-1450 Ma...

    , South Australia
    South Australia
    South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

  • Glenburgh Orogeny (c. 2005–1920 Ma), Glenburgh Terrane, Western Australia
    Western Australia
    Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

    .
  • Kimban Orogeny (c. 1845–1700 Ma), Gawler Craton
    Gawler craton
    The Gawler Craton covers approximately 440,000 square kilometres of central South Australia. Its Precambrian crystalline basement crustal block was cratonised ca. 1550-1450 Ma...

    , South Australia
  • Yapungku Orogeny (c. 1765 Ma), North Yilgarn craton
    Yilgarn craton
    The Yilgarn Craton is a large craton which constitutes the bulk of the Western Australian land mass. It is bounded by a mixture of sedimentary basins and Proterozoic fold and thrust belts...

     margin, Western Australia
  • Mangaroon Orogeny (c.1680–1620 Ma), Gascoyne Complex
    Gascoyne Complex
    The Gascoyne Complex is a terrane of Proterozoic granite and metamorphic rock in the central-western part of Western Australia. The complex outcrops at the exposed western end of the Capricorn Orogen, a 1,000 km-long arcuate belt of folded, faulted and metamorphosed rocks between two Archean...

    , Western Australia.
  • Kararan Orogeny (1650– Ma), Gawler Craton
    Gawler craton
    The Gawler Craton covers approximately 440,000 square kilometres of central South Australia. Its Precambrian crystalline basement crustal block was cratonised ca. 1550-1450 Ma...

    , South Australia
  • Barramundi Orogeny (c. 1600 Ma), MacArthur Basin, northern Australia
  • Isan Orogeny, c. 1600 Ma, Mount Isa
    Mount Isa, Queensland
    -Culture and sport:The local theatre group, the Mount Isa Theatrical Society, or MITS, often holds plays and musicals, at least once every few months or so....

     Block, Queensland
    Queensland
    Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

  • Olarian Orogeny, Olary Block, South Australia
  • Capricorn Orogeny, Gascoyne Complex
    Gascoyne Complex
    The Gascoyne Complex is a terrane of Proterozoic granite and metamorphic rock in the central-western part of Western Australia. The complex outcrops at the exposed western end of the Capricorn Orogen, a 1,000 km-long arcuate belt of folded, faulted and metamorphosed rocks between two Archean...

    , Western Australia
  • Musgrave Orogeny (c. 1080 Ma), Musgrave Block
    Musgrave Block
    The Musgrave Block is an east-west trending belt of Proterozoic granulite-gneiss basement rocks approximately 500km long. The Musgrave Block extends from western South Australia into Western Australia....

    , Central Australia.
  • Edmundian Orogeny (c. 920–850 Ma), Gascoyne Complex
    Gascoyne Complex
    The Gascoyne Complex is a terrane of Proterozoic granite and metamorphic rock in the central-western part of Western Australia. The complex outcrops at the exposed western end of the Capricorn Orogen, a 1,000 km-long arcuate belt of folded, faulted and metamorphosed rocks between two Archean...

    , Western Australia.
  • Petermann Orogeny
    Petermann Orogeny
    The Petermann Orogeny was an intracontinental event that affected basement rocks of the northern Musgrave Province and Proterozoic sediments of the southern Amadeus Basin between ~550-535 Ma....

     (c. 550–535 Ma late Neoproterozoic
    Neoproterozoic
    The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1,000 to 542.0 ± 1.0 million years ago. The terminal Era of the formal Proterozoic Eon , it is further subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran Periods...

     to Cambrian
    Cambrian
    The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...

    ), Central Australia
    Central Australia
    Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

  • Delamerian Orogeny, South Australia
    South Australia
    South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

     and Victoria
    Victoria (Australia)
    Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

    , Australia, Ordovician
    Ordovician
    The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...

  • Lachlan Orogeny, c. 540 and 440 Ma., Victoria
    Victoria (Australia)
    Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

     and New South Wales
    New South Wales
    New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

  • Kanimblan Orogeny
    Kanimblan Orogeny
    Kanimblan orogeny was a mountain-building event in eastern Australia toward the end of Early Carboniferous time . It was a terminal orogeny episode forming the Lachlan Fold Belt, also called Lachlan Geosyncline before the advent of the plate tectonics theory.Uplift and deformation occurred in a...

    , c. 318 Ma., Carboniferous
    Carboniferous
    The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

    ,Victoria
    Victoria (Australia)
    Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

     and New South Wales
    New South Wales
    New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

  • Alice Springs Orogeny
    Alice Springs Orogeny
    The Alice Springs Orogeny was a major tectonic episode in central Australia responsible for the formation of a series of large mountain ranges. The episode started at about 450 million years ago and concluded about 300 million years ago...

     in central Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    , Early Carboniferous
    Carboniferous
    The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

  • Hunter-Bowen Orogeny
    Hunter-Bowen orogeny
    The Hunter-Bowen Orogeny was a significant arc accretion event in the Permian and Triassic periods affecting approximately 2,500 km of the Australian continental margin....

    , (c. 260–225 Ma) Permian
    Permian
    The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...

     to Triassic
    Triassic
    The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...

    , Queensland and New South Wales

Antarctic orogenies

Orogenies affecting Antarctica include:
  • Napier orogeny
    Napier Mountains
    The Napier Mountains are a group of more-or-less separated peaks, the highest being Mount Elkins, at about 2,300 meters above sea level. This mountain range is located in Enderby Land, in the claimed Australian Antarctic Territory, East Antarctica.-Location:...

     (4000 ± 200 Ma)
  • Rayner orogeny (~ 3500 Ma)
  • Humboldt orogeny (~ 3000 Ma)
  • Insel orogeny (2650 ± 150 Ma)
  • Early Ruker orogeny (2000–1700 Ma)
  • Late Ruker / Nimrod orogeny (1000 ± 150 Ma)
  • Beardmore orogeny (633–620 Ma)
  • Ross Orogeny (~ 500 Ma)

New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 orogenies

  • Tuhua Orogeny (370–330 Ma)
  • Rangitata Orogeny
    Rangitata Orogeny
    The Rangitata Orogeny , was a long period of uplift and collision in New Zealand.200 million years ago, sedimentary strata was being pushed along the sea floor as the result of seafloor spreading. The moving rocks were being pushed towards a gap in the crust or subduction zone...

     (142–99 Ma)
  • Kaikoura Orogeny
    Kaikoura Orogeny
    The Kaikoura Orogeny is a New Zealand orogeny that has given birth to the Southern Alps. It began 25 million years ago along the Alpine Fault.In this orogeny the Southern alps are being formed because the Pacific Plate is being pushed up over the Australian Plate...

    (24 Ma–present)
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