Taconic orogeny

E87792

The Taconic orogeny was an early Paleozoic mountain-building event along the eastern margin of ancient North America that contributed significantly to the formation of the Appalachian Mountains.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf geological event
mountain-building event
orogeny
affects Appalachian Basin
New England
New York
Newfoundland
Pennsylvania
Quebec
associatedWith Blountian tectophase
Taconic volcanic arc
closure of the Iapetus Ocean
causedBy collision of island arcs with Laurentia
subduction of the Iapetus Ocean plate beneath Laurentia
continentInvolved Laurentia (ancient North America)
contributedTo formation of the Appalachian Mountains
endTime Early Silurian
around 440 million years ago
follows early rifting of the Iapetus Ocean
geologicalAge Early Paleozoic
locatedIn Laurentia
eastern margin of ancient North America
present-day Appalachian region
namedAfter Taconic Mountains
partOf Appalachian orogeny
peakActivity Middle to Late Ordovician
period Ordovician
precedes Acadian orogeny
produced Taconic clastic wedge
flysch deposits
fold-and-thrust belts
foreland basin subsidence
magmatic arcs
molasse deposits
regional metamorphism
thick clastic wedge deposits
recordedIn Ordovician sedimentary rocks of the Appalachian Basin
metamorphic rocks of New England
structural fabrics of the Appalachian fold-and-thrust belt
resultedIn angular unconformities in the Appalachian region
crustal thickening along eastern Laurentia
development of an accretionary prism
emplacement of ophiolites
uplift of the proto-Appalachian Mountains
significance major early Paleozoic orogenic phase of the Appalachian Mountains
startTime Late Cambrian
around 490 million years ago
tectonicSetting convergent plate margin


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