The following is a list of known orogenies organised by continent, starting with the oldest in each. The headings are present-day continents, which may differ from the geography contemporary to the orogenies. Some orogenies encompass more than one continent and may have different names in each, and some very large orogenies include sub-orogenies. As with other geological phenomena, orogenies are often subject to revised interpretations of their age, type and associated paleogeography.
In some (especially older) literature, the term orogeny refers to a long episode of basin formation and deposition of sediments over hundreds of millions of years, ending with deformation (sometimes including metamorphism) of these deposits. However, some workers use the term only for the final mountain-building deformation event over tens of millions of years or shorter.[1][2]
Saamian orogeny – Formation of an extensive area of tonalitic-trondhjemitic crust in Fennoscandia, (3.1–2.9 Ga)
Lopian orogeny – Archean orogeny – Formation of two different types of terrain compatible with plate tectonic concepts. One is a belt of high-grade gneisses formed in a regime of strong mobility, while the other is a region of granitoid intrusions and greenstone belts surrounded by the remnants of a Saamian substratum, (2.9–2.6 Ga)
Svecofennian orogeny, also known as Svecokarelian orogeny – Geological process that resulted in formation of continental crust in Sweden, Finland and Russia, (2.0–1.75 Ga)
Gothian orogeny – Formation of tonalitic-granodioritic plutonic rocks and calc-alkaline volcanites (like the previous Svecofennian orogeny), (1.75–1.5 Ga)
Sveconorwegian orogeny – Orogenic belt in southwestern Sweden and southern Norway – Essentially reworking of previously formed crust, (1.25 Ga – 900 Ma)
Timanide orogeny – Orogen that formed during the NeoproterozoicPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets – Affecting the northern Baltic Shield during the Neoproterozoic Era, (620–550 Ma)
Cadomian orogeny – Tectonic event(s) in the late NeoproterozoicPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets – On the north coast of Armorica in the Ediacaran/Cambrian, (660–540 Ma)
Variscan orogeny, also known as Hercynian orogeny – Collision of tectonic plates resulting in the creation of mountains – Deformation in western Iberia, southwest Ireland, southwest England, central and western France, southern Germany and Czech Republic, during the Devonian and Carboniferous Periods
Uralian orogeny – Long series of linear deformation and mountain building events that raised the Ural Mountains, during the Permian Period.
Alpine orogeny – Formation of the Alpine mountain ranges of Europe, the Middle East and northwest Africa, encompassing:
The Formation of the Alps, during the Eocene through Miocene Periods
Great Falls orogeny, also known as the Big Sky orogeny – Mountain building eventPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback – Proterozoic collision between the Hearne craton and the Wyoming craton in southwest Montana, (1770 Ma)
Yavapai orogeny – Mountain building event 1.7 billion years ago in the southwestern United States, (1710–1700 Ma)
Mazatzal orogeny – Mountain-building event in North America – Mid to southwestern U.S., (1675–1650 Ma)
Picuris orogeny – Mountain-building event in what is now the Southwestern US – Mid to southwestern U.S., (1430–1300 Ma)
Grenville orogeny – Mesoproterozoic mountain-building event – Worldwide, during the late Proterozoic Eon (1300–1000 Ma). Associated with the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia. Formed folded mountains in eastern North America from Newfoundland to North Carolina, (1100–1000 Ma)
Caledonian orogeny – Mountain building event caused by the collision of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalonia, including:
Appalachian orogeny – Mountain-forming event that formed the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains – Usually seen as the same as the Variscan orogeny in Europe
Antler orogeny – Tectonic event from the Late Devonian into the Mississippian and early Pennsylvanian – Ancestral Sierra Nevada, western U.S., from late Devonian Period to early Mississippian age
Sonoma orogeny – period of mountain building in western North AmericaPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback – Rocky Mountains, western North America, (270–240 Ma)
Nevadan orogeny – Mountain building event in North America – Developed along western North America, during the Jurassic Period
Sevier orogeny – Mountain-building episode in North America – Rocky Mountains, western North America, (140–50 Ma)
Laramide orogeny – Period of mountain building in North America – Rocky Mountains, western North America, (40–70 Ma)
Delamerian Orogeny – Major geological province in central South AustraliaPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets – South Australia and Victoria, Ordovician Period, (c. 514–510 Ma)
Lachlan Orogeny – geological feature in AustraliaPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback – Victoria and New South Wales, (c. 540 and 440 Ma)
Thomson Orogeny – Mountain building process in GondwanaPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets – Northern continuation of the Lachlan Orogeny
Alice Springs Orogeny – Australian mountain building eventPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback – Central Australia, early Carboniferous Period, (450–300 Ma)
^Sengör, A.M.C. (1990); Plate tectonics and orogenic research after 25 years: A Tethyan perspective. Earth Sci. Reviews, 277, 1-201.
^van Dijk, J.P. (1992); Late Neogene fore-arc basin evolution in the Calabrian Arc (Central Mediterranean). Tectonic sequence stratigraphy and dynamic geohistory. With special reference to the geology of Central Calabria. Geologica Ultrajectina, 92, 288 pp. ISBN 90-71577-46-5; pp. 251-264
^"Geochronology". Archived from the original on 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2010-11-26. Tectonics of the Transantarctic Mountains: Geochronology
