Paleo-Tethys Ocean

The Palaeotethys (also Paläotethys ) was in the earth's originally a west -east running ocean between the continents Laurussia in the north and Gondwana in the south, which opened from the Silurian and reached its greatest extent in Lower Carboniferous. He was the forerunner of the Tethys, also known as Neotethys, which opened from the Permian about in the same room, during which the Palaeotethys was gradually subducted under Laurasia. With the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia the Upper Carboniferous, the Paläotethys was completed to the west and formed after the collision of the paleo - Asian continental blocks (eg Sibiria, Kasachstania ) with Gondwana Laurussia a bay to the east of the supercontinent Pangaea thus incurred.

Development of Palaeotethys

In the Silurian the Hun - Super Terran from the northern edge of Gondwana began to break off and drift north towards Laurussia. Probably, these were not related to a small continent, as first thought, but a number of smaller crustal blocks, thus some were moving against each other. The western part of the European Hun Terrane is the Armorica -Terra Group. In this northern migration of Rheische Ocean north of the Hun - Superterrans was subducted under Laurussia. The Rheische ocean joined visibly to the early Upper Carboniferous Armorica collided with Laurussia and thus ushered in the main phase of the Variscan orogeny in Europe.

The ocean basins, which thereby opened between the Hun - Super Terran and Gondwana, the Palaeotethys. This reached its greatest extent about the Lower Carboniferous. In the Upper Carboniferous it was in the west by the collision of Gondwana with Laurussia, in the course of this, several mountain ranges formed, which, including the European Variscides, as the Hercynian system are called closed. The westernmost point of Paläotethys was at that time approximately in the region South West Europe / North West Africa. From there it spread to a wedge shape to the east. A wreath of small continents (including today's China and Southeast Asia) and island arcs they excluded from the Upper Carboniferous until well into the Permian into the Panthalassa, the " Ur -Pacific ," from.

Closure of Palaeotethys

At the beginning of the Permian, another small continent split from the eastern Gondwana from the northern edge, Kimmeria, also called Kimmeria Super Terran, to the drifted during the Permian and the Triassic north to Laurasia, the northern part of Pangaea. Between Gondwana and Cimmeria, a new ocean basin, the Neotethys, also traditionally just called Tethys opened. In the north the Palaeotethys was subducted rapidly under the southern edge of Laurasias. At the same time the Neotethys advanced during the Triassic to the west - one of many events that led to the disintegration of Pangaea. Thus began, for example, in the Upper Triassic ( some places already in the Middle Triassic ) and the first phase of development of the central Atlantic with the depression of grave openings between the North America today, and today's West Africa (eg → Newark Supergroup ). The closure of the Palaeotethys occurred at the Triassic - Jurassic turn by the collision of the Cimmerian terranes with Laurasia and the formation of the Cimmerian fold belt.

The so-called Balkan rear sight Riden form the only section of the Cimmerian fold belt, which is presently located in Europe. The interface of the collision runs today from the Black Sea southwest through South Bulgaria to Chalkidiki and then Macedonia to Kosovo and Serbia. It should however be noted that this does not correspond to the original location still the original geometry of the Balkan rear sight Riden, since both were changed by the later Alpidic orogeny.

Others

In the older literature is often no distinction is made between the Palaeotethys and the subsequent ( Neo - ) Tethys. After the recent plate tectonic models are, however, two different oceans, taking approximately the same paleogeographic position.

Alternative plate tectonic models explain the Variscan orogeny without the involvement of a detached from Gondwana Armorican Terrans, and go from a direct collision of Gondwana with Central Europe.

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