Laurasia

Laurasia

Laurasia (centre) and Gondwana (bottom) as part of Pangaea 200 Mya (Early Jurassic)
Historical continent
Formed	1,071 Mya (Proto-Laurasia) 253 Mya
Type	Supercontinent
Today part of	Europe (without the Balkan Peninsula) Asia (without the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian subcontinent) North America
Smaller continents	Laurentia Baltica Kazakhstania Siberia North China South China Tarim
Tectonic plates	Eurasian Plate North American Plate

Laurasia (/lɔːˈreɪʒə, -ʃiə/)^[1] was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around 335 to 175 million years ago (Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana 215 to 175 Mya (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pangaea, drifting farther north after the split and finally broke apart with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean c. 56 Mya. The name is a portmanteau of Laurentia and Asia.^[2]

Laurentia, Avalonia, Baltica, and a series of smaller terranes, collided in the Caledonian orogeny c. 400 Ma to form Laurussia/Euramerica. Laurussia/Euramerica then collided with Gondwana to form Pangaea. Kazakhstania and Siberia were then added to Pangaea 290–300 Ma to form Laurasia. Laurasia finally became an independent continental mass when Pangaea broke up into Gondwana and Laurasia.^[3]