Geology of Europe

Geology of Europe

The geology of Europe is varied and complex, and gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the continent, from the Scottish Highlands to the rolling plains of Hungary.

Europe's most significant feature is the dichotomy between highland and mountainous Southern Europe and a vast, partially underwater, northern plain ranging from England in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east. These two halves are separated by the mountain chains of Pyrenees and Alps/Carpathians. The northern plains are delimited in the west by the Scandinavian Mountains and the mountainous parts of the British Isles. The southern mountainous region is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Major shallow water bodies submerging parts of the northern plains are the Celtic Sea the North Sea, the Baltic Sea complex and Barents Sea.

Components

Europe consist of the following components:

* the Baltica craton - Scandinavia, Balticum, Russia, and Northern Poland/Germany,
* Avalonian fragments - England, Ireland, Netherlands, Northern Germany, etc.,
* Laurentian (North American) fragments - Western Norway and Scotland,
* Gondwana Fragments - Spain, Italy??, Malta, possibly belonging to the Cimmerian Arc,
* Neo-Tethys Ocean floor - the Pyrenees/Alps/Apennine/Balkan Alps/Carpathian complex,
* The Anatolian part of the Cimmerian Arc originating from Gondwana

Geologic Timeline

Geological features

......

Geological resources

Geology by country

ee also

*Geography of Europe

External links

* [http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/jpg/eurogy.jpgGeology map of Europe]


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