What is Laurentia?
Q: What is Laurentia?
A: Laurentia is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent. It is made up of igneous rock and is nearly four billion years old.
Q: What was originally included in Laurentia?
A: Originally, Laurentia included the core of Greenland and the northwestern part of Scotland, known as the Hebridean Terrane.
Q: How did Laurentia form?
A: Laurentia formed by several smaller tectonic plates merging together early in the Archaean era. As these plates moved together, a huge range of mountains were created. Later on, small plates and oceanic islands collided with and fused with ever-growing Laurentia to create what we see today as the north and center of North America and west of Greenland.
Q: When did the Grenville Orogeny occur?
A: The Grenville Orogeny occurred over a billion years ago in the Canadian Shield, creating jagged peaks higher than any mountains seen today.
Q: How have these mountains changed since then?
A: Millions of years of erosion have changed these mountains to rolling hills.
Q: When was western North America added to Laurentia?
A: Western North America was added much later after Pangaea split up when Americas moved west from Eurasian and Gondwana.
Q: Where does "Laurentia" get its name from?
A: The craton is named after the Laurentian Mountains which are located north of St Lawrence River.
