Euramerica

Not to be confused with Laurasia.

Euramerica (also known as Laurussia – not to be confused with Laurasia, – the Old Red Continent or the Old Red Sandstone Continent) was a minor supercontinent created in the Devonian as the result of a collision between the Laurentian, Baltican, and Avalonian cratons during the Caledonian orogeny, about 410 million years ago. In the Late Carboniferous, tropical rainforests lay over the equator of Euramerica. A major, abrupt change in vegetation occurred when the climate aridified. The forest fragmented and the lycopsids which dominated these wetlands thinned out, being replaced by opportunistic ferns. There was also a great loss of amphibian diversity and simultaneously the drier climate spurred the diversification of reptiles.

Extent

Euramerica in the Devonian

Euramerica became a part of the major supercontinent Pangaea in the Permian. In the Jurassic, when Pangaea rifted into two continents, Gondwana and Laurasia, Euramerica was a part of Laurasia.

In the Cretaceous, Laurasia split into the continents of North America and Eurasia. The Laurentian craton became a part of North America while Baltica became a part of Eurasia, and Avalonia was split between the two.

Events by period

• Devonian: The first forests grew in the floodplain around the foothills of the Caledonian mountain range.
• Carboniferous: Climate change devastated tropical rainforests, fragmenting the forests into isolated 'islands' and causing the extinction of many plant and animal species during the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse (CRC).
• Permian: Euramerica became a part of the supercontinent Pangaea.
• Jurassic: Pangaea rifted into Gondwana and Laurasia.
• Cretaceous: Laurasia split into the continents of North America, Europe and Asia.

See also

• Continental drift
• Eurasia
• Main Uralian Fault

External links

• Palaeos Earth: Geography: Euramerica
• Paleogeographic globe of the Devonian Earth