Cimmerian Orogeny

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Cimmeria collided with North and South China blocks, closing the Paleo-Tethys Ocean between them and forming mountains. ~100 mya map

The Cimmerian Orogeny, is an orogeny that created mountain ranges that now lie in Central Asia. The orogeny is believed to have begun 200 - 150 million years ago (much of the Jurassic Period), when the Cimmerian plate collided with the southern coast of Kazakhstania, North and South China, enclosing the ancient Paleo-Tethys Ocean between them. The plate consisted of what are now known as Turkey, Iran, Tibet and western Southeast Asia. Much of the plate's northern boundary formed mountain ranges that were as high as the present-day Himalayas. The orogeny continued well into the Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic.