Siberia, also known as Angaraland (or simply Angara) and Angarida, is an ancient craton in the heart of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

. Today forming the Central Siberian Plateau, it was an independent continent before the Permian period. The Verkhoyansk Sea, a passive continental margin, was fringing the Siberian Craton to the east in what is now the East Siberian Lowland. Angaraland was named in the 1880s by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess who erroneously believed that in the Paleozoic there were two large continents in the Northern Hemisphere: "Atlantis", North America connected to Europe by a peninsula (=Greenland and Iceland); and "Angara-land", eastern Asia, named after the Angara River in Siberia.

Precambrian history

About 2.5 billion years ago ( Siderian), Siberia was part of a continent called Arctica, along with the Canadian Shield. Around 1.1 billion years ago ( Stenian), Siberia became part of the supercontinent of

Rodinia Rodinia (from the Russian родина, ''rodina'', meaning "motherland, birthplace") was a Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic supercontinent that assembled 1.26–0.90 billion years ago and broke up 750–633 million years ago. were probably ...

, a state of affairs which lasted until the Cryogenian about 750 million years ago when it broke up, and Siberia became part of the landmass of Protolaurasia. During the Ediacaran Period around 600 million years ago, Protolaurasia became part of the southern supercontinent of

Pannotia Pannotia (from Greek: '' pan-'', "all", '' -nótos'', "south"; meaning "all southern land"), also known as the Vendian supercontinent, Greater Gondwana, and the Pan-African supercontinent, was a relatively short-lived Neoproterozoic supercontinent ...

but around 550 million years ago, both Pannotia and Protolaurasia split up to become the continents of Laurentia, Baltica and Siberia.

Paleozoic history

Siberia was an independent continent through the lower Paleozoic until, during the Carboniferous Period, it collided with the minor continent of Kazakhstania. A subsequent collision with Baltica during the Permian completed the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea. The Siberian Traps formed.

Mesozoic and Cenozoic history

Pangaea split up during the Jurassic though Siberia stayed with

Laurasia Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...

. Laurasia gradually split up during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

with Siberia remaining part of present-day northeastern

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

. Today, Siberia forms part of the landmass of Afro-Eurasia. To the east it is joined to the North American Plate at the Chersky Range. In around 250 million years from now Siberia may be in the

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...

region and part of the new supercontinent of Pangaea Ultima.

Features

* Akitkan Orogen * Aldan Shield * Anabar Shield * Birekte TerraneSchematic map of ancient terrains and kimberlitic fields in the Siberian craton
/ref> * Daldyn Terrane *

Magan Terrane Magan may refer to: Places *Magan (civilization), also written Makan or Makkan, an ancient region referred to in Sumerian texts *Magan, Russia, a rural locality (a ''selo'') in the Sakha Republic, Russia *Magan Airport, an airport in the Sakha Re ...

Olenyok Uplift Olenyok or Olenek may refer to: *Olenyok (river), a river in Russia *Olenyok (rural locality), a rural locality (a ''selo'') in the Sakha Republic, Russia *Olenyok Airport, an airport in the same rural locality *Olenyok Gulf, a gulf in the Laptev Se ...

* Tunguska Basin * Tungus Terrane

References

External links

* (History of Siberia as well as other parts of Asia) {{palaeo-geo-stub Historical continents Tectonic plates Historical tectonic plates

Continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...