Presidential Address 2005: Where was Britain in the Palaeozoic?

This paper reviews, first, the terranes which make up the British Isles today and, secondly, where they were at successive times in the Palaeozoic. To the north of the Iapetus Ocean suture, Scotland and northwestern Ireland were part of Laurentia; to the south, England and southeastern Ireland were initially part of the Gondwana Superterrane until the early Ordovician, when rifting occurred at the Gondwanan margin, making them subsequently part of the smaller Avalonia Terrane. Avalonia drifted northeastwards during the Ordovician to collide initially with Baltica at about the Ordovician-Silurian boundary time and, secondly, with Laurentia in the Silurian, when the British Isles became united in the Caledonide Orogeny. Subsequently, the unified British Isles were first part of Laurussia, secondly Pangea and, finally today, after the Atlantic Ocean opening, at the northwestern margin of Eurasia.