Location
of continental plates in the Lower Ordovician (Arenig epoch) 480 million
years ago
At
the time theManx
Groupwas formed, the Isle of
Man lay at 60° south of the equator and has since moved northwards
to its present position.
Through geological time, the earth’s continents have been drifting
across the surface of the globe, occasionally breaking up and colliding
with each other. Around 480
million years ago the southern hemisphere looked something like
this:
Near the South pole, Africa, South America,
India, Antarctica and parts of Europe were joined together to form
a single giant continent called Gondwana. Separated from Gondwana
by the Iapetus Ocean, a second great continent, called Laurentia,
lay north of the equator. It was made up of North America, Greenland
and northern Britain. The Isle of Man and the rest of southern Britain
formed part of a small landmass called Avalonia situated along the
northern edge of Gondwana at a latitude of approximately 60°
south. At this time Avalonia and Laurentia were separated by the
Iapetus Ocean.
