Hercynian orogeny

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Hercynian orogeny A major and prolonged episode of mountain building that began in the Late Devonian and continued throughout the Carboniferous, affecting a broad belt along an approximately WSW to ENE line from what are now south-western England and north-western Europe to southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula, and eastern N. America and the Andes. Probably it was caused by northward thrusting and plutonism along a discontinuous front.

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