Siberia, also known as Angaraland (or simply Angara) and Angarida, is an ancient

craton A craton (, , or ; from grc-gre, κράτος "strength") is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, which consists of Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the uppermost mantle. Having often survived cycles of merging and ...

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 The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Pale ...

period. The Verkhoyansk Sea, a passive continental margin, was fringing the Siberian Craton to the east in what is now the

East Siberian Lowland The East Siberian Lowland ( rus, Восточно-Сибирская низменность), also known as Yana-Kolyma Lowland,Oleg Leonidovič Kryžanovskij, ''A Checklist of the Ground-beetles of Russia and Adjacent Lands.'' p. 16 is a vast pla ...

. 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 In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which lea ...

of Rodinia, 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 The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and t ...

Period around 600 million years ago, Protolaurasia became part of the southern supercontinent of Pannotia but around 550 million years ago, both Pannotia and Protolaurasia split up to become the continents of

Laurentia Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, althoug ...

, 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

completed the formation of the supercontinent

Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 millio ...

. The Siberian Traps formed.

Mesozoic and Cenozoic history

Pangaea split up during the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

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 Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia, Eurafrasia or the Old World) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Its mainland is the largest and most populou ...

. 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 region and part of the new supercontinent of

Pangaea Ultima Pangaea Proxima (also called Pangaea Ultima, Neopangaea, and Pangaea II) is a possible future supercontinent configuration. Consistent with the supercontinent cycle, Pangaea Proxima could occur within the next 200 million years. This potential co ...

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 ...