Alpine orogeny building began in the Paleocene to Eocene. The process continues currently in some of the Alpide mountain ranges. The Alpine orogeny is considered one of the three major phases of orogeny in Europe that define the geology of that continent, along with the Caledonian orogeny that formed the Old Red Sandstone Continent when the continents Baltica and Laurentia collided in the early Paleozoic, and the Hercynian or Variscan orogeny that formed Pangaea when Gondwana and the Old Red Sandstone Continent collided in the middle to late Paleozoic. Alpine orogeny The Alpine orogeny or Alpide orogeny is an orogenic phase in
Pampean orogeny Belt of the Brasiliano Orogeny, but in difference to the Paraguay Belt that ended up in the interior of Gondwana the Pampean Orogen remained at a continental margin. The orogen eventually ceased activity and was succeeded by the Famatinian orogeny further west. The eastern magmatic belt of the Pampean orogeny is interpreted as the remains of a volcanic arc associated with an east-dipping subduction zone while the western one is thought to represent a younger volcanic arc that developed on what was once the accretionary prism of the orogen. There have been differing views among geologists on the tectonic and