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
Trans-Hudson orogeny valley that continued to spread until it resulted in a passive margin in which there was no tectonic activity. Shallow marine deposits formed on the continental shelves, and oceanic crust formed on the margins of the continental cratons as the divergence continued. Eventually the divergence stopped, then reversed direction, and collision occurred between continental land masses. During the Wopmay orogeny, subduction occurred as oceanic crust of the Slave Craton was subducted beneath an eastward moving continental plate. Likewise, during the Trans-Hudson orogeny, rifting at first separated the Superior craton from the rest of the continent. Then the Superior Craton reversed