Orogeny rheology of the continental lithosphere, and how these properties change during orogenesis. In addition to orogeny, the orogen (once formed) is subject to other processes, such as sedimentation and erosion. The sequence of repeated cycles of sedimentation, deposition and erosion, followed by burial and metamorphism, and then by crustal anatexis to form granitic batholiths and tectonic uplift to form mountain chains, is called the "orogenic cycle". For example, the "Caledonian Orogeny" refers to a series of tectonic events due to the continental collision of Laurentia with Eastern Avalonia and other former fragments of Gondwana in the Early Paleozoic. The "Caledonian
Nevadan orogeny deformation from the Nevadan Orogeny in the Eastern Belt is somewhat limited. It was determined that the deformation was minimal in the Eastern Belt by looking at dikes that had intruded the rocks which appeared to be mostly undeformed. These mostly undeformed dikes were dated using the K-Ar method and were determined to be between 169 and 209 Ma in age, which implies they were placed well before any deformation related to the Nevadan Orogeny would have occurred. As the age of these dikes are older than the deformation of the Nevadan Orogeny, it is evident that most of the