Opening of the North Atlantic Ocean Plateau (off Norway), Faroe-Shetland Basin, Hebrides, Outer Moray Firth and Denmark. The supercontinent known as Pangea existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras and began to rift around 200 million years ago. Pangea had three major phases of breakup. The first major phase began in the Early-Middle Jurassic, taking place between North America and Africa. The second major phase of breakup began in the Early Cretaceous. The South Atlantic Ocean opened around 140 million years ago as Africa separated from South America, and about the same time, India separated from Antarctica and Australia, forming the central Indian Ocean.
Llandovery epoch Llandovery epoch In the geological timescale, the Llandovery epoch (from 443.7 ± 1.5 million years ago to 428.2 ± 2.3 million years ago) occurred during the Silurian period. The epoch follows the massive Ordovician-Silurian extinction events; the second largest extinction event after the Permian-Triassic extinction event million of years later. The epoch was named after Llandovery in Wales. The Llandovery epoch is subdivided into three stages: Rhuddanian, Aeronian and Telychian. The Lower Llandovery rocks consist of conglomerates, sandstones and slaty beds. At Llandovery they rest upon Ordovician rocks. These rocks occur with a narrow crop in Pembrokeshire, which curves round