Geology of the Appalachians craton. The collisional belt spread into the Ozark-Ouachita region and through the Marathon Mountains area of Texas. Continent vs. continent collision raised the Appalachian-Ouachita chain to a lofty mountain range on the scale of the present-day Himalaya. The massive bulk of Pangea was completed near the end of the Paleozoic Era (Permian Period) when Africa (Gondwana) plowed into the continental agglomeration, with the Appalachian-Ouachita mountains near the core. Pangea began to break up about 220 million years ago, in the Early Mesozoic Era (Late Triassic Period). As Pangea rifted apart a new passive tectonic margin was born and the forces
Late Triassic the impact of an asteroid, climate change, or rising sea levels. The Carnian Age is the first stage of the three to occur during the duration of the mass extinction era. The Carnian age developed about 228 to 217 million years ago, and signals the start of the Late Triassic Epoch. The Carnian stage can further be broken down to relative species activity during the time, based on fossils and evidence found dating back to this time period. For example, marine life such as "serenites nanseni" and "Trachyceras Obesum" can be dated back to the early Carnian stage. Meanwhile, "Tropites