Middle latitudes Middle latitudes The middle latitudes (also called the mid-latitudes, sometimes midlatitudes, or moderate latitudes) of Earth lie between 23°26'22" and 66°33'39" north, and between 23°26'22" and 66°33'39" south. They include Earth's subtropical and temperate zones, which lie between the tropics and the polar circles (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle, and between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle). Weather fronts and extratropical cyclones are usually found in this area, as well as occasional tropical cyclones, which have traveled from their areas of formation closer to the Equator. The prevailing winds in the middle latitudes are
Geology of the North Sea Red Sandstone' continent at the joining of the tectonic plates. The Rheic Ocean began to open to the south. The Acadian orogeny occurred in the Lower Devonian period (Paleozoic era), about 500 Ma. The continents of Laurentia and Baltica collided. The Iapetus Ocean disappeared under this continental collision. These plate tectonic forces built up a mountain range extending from what is now termed the Adirondacks north through Nova Scotia, the British Isles, Norway and the eastern margin of Greenland. Greenland and Scandinavia were situated at the amid the equator and mid tropics (20 to 20 degrees north). The area now