Pangaea formation of not only the Ural Mountains but also the supercontinent of Laurasia. This was the last step of the formation of Pangaea. Meanwhile, South America had collided with southern Laurentia, closing the Rheic Ocean and forming the southernmost part of the Appalachians and Ouachita Mountains. By this time, Gondwana was positioned near the South Pole and glaciers were forming in Antarctica, India, Australia, southern Africa and South America. The North China block collided with Siberia by the Late Carboniferous, completely closing the Proto-Tethys Ocean. By the early Permian, the Cimmerian plate split from Gondwana and headed towards Laurasia, thus
Pangaea Tethys Ocean, while Madagascar stopped and became locked to the African Plate. New Zealand, New Caledonia and the rest of Zealandia began to separate from Australia, moving eastward toward the Pacific and opening the Coral Sea and Tasman Sea. The third major and final phase of the break-up of Pangaea occurred in the early Cenozoic (Paleocene to Oligocene). Laurasia split when North America/Greenland (also called Laurentia) broke free from Eurasia, opening the Norwegian Sea about 60–55 Ma. The Atlantic and Indian Oceans continued to expand, closing the Tethys Ocean. Meanwhile, Australia split from Antarctica and moved quickly northward, just as