Orogeny Orogeny An orogeny is an event that leads to both structural deformation and compositional differentiation of the Earth's lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle) at convergent plate margins. An orogen or orogenic belt develops when a continental plate crumples and is pushed upwards to form one or more mountain ranges; this involves a series of geological processes collectively called orogenesis. Orogeny is the primary mechanism by which mountains are built on continents. The word "orogeny" comes from Ancient Greek (, , + , , ). Although it was used before him, the term was employed by the American geologist G.K. Gilbert
Svecofennian orogeny rocks and the emplacement of the Jormua and Outokumpu ophiolites about 1950 million years ago. In the later stages of the Lapland-Savo orogeny an island arc, the Knaften arc, accreted to the Keitele-Karelia-Norrbotten collage. The stage to the Fennian orogeny was set by a collision between Keitele and Karelia about 1920–1910 million years ago which resulted in a reorganization of the local plate tectonics. As concequence the Bergslagen microcontinents collided with the Keitele–Karelia collage starting the Fennian orogeny. The until then linear Fennian orogen was "buckled" from 1870 million years ago onwards due to an orthogonal change in tectonic compressive