Franklinian Orogen

The Franklinian Orogen was a geological feature along the northern border of North America, extending from Greenland to potentially northern Alaska. It existed during the Paleozoic and Late Proterozoic eras, roughly 600 to 350 million years ago. This region was characterized by the deposition of rocks, primarily shallow-water sandstones and limestones, within a linear trough in the Earth's crust.1

The deformation of the Franklinian Orogen began in the Devonian Period and continued into the Mississippian or Early Pennsylvanian subperiods. This process involved mountain building and igneous intrusions, resulting in fold belts known as the Innuitian System in the Arctic Islands. The Franklinian Orogen formed when the Arctic margin of North America collided with crust now underlying the Barents shelf off northern Europe and Alaska.12