Pan-African orogeny

geology

Also known as: Pan-African episode, Pan-African event

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July 1, 2026

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The Pan-African orogeny was a major mountain-building event that occurred in Africa between approximately 950 and 550 million years ago. This thermotectonic event formed long fold belts, such as the Mozambique belt along the east coast of Africa, and the Damara and Katanga belts in southern Africa. These belts resulted from continental collisions, where sedimentary and volcanic rocks deposited in deep basins were deformed, metamorphosed, and uplifted into mountain ranges. The Arabian-Nubian Shield in northeastern Africa also experienced significant volcanic and granitoid activity during this period, similar to modern island-arc systems. This orogeny played a crucial role in shaping the African continent's geological structure.12

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Ediacaran Period
The Ediacaran environment
…more-discrete mountain-building event (called the Pan-African orogeny) began. That event (which was actually a series of smaller orogenies) occurred when the two blocks of the former supercontinent Rodinia collided with a craton (the stable interior portion of a continent) that would become the present-day Congo region. Thus was formed a…
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…more-discrete mountain-building event (called the Pan-African orogeny) began. That event (which was actually a series of smaller orogenies) occurred when the two blocks of the former supercontinent Rodinia collided with a craton (the stable interior portion of a continent) that would become the present-day Congo region. Thus was formed a…
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Asia
The Precambrian
…what is known as the Pan-African episode, a tectonic evolution that also encompassed large parts of present-day Africa and other parts of the Gondwanaland supercontinent. That tectonic evolution was the one that eventually formed the Arabian platform. Following the emergence of the ocean, a variety of island arcs formed between…
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…what is known as the Pan-African episode, a tectonic evolution that also encompassed large parts of present-day Africa and other parts of the Gondwanaland supercontinent. That tectonic evolution was the one that eventually formed the Arabian platform. Following the emergence of the ocean, a variety of island arcs formed between…
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Africa
General considerations
…mobile-belt formation known as the Pan-African episode (about 950 to 550 million years ago), which generated long fold belts, such as the Mozambique belt along the east coast of Africa, the Damara and Katanga belts extending from Namibia into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, the West Congo…
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…mobile-belt formation known as the Pan-African episode (about 950 to 550 million years ago), which generated long fold belts, such as the Mozambique belt along the east coast of Africa, the Damara and Katanga belts extending from Namibia into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, the West Congo…
Read More