Silurian

In an overview of the Silurian of Central Europe, it is important to realize that during this period the study area was spread more widely over the globe than nowadays because at least two oceans were present in the area which have since disappeared. Several palaeocontinents such as Baltica or Gondwana, smaller palaeo-plates such as Avalonia and Far Eastern Avalonia, and Peri-Gondwana terranes such as Perunica, were separated by the Tornquist Sea and the Rheic Ocean. These palaeocontinents were brought together in the present-day configuration by closing of the oceans and the subsequent orogenic collisions, respectively termed the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies. Plate movements before and during the Alpine orogeny also brought pieces of northern Gondwana into the study area. These Proto-Alps are now included in the basement of the Alps and are observable in several tectonic windows (e.g. Carnic Alps).