The Rheic Ocean: Origin, Evolution, and Significance

Abstract

The Rheic Ocean, which separated Laurussia from Gondwana after the closure of Iapetus, was one of the principal oceans of the Paleozoic. Its suture extends over 10,000 km from Middle America to Eastern Europe, and its closure assembled the greater part of Pangea with the formation of the Ouachita-Alleghanian-Variscan orogen.