中、西欧及其陆架构造和地层的多样性是复杂地质演化的结果。与大陆和陆块缝合相关的造山事件,是与地壳拉张期相交替的,后者导致新形成的大陆集合体裂开和瓦解。在晚志留世和现代之间,可以分出三个这样的造山与裂谷旋回。奥陶纪和志留纪时,劳伦—格陵兰克拉通与芬诺斯堪的亚—波罗的克拉通,因碰撞而在加里东地壳运动中发生缝合。泥盆纪和早石炭 The diversity of middle and western Europe and their continental shelf structures and strata is the result of complex geological evolution. The orogenic events related to the suture of the mainland and the block of land are alternated with the extension of the crust, which leads to the splitting and disintegration of newly formed continental assemblages. Between late Silurian and modern, three such orogenic and rift cycles can be separated. During Ordovician and Silurian, the Lauren-Greenland cratons and Fino Scandinavia-Baltic cratons were sutured in the Caledonian crustal movement due to collisions. Devonian and Early Carboniferous