Carboniferous: oblique-slip basins, intraplate magmatism and the Variscan Orogeny

The fundamental global changes seen during Carboniferous times are reflected in this account of the geological record of this Period in Scotland. Following the end-Devonian mass extinction events, some vertebrate animals adapted to live on land for the first time early in the Carboniferous, and major radiations among fish communities and land plants occurred. The last led to the rise, and demise, of the lycopod-dominated forests that formed the basis of the planet’s vast coal resources. Later Carboniferous times saw the final assembly of the supercontinent of Pangaea, reconfiguration of the climate zones, and the growth of major ice-caps in the southern hemisphere that significantly affected sea-level movements in equatorial regions.