Central Pangean Mountains

[1] The Central Pangean Mountains were formed during the collision of Euramerica and northern Gondwana as part of the Variscan and Alleghanian orogenies, which began during the Carboniferous approximately 340 million years ago, and complete by the beginning of the Permian around 295 million years ago, when the range was at its maximum elevation.

[2] Climate modeling suggests that the Central Pangean Mountains contributed to the deposition of vast quantities of coal in the late Carboniferous.

[3] During the early-mid Permian, the Central Pangean Mountains lay directly beneath the equatorial rainy belt.

[2] Data from the loess deposits of the Salagou Formation in France, dating to the Permian, indicates that the upland areas of the Central Pangean Mountains were likely glaciated, despite being located at the equator.

[1] Due to their immense size and orientation nearly parallel to the equator, during the Late Permian the Central Pangean Mountains created a rain shadow to the north of the range, blocking the monsoonal rains from the Southern Hemisphere, and contributed to the formation of the immense Zechstein salt deposits in Europe.

Map of mountains in central Pangaea during the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian, marking the Massif Central (MC), Bohemian Massif (BM), Corsica (Co), Sardinia (Sa), Iberian Massif (IM), West Virginia (WV), Aquitaine (Aq), Armorican Massif (AM), Northern Italy (NI), and the Rheno-Hercynian (RH) and Saxo-Thuringian (ST) terranes.
Map of Earth during the Early Permian, around 285 million years ago, showing Central Pangean mountain range at equator
Map of Earth during the Early Jurassic, around 190 million years ago, demonstrating the decline and fragmentation of the Central Pangean Mountains