The Silurian in Prince Edward Island, Canada

Paleontology and geology

As with earlier rocks, Silurian rocks are not exposed at the surface on Prince Edward Island. Information obtained from drill cores and by looking at Silurian age rocks in nearby Nova Scotia tell us that PEI was part of a small paleocontinent called Avalonia. This paleocontinent lay closer to what are now Europe (the paleocontinent called Baltica) and Africa and South America (both part of the paleocontinent of Gondwana) than to what is now the North American continent (the paleocontinent called Laurentia). A deepening marine basin collected muds and sands that became shales and greywacke sandstone. Black shales, greywackes, and volcanic rocks dominate the stratigraphy, indicating the presence of a deepening marine basin and periods of very low oxygen levels in the Silurian sea. No Silurian fossils are known from Prince Edward Island.