The Ordovician in Prince Edward Island, Canada

Paleontology and geology

As with earlier rocks, Ordovician rocks are not exposed at the surface on Prince Edward Island. Information obtained from drill cores and by looking at Ordovician age rocks in nearby Nova Scotia tell us that PEI was part of the 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). Ordovician rocks in the region are predominantly dark shales and greywacke sandstones. These formed from sediments eroded off of rising highland areas and deposited in a deepening marine basin. Volcanic rocks are interbedded with the sedimentary rocks and show us that an active subduction zone was present. This subduction zone is associated with a mountain-building event. No Ordovician fossils are known from Prince Edward Island.