The Central Pangean Mountains were a great mountain chain in the middle part of the supercontinent Pangaea that stretches across the continent from northeast to southwest during the Carboniferous, Permian Triassic periods. The ridge was formed as a consequence of a collision between the supercontinents Laurussia and Gondwana during the formation of Pangaea. It was similar to the present Himalayas at its highest elevation during the beginning of the Permian period.

It’s hard to imagine now that once upon a time that the Scottish Highlands, the Appalachians, the Ouachita Mountains, and the Little Atlas of Morocco are the same mountain range, once connected as the Central Pangean Mountains.

During the Permian period, the Central Pangean were subjected to significant physical weathering, decreasing the peaks and forming many deep intermontane plains. By the Middle Triassic, the mountain sierras had been considerably reduced in size. By the beginning of the Jurassic period (200 mln years ago), the Pangean chain in Western Europe disappeared to some highland regions separated by deep marine basins.