Circulation
Although it is impossible to observe Ordovician oceanic currents directly, major circulation patterns can be inferred from basic oceanographic principles. Circulation within the Panthalassic Ocean was unimpeded by continents and followed a relatively simple zonal system, with westward circumpolar flow north of 60° N. The northward projections of Laurentia and Gondwana into the Panthalassic Ocean would have created two large clockwise-spinning gyres (eddies) between the Equator and 60° N. In the Southern Hemisphere, Gondwana blocked this zonal flow by spanning the area from the South Pole to the Equator. Smaller gyres were set up within the Paleotethys Sea and Iapetus Ocean, with generally counterclockwise flow south of 60° S and clockwise flow between the Equator and 60° S. The tectonic movements of small continents and oceanic islands considerably modified these relatively simple gyres. Monsoonal circulation, characterized by seasonal alterations in ocean currents, would have been fostered in subtropical latitudes, particularly along the margins of Gondwana.
Upwelling (the movement of colder, nutrient-rich water from the depths to the surface) would have developed along the west coasts of continents, along the Equator and 60° S. Unlike the present time, in which the water in the deep ocean is generated from the sinking of cold, dense water at the poles, bottom water in the Ordovician would have originated in the warm, saline conditions of tropical epicontinental seas. Relatively rapid evaporation in these warm locations would have increased the density of a volume of water because of the high concentrations of dissolved salts. Similar conditions also existed during the Cretaceous Period and led in both cases to sluggish ocean circulation and resulting anoxia (lack of dissolved oxygen) in deep marine environments. The widespread black shales found in deepwater settings in the Ordovician are evidence of anoxic (that is, depleted oxygen) conditions. Only during an extended glacial period would ocean circulation patterns accelerate. Chilled by continental glaciation, surface waters would have descended and displaced the warmer, deep ocean water. Because the sinking of cold polar water occurs at a faster rate than the sinking of warm, saline tropical water, the strength of cold ocean currents, and thus upwelling, would have increased (see below Paleoclimate).
Plate tectonics
The first major rifting events that resulted in the division of Rodinia into several pieces may have occurred as early as 750 million years ago. Following the breakup of the supercontinent, extensive oceanic ridges were established, circling the globe and creating the Paleotethys Sea and Iapetus and Panthalassic oceans. The production of oceanic lithosphere at these ridges was accommodated through its destruction at subduction zones. The Panthalassic Ocean was apparently bordered on all sides by subduction zones, much like the Pacific Ocean is today. A subduction zone also separated Laurentia from both Siberia and Baltica.
All of the major tectonic plates were in motion during the Ordovician Period. Laurentia gradually rotated counterclockwise as Siberia-Kazakhstan approached it from the east. Baltica drew toward Laurentia from the southeast, gradually closing the Iapetus Ocean and ultimately colliding with Laurentia in the Silurian Period. The Paleotethys Sea also gradually narrowed as a subduction zone on the west side of Gondwana consumed the ocean floor. Gondwana itself underwent a gradual clockwise rotation in the Ordovician, bringing Africa over the South Pole and Australia and North China across the Equator and into the Northern Hemisphere.
Ordovician volcanism was extensive and was primarily generated at subduction zones and oceanic ridges. Globally, volcanism appears to have peaked twice during the early Paleozoic Era, first near the end of the Cambrian Period through earliest parts of the Ordovician Period and later within the Middle to Late Ordovician epochs. The progressive closing of ocean basins as continents collided during the Middle Paleozoic is thought to reflect an overall slowing of rates of plate motion and therefore a slowdown in volcanicity, which is observed after the Ordovician. Ordovician volcanic deposits produced at subduction zones consist mostly of ashes as well as basaltic to andesitic flows, much as seen in modern subduction zones. Other Ordovician volcanic deposits record eruptions in extensional basins (rift zones) and are characterized by thick accumulations of basalt. Volcanic rocks of Ordovician origin are particularly common in Great Britain, Kazakhstan, the Baltic region and Scandinavia, eastern North America, and Argentina.
Unique mineralogical and geochemical features of many Ordovician volcanic ashes allow them to be correlated over long distances. One such ash bed, the Millbrig K-bentonite of eastern North America, has been correlated to the “Big Bentonite” of Scandinavia, which was separated from North America in the Ordovician by the 1,000-km-wide (620-mile-wide) Iapetus Ocean. Reconstruction of the volume of this eruption suggests that over 1,000 cubic km (about 240 cubic miles) of ash was erupted, making it one of the largest recorded ashfalls in Earth’s history. In contrast, the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 produced a mere 0.2 cubic km (about 0.05 cubic mile) of ash.
Orogenic (mountain-building) belts formed in the Ordovician wherever plates converged—at subduction zones and at collisions between continents and terranes, such as microplates (smaller fragments of continental plates), oceanic arcs (chains of volcanic islands), and oceanic plateaus. Subduction zones have been recognized along the Panthalassic margin of Tasmania, Antarctica, western South America, western North America, Ellesmere Island, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and the Qin (Tsinling)-Qilian ranges in China. Collisions with terranes are also well known. One well-studied example is the Taconic orogeny, which occurred during the Middle and Late Ordovician epochs in the eastern United States. This event includes at least three separate collisional events from Maine to Alabama. The Taconic orogeny created a series of deep basins along the eastern edge of Laurentia, some of which are now filled with over 3,000 metres (about 9,900 feet) of sedimentary rock. The thick accumulation of sediment filling one of these basins in present-day New York and Pennsylvania is known as the Queenston Delta.