Three-Way Collision Formed British Mainland

Parts of Britain are a lot more like France than ever before realized.

In fact, Cornwall and south Devon on the British mainland are basically part of France — at least, geologically speaking. New research finds that these areas all derive from an ancient bit of continental crust called Armorica. Previously, the British mainland was thought to have been formed from only a piece of crust called Avolonia and a segment of the precursor to North America, Laurentia. The new research suggests that it was instead a three-way merger.