Plate tectonics
The terrane likely formed as a subduction-related volcanic island arc off the coast of South America (then Gondwana) during the Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian (625–550 MYA). Plate tectonics moved it across the Iapetus Ocean until it docked with Laurentia (now the east coast of North America). The date of the docking is unknown, but could have occurred during the Taconic, Acadian, or Alleghanian Orogenies.