As the Permian Period dawned, some 270 million years ago, the Iapetus Ocean, predecessor of the Atlantic, was closing and the continents began to merge into Pangea. One hundred million years later, during the Jurassic, the Atlantic Ocean started to open; the pattern of this rift did not match the old suture line of the Iapetus and some sections of land changed continents.
The segments of the North American plate beneath eastern Massachusetts and south Florida were part of Africa when the Iapetus Ocean divided those continents. In like manner, Nova Scotia was on the European plate and Ireland, Scotland and part of Norway were North American.
So, if you've always wanted to live in Europe, just hang around for a hundred million years. You may not even have to sell your house!
