The continental masses have been on the planet's surface ever since they formed, and that has been the case with the North American continental mass as well. In the time period between the Ordovician and Tertiary, the North American plate has been moving a lot, and it has changed its location and motion constantly. At the beginning of the Ordovician, the North American plate has been located around the Equator. It has remained at the low latitudes for quite some time, though it has constantly be moving toward east, or west, slightly north, or slightly south, kind of like in a circular movement. Then with the breakup of Pangaea, North America has started to move towards north, being close to the prime meridian. After that it continued to move toward west and then north west, gradually coming into the location that it has nowadays, which is also roughly the location it had at the end of the Tertiary.
