What is the origin of the cherts?

Early Silurian marine sediments containing cherts represent a southward deepening toward the rift zone and are dominated by black graptolite shales.

What is the prevailing scenario for the Alleghanian regions?

The westward one is toward a continent-continent collision where the accreted terranes got squeezed between Laurussia and Gondwana (this is the prevailing scenario for the Alleghanian regions), whereas eastward, subduction continued with a general rollback of the paleo-Tethyan slab.

What was the impact of the Givetian-Frasnian high pressure events?

The Middle Devonian eo-Variscan metamorphic event affected the Massif Central and other northern European Variscan units (Faure et al., 1997) and was accompanied by Givetian-Frasnian high-pressure events dated as 380–370 Ma.

Why are the accretionary sequences little known?

Accretionary sequences related to this subduction are little known, most likely because important subduction erosion took place during the cordillera stage, as observed now along the South American active margin.

What is the origin of the Moldanubian zone?

the high-pressure rocks dated as Middle Silurian in Bavaria (427 ± 5 Ma; von Quadt and Gebauer, 1993) point to an active margin setting of the Moldanubian zone at that time (like the German Crystalline zone and the Leon domain), but not necessarily to collision.

What is the significance of the ysch troughs?

The authors regard this major change as marking the general aggregation of the different terranes to Eurasia to form the Variscan cordillera; it also marks the onset of paleo-Tethys subduction and the transformation of the margin from passive to active, the ×ysch troughs usually representing forearc basins.

What is the origin of the rift shoulder uplift?

The rift shoulder uplift occurred in the Early Devonian, marked by clastic input derived from the south or by a so-called Caledonian unconformity in the Rhenish Massif.

What did the lateral displacements and rotations of the Visean cordillera lead?

in view of the major Carboniferous lateral displacements and rotation (Edel, 2000, 2001), suture duplication took place and led to present-day multiocean models.

What was the impact of the increasing age of the paleo-Tethys slab?

from the Late Carboniferous onward, the increasing age of the subducting paleo-Tethyan slab generated important slab rollback and general extension affected the cordillera from the Early Permian.

What is the history of the Meguma belt?

Dallmeyer and Keppie (1987) have shown that the Meguma terrane was affected by an Early to Middle Devonian tectonometamorphic event, which could conµrm the accretion of terranes at that time.

What is the relationship between the eo-Variscan event and the island-?

This Middle Devonian eo-Variscan event is inferred to be related to accretion of buoyant material derived from Laurussia and subduction of a peri-Laurussian ocean, whereas farther east the event is related to collision with an island-arc system.

What was the extent of the accretionary phase?

In their model, suturing of the Rheic ocean took place all along the outer border of the western part of the European Hunic terranes during a Middle Devonian accretionary phase (Fig. 4B).

(Open Access) Paleozoic evolution of pre-Variscan terranes: From Gondwana to the Variscan collision (2002) | Gérard M. Stampfii

Q: What are the relics of the pre-Variscan terranes?

Pre-Variscan relics include, besides Cadomian-type basement units, evidence for a sequence of late Precambrian to early Paleozoic plate tectonic settings (e.g., successive stages of development of oceanic crust, volcanic arcs, active margins, and collision zones).

Q: What is the reason for the focus of attention on the Variscides of Central Europe?

An apparent lack of major tectonic events during the Permian and Triassic is certainly responsible for the focus of attention on the Carboniferous history of the Variscides of Central Europe.

Q: What is the origin of the Variscan orogenic cycle?

after the Silurian, theGondwana-derived continental blocks (Ziegler, 1984) started to be involved in the global Variscan orogenic cycle.

INTRODUCTION

Relics of the Variscan mountain chain are well known from

many places in Europe (e.g., Iberia, Armorica, Moesia, the

French Central Massif, the Saxo-Thuringian and Moldanubian

domains, and Alpine pre-Mesozoic basement areas; Fig. 1), and

modern reviews reveal their complex evolution since the De-

vonian (Franke, 1989, 1992; Dallmeyer and Martínez García,

1990; von Raumer and Neubauer, 1993, 1994; Keppie, 1994;

Dallmeyer et al., 1995; Matte, 1998; Arenas et al., 2000; Franke

et al., 2000). As consequences of Variscan and/or Alpine oro-

genic events, pre-Variscan elements in these areas mostly appear

as polymetamorphic domains. Geotectonic nomenclature and

zonation in these classical areas of Variscan evolution mirror the

main Variscan tectonic structures (e.g., Suess, 1909; Kossmat,

1927; Stille, 1951), and evidently cannot be valid for the de-

scription of pre-Variscan elements. Relics of distinct geological

periods from the Proterozoic to the Ordovician have been ob-

Paleozoic evolution of pre-Variscan terranes:

From Gondwana to the Variscan collision

Gérard M. Stamp×i

Institut de Géologie et Paléontologie, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Jürgen F. von Raumer

Institut de Minéralogie et Pétrographie, Université de Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland

Gilles D. Borel

Institut de Géologie et Paléontologie, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

ABSTRACT

The well-known Variscan basement areas of Europe contain relic terranes with a

pre-Variscan evolution testifying to their peri-Gondwanan origin (e.g., relics of Neo-

proterozoic volcanic arcs, and subsequent stages of accretionary wedges, backarc rift-

ing, and spreading). The evolution of these terranes was guided by the diachronous

subduction of the proto-Tethys oceanic ridge under different segments of the Gond-

wana margin. This subduction triggered the emplacement of magmatic bodies and the

formation of backarc rifts, some of which became major oceanic realms (Rheic, paleo-

Tethys). Consequently, the drifting of Avalonia was followed, after the Silurian and a

short Ordovician orogenic event, by the drifting of Armorica and Alpine domains, ac-

companied by the opening of the paleo-Tethys. The slab rollback of the Rheic ocean is

viewed as the major mechanism for the drifting of the European Variscan terranes.

This, in turn, generated a large slab pull force responsible for the opening of major

rift zones within the passive Eurasian margin. Therefore, the µrst Middle Devonian

Variscan orogenic event is viewed as the result of a collision between terranes detached

from Gondwana (grouped as the Hun superterrane) and terranes detached from

Eurasia. Subsequently, the amalgamated terranes collided with Eurasia in a second

Variscan orogenic event in Visean time, accompanied by large-scale lateral escape of

major parts of the accreted margin. Final collision of Gondwana with Laurussia did

not take place before Late Carboniferous time and was responsible for the Alleghan-

ian orogeny.

Stamp×i, G.M., von Raumer, J.F., and Borel, G.D., 2002, Paleozoic evolution of pre-Variscan terranes: From Gondwana to the Variscan collision, in Martínez

Catalán, J.R., Hatcher, R.D., Jr., Arenas, R., and Díaz García, F., eds., Variscan-Appalachian dynamics: The building of the late Paleozoic basement: Boulder, Col-

orado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 364, p. 263–280.

Published in Geological Society of America Special Paper 364: 263-280, 2002

served in many of the basement units. The oldest elements were

considered to be part of a Late Proterozoic supercontinent (e.g.,

Hoffmann, 1991; Unrug, 1997) and may have been detached

from what is known as Gondwana or Laurentia-Baltica or

Siberia. Examples for the Gondwana origin were given by Zwart

and Dornsiepen (1978) and Ziegler (1984), and tectonic com-

plications occurring in such polyorogenic basement massifs

were illustrated by Hatcher (1983) for the Appalachians. It is the

aim of this contribution to discuss the plate tectonic evolution of

these European regions, from the Ordovician onward, in a larger

context of global palinspastic reconstructions.

REVIEW OF PRE-VARISCAN EVOLUTION

Pre-Variscan relics include, besides Cadomian-type base-

ment units, evidence for a sequence of late Precambrian to early

Paleozoic plate tectonic settings (e.g., successive stages of de-

velopment of oceanic crust, volcanic arcs, active margins, and

collision zones). Their corresponding evolution has to be dis-

cussed in the general framework of their peri-Gondwanan loca-

tion. Alpine basement areas (Stamp×i, 1996; von Raumer, 1998;

von Raumer and Stamp×i, 2000) as well as Avalonia have to be

included in the discussion.

In von Raumer et al. (2002) we tried to compare the early

Paleozoic plate tectonic evolution of Avalonia and of microcon-

tinents formerly situated at its lateral eastern continuation along

the Gondwana margin (e.g., Cadomia, and the Alpine terranes),

and we proposed a similar evolution of all these terranes until

the breakoff of Avalonia. Based on the presence of late Cado-

mian (550–520 Ma) granitoids, comparable Neoproterozoic to

Cambrian detrital sediments and volcanites, and Cambrian

oceanic crust, we suggested that initial stages of the Rheic ocean

should have been preserved in the microcontinents formerly lo-

cated in the eastern prolongation of Avalonia at the Gondwana

margin (Fig. 2). Using a model of continuous Gondwana-di-

rected subduction since the Neoproterozoic and comparing time

of rifting, breakoff, and emplacement of granitoids, we distin-

guished several steps of a plate tectonic evolution summarized

as follows.

1. A Neoproterozoic active margin setting with formation

of volcanic arcs is observed along the entire length of the future

microcontinents at the Gondwanan border (e.g., Fernández

Suárez et al., 2000; Schaltegger et al., 1997; Zulauf et al., 1999).

Granites of Neoproterozoic age (ca. 550 Ma), common in many

Gondwana-derived basement blocks, probably indicate slab

breakoff at the end of the Cadomian orogeny. Zircons in these

granites carry the evidence of peri-Gondwanan origin. Latest

Proterozoic to Early Cambrian sedimentary troughs developed

prior to the opening of the Rheic ocean, which resulted from

continued oblique subduction and rifting in a backarc situation.

2. The drift of Avalonia and the opening of the Rheic ocean

were enhanced after the subduction of the mid-oceanic ridge,

under Gondwana, of what we called the proto-Tethys ocean (the

former peri-Gondwanan ocean, Fig. 2). Large-scale magmatic

Figure 1. Present-day locations of ter-

ranes and blocks for western Europe.

AA, Austroalpine; Ab, Alboran (Betic-

Rif-Calabria-Kabbilies-Sardinia); Ad,

Adria (Tuscan Paleozoic-Southern

Alps); Am, Armorica; Ap, Apulia; Aq,

Aquitaine (Montagne Noire-Pyrenees);

Ce, Cetic; Ch, Channel; cI, Central

Iberia; Ct, Cantabria-Asturia-Ebro; DH,

Dinarides-Hellenides; Gi, Giesen; He,

Helvetic; Hz, Harz; iA, intra-Alpine

(Tizia-Transdanubian-Bükk); Ib, al-

lochthonous units of northwestern Iberia;

Lg, Ligeria (Massif Central–South Bri-

tanny); Lz, Lizzard; MD, Moldanubian;

Ms, Meseta; OM, Ossa-Morena; Or, Or-

denes ophiolites; Pe, Penninic; RH,

Rheno-Hercynian; Si, Sicanian basin; sP,

south-Portuguese; Sx, Saxo-Thuringian.

OUTH

OLE

ERINDIA TERRANE

ERINDIA TER

SOUTH

POLE

VALONIAN

TERRANES

ADOMIAN TERRANE

VALONIAN TERRANES

ERINDIA TERRANE

Lough Nafooey arc

Taconic arc

Figure 2. Location of pre-Variscan basement units at Gondwanan margin during Early Ordovician (490 Ma), modiµed from Stamp×i

(2000), showing early stages of Rheic ocean spreading. After short separation from Gondwana, Cadomia reaccreted to Gondwana in Mid-

dle Ordovician time. Thereafter Hun superterrane detached from Gondwana during opening of paleo-Tethys (dashed line along Gond-

wanan border). Avalonia: Is, Istanbul; Mg, Meguma; Mo, Moesia; sP, south Portuguese; Zo, Zonguldak. (Dean et al., 2000, proposed an

Avalonian origin for the Istanbul Paleozoic; see also Seston et al., 2000, and Winchester, 2002). Cadomia: AA, Austro-Alpine; Cm, Cado-

mia; He, Helvetic; Ib, allochthons from northwestern Iberia; Lg, Ligerian; MD, Moldanubian; Pe, Penninic; SM, Serbo-Macedonian; Sx,

Saxo-Thuringian. Serindia: Kb, Karaburun; KT, Karakum-Turan; nC, north China; Qi, Qilian; Tn, north Tarim. Gondwana: Ab, Albo-

ran; Ad, Adria; Al, Alborz; Am, Armorica; Ap, Apulia; Aq, Aquitaine; cA, central Afghanistan; cI, central Iberia; Cr, Carolina; Cs, Chor-

tis; Ct, Cantabria; DH, Dinarides-Hellenides; iA, intra-Alpine; LT, Lut-Tabas; Mn, Menderes; Ms, Meseta; OM, Ossa-Morena; Pr, Pamir;

Qs, south Qinling; SS, Sanandaj-Sirjan; Si, Sicanian basin; sT, south Tibet; Ta, Taurus; Ts, south Tarim; Yu, Yucatan.

pulses of granites and/or gabbros ca. 500 Ma indicate this in-

creased thermal activity (e.g., Abati et al., 1999). In the eastern

continuation of Avalonia, only embryonic stages of the Rheic

rifting may have existed (Fig. 2). Drifting was hampered by the

still-existing mid-oceanic ridge of the proto-Tethys, the colli-

sion of which with the detaching terranes triggered the con-

sumption of this embryonic eastern Rheic ocean. The amalga-

mation of volcanic arcs and continental ribbons with Gondwana

occurred in a short-lived orogenic pulse. The resulting cordillera

started to collapse during the Late Ordovician, leading to the

opening of the paleo-Tethys rift. The chemical evolution of

granitoids is the mirror of the general evolution from Cambrian-

Ordovician rifting, to Cambrian-Ordovician active margin, and

Ordovician amalgamation.

3. Mid-ocean ridge subduction during the Ordovician, in

the former eastern prolongation of Avalonia, triggered not only

the intrusion of many Ordovician granitoids, but also facilitated

the opening of paleo-Tethys and the Late Silurian drift of the

composite Hun superterrane (Stamp×i, 2000). There is little ev-

idence of this episode, neither sedimentation in a backarc setting

(e.g., Saxo-Thuringian domain; Linnemann and Buschmann,

1995), nor Late Ordovician–Early Silurian active margin settings

(e.g., Reischmann and Anthes, 1996) in many of the basement ar-

eas composing Cadomia (sensu lato; see following), except in the

Alpine areas (Stamp×i, 1996; von Raumer, 1998).

In the European pre-Variscan basement areas, hidden in the

Variscan and Alpine mountain chains, a striking comparability

of pre-Silurian evolutions shows that the pre-Variscan elements

had similar related locations along the Gondwana margin. Many

contain Cadomian basement with related evidence of Late Pro-

terozoic detrital sedimentation and volcanic-arc development,

relics of a Rheic ocean, Cambrian-Ordovician accretionary

wedges, evidence of an Ordovician orogenic event with related

granite intrusions, and subsequent volcanicity and sedimenta-

tion indicating the opening of paleo-Tethys. The occurrence of

active margin settings during the Early Silurian supports a

southward subduction of the Rheic and proto-Tethys oceans.

VARISCAN COMPLICATIONS—DISCUSSION

The pre-Variscan elements discussed herein have been in-

terpreted from a Gondwana point of view (von Raumer et al.,

2002), without regard to their post-Silurian evolution. Plate tec-

tonic reconstructions of the Variscan history depend on paleo-

magnetic data and models of Variscan evolution. Independent of

the model applied, the pre-Variscan elements mentioned herein

were strongly transformed during the Variscan collision, and

many of these relics appear today as polymetamorphic and

migmatized domains, wherein much information has been lost.

It is evident that size and contours of the many continental frag-

ments have changed considerably. Nonetheless, in our recon-

structions the original outlines are used to facilitate recognition

of well-known basement areas. Evidently, after the Silurian, the

Gondwana-derived continental blocks (Ziegler, 1984) started to

be involved in the global Variscan orogenic cycle. This is not the

place to discuss all the models currently available, and the reader

is referred to the references given in the introduction, and to the

new observations and data presented during the µeld trips at the

Fifteenth Basement Tectonics Meeting in A Coruña, Spain (Are-

nas et al., 2000; Gil Ibarguchi et al., 2000). In northwestern

Spain, large-scale nappes and their ramps and horses involved

all lithospheric levels, from the upper mantle to the upper crust,

thus redistributing the former lateral orogenic zonation. Com-

parable observations come from the mid-European Variscides

(Matte et al., 1990; Schulmann et al., 1991; Mingram, 1998;

Stipska et al., 1998). It is evident that a pre-Variscan orogenic

zonation has been involved in the Variscan collisional events

(e.g., Martinez Catalán et al., 1997; Arenas et al., 2000), and

relics of oceanic domains appear as fragments within large di-

vergent orogenic belts (Pin, 1990; Matte, 1991; Martinez Cata-

lan et al., 1999).

Although we do not discuss details about the Variscan meta-

morphic evolution, we add some new points of view concerning

the oceanic evolution. Such a discussion is needed in relation to

the different oceanic realms of the Variscan domain (e.g., Iape-

tus, Rheic, Galicia–Massif Central oceans) that have already

been identiµed. Although many occurrences of so-called am-

phibolites known from the Variscan mountain chain still need to

be geochemically characterized and dated, a comparative ap-

proach (von Raumer et al., 2002, and references therein) may

furnish additional arguments for comparing plate tectonic

events across continental fragments derived from Gondwana. In

the following summary of related arguments, based on the in-

ferred former peri-Gondwanan location, we assume, instead of

multioceanic models, the existence of one aborted Rheic ocean,

contemporaneous with the drift of Avalonia, in all basement

units derived from Gondwana (i.e., Cadomia sensu lato and the

Alpine terranes). This model includes the Pulo do Lobo, Gali-

cia, and Massif Central oceans (Robardet, 2000, and also local-

ities from the Bohemian massif; Crowley et al., 2000), and µts

the interpretation of the Cambrian events in northwestern Iberia

(Abati et al., 1999). Pieces of this suture zone, in the basement

assemblages of Cadomia (sensu lato) and the Alpine areas, were

accreted or obducted to the Gondwana margin in the Ordovi-

cian, whereas Avalonia underwent Ordovician-Silurian collision

with Laurentia-Baltica. The main point we develop is that the

continuation of subduction of the Rheic–proto-Tethys oceans

under the remaining peri-Gondwanan blocks triggered mag-

matic events (the subducting ridge being a heat source) and

backarc spreading (with the formation of sedimentary basins

and extrusion of volcanics) from the Middle Ordovician and,

µnally, the opening of paleo-Tethys, from the Silurian. There-

fore, this new proposal considers that the Variscan collision in

Europe took place between Gondwana-derived terranes and

Laurussia and not between Laurussia and Gondwana (Stamp×i

et al., 2000).

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

In North America and western Europe, Variscide collisional

processes are usually inferred to have ranged from the Early De-

vonian to the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian; and the

Tethyan cycle (opening of the Alpine Tethys–Central Atlantic

system) not to have started before Middle Triassic time. An ap-

parent lack of major tectonic events during the Permian and Tri-

assic is certainly responsible for the focus of attention on the Car-

boniferous history of the Variscides of Central Europe. However,

the Variscan domain extends over the entire Alpine area and even

further in the Dinarides and Hellenides. It also extends in time as

deformations become younger, possibly grading into the eo-

Cimmerian (Middle to Late Triassic) deformations, southward

and eastward. This assumption is based on the fact that the pa-

leo-Tethyan domain was not fully closed in southeastern Europe

before the Late Permian. This is shown by Early Permian to Mid-

dle Triassic fully pelagic sequences found in Sicily (Catalano et

al., 1988) and similar Carboniferous to Middle Triassic se-

quences in Crete (Krahl et al., 1986; Stamp×i et al., 2002), lo-

cated at the southern border of the Variscan domain. In the Hel-

lenides and farther east, the µnal closure of this oceanic realm

generally took place during the Carnian (S¸engör, 1984).

Stamp×i et al. (1991) and Stamp×i (1996) discussed this di-

achronous closure of the large paleo-Tethys ocean, insisting on

the development of backarc oceans or basins within the Per-

mian-Triassic Eurasian margin (Ziegler and Stamp×i, 2001) and

the closure of paleo-Tethys between terranes drifting away from

Eurasia (e.g., Pelagonia; Vavassis et al., 2000) and terranes drift-

ing away from Gondwana (the Cimmerian blocks of S¸engör,

1979; Stamp×i, 2000; Stamp×i et al., 2001a, 2001b).

Subsequently, the Atlantic-Alpine-Tethys system opened

north of this eo-Cimmerian collisional zone, which thereafter

was fully incorporated into the Alpine fold belt. This explains

why the end member of the Variscide orogeny, the eo-Cimmer-

ian event, is usually not taken into consideration by many. For

most of those who study the Hercynian, the southern part of

Variscan Europe (e.g., Spain, southern France) is usually re-

garded as stable Gondwana, which certainly it was in early Pa-

leozoic time, whereas it was part of Gondwana-derived terranes

accreted to Laurussia between the Late Devonian and Early Car-

boniferous. We formerly grouped these terranes as the Hun su-

perterrane (von Raumer et al., 1998; Stamp×i, 2000). In view of

their relatively independent kinematic evolution (Fig. 3), we

propose labeling its eastern components (Karakum-Turan,

Tarim, north China, south China, north Tibet, and Indochina) the

Asiatic Hunic terranes, whereas its western part is labeled the

European Hunic terranes and comprises three major blocks: Ar-

morica (sensu lato), Cantabria-Aquitaine-Ligeria-Moldanubia,

and Alboran–Adria–intra-Alpine–Cetic (Fig. 4).

The main outcome of this proposal is that the Variscan col-

lision must be polyphase and polymetamorphic. Initially it was

made of the accretion of major terranes along the European seg-

ment of the passive margin of Laurussia (Avalonia), correspon-

ding to the closure of the Rheic ocean in the Late Ordovician

(Fig. 3). Thereafter, Gondwana collided with Laurussia, includ-

ing previously accreted terranes, mainly along the Alleghanian

segment of Laurussia; this last event was diachronous and young-

ing eastward and corresponded to the closure of the paleo-Tethys.

This scheme implies that after the accretion of the European

Hunic terranes to Laurussia (Avalonia), the ocean located to the

south of them (paleo-Tethys) started subducting northward, the

Laurussian margin becoming an active margin. Subsequent sub-

duction of the mid-oceanic ridge of paleo-Tethys led, in Visean

time, to a Variscan cordillera stage.

HUN SUPERTERRANE

The European Hunic terranes include all continental frag-

ments accreted to Laurussia during the Variscan cycle and in-

ferred to have previously been in lateral continuity with Avalo-

nia along the Gondwana margin (Fig. 2). We place Armorica

(sensu lato) (Ossa-Morena, Central Iberia, Brittany, Saxo-

Thuringia) north of North Africa (Fig. 2) based on paleomag-

netic data (e.g., Torsvik and Eide, 1998; Torsvik et al., 1992) and

sedimentological and faunal data (e.g., Paris and Robardet,

1990; Robardet et al., 1994; Robardet, 1996). These data do not

show a major separation of Armorica from Gondwana before the

Early Devonian. We propose that all the other Hunic terranes

were in lateral continuity to Armorica (sensu lato), forming a

ribbon-like superterrane. Their drifting from Gondwana is de-

limited by paleomagnetic data from the eastern part of the Eu-

ropean Hunic terrane, like the Noric-Bosnian block (Schätz et

al., 1997) and the Bohemian block (Krs and Pruner, 1999).

The Asiatic Hunic terranes elements are represented by Tu-

ran and Pamir (the Kara-Kum–Tarim terrane of Khain, 1994;

Zonenshain et al., 1990), together with Tarim and north China,

which are inferred to have escaped from Gondwana in the Early

Devonian. This escape followed the accretion to the northern

parts of these regions of the Serindia terrane in the Late Sil-

urian–Early Devonian (Meng and Zhang, 1999; Yin and Nie,

1996), as well as the accretion of island arcs in Vietnam (Find-

ley, 1998) and east China (Hutchison, 1989) at the same time; a

similar development is also found along the Australian margin

(e.g., Foster and Gray, 2000).

Therefore, the Hun superterrane in Early Ordovician (Fig. 2)

to Early Silurian reconstructions is spread over a relatively large

paleolatitudinal area (from 60° south to the equator). Changes of

facies can be expected between Armorica and terranes in the Alps

(e.g., Carnic, Austroalpine, and intra-Alpine domains) located

within the tropical zone, which present a Silurian to Carbonifer-

ous stratigraphic evolution very similar to that of the Gondwanan

margin in Iran (Alborz) and Turkey (Taurus).

The prerift-synrift sequences of the Hun superterrane pres-

ent a uniform sedimentary evolution equal to that found on the

Gondwanan border. For example, in the Armorica (sensu lato)

Paleozoic evolution of pre-Variscan terranes: From Gondwana to the Variscan collision

Figures

Citations

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References

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Did the breakout of laurentia turn gondwanaland inside-out?

Geology of the USSR : a plate-tectonic synthesis

Paleotectonics of Asia : fragments of a synthesis.

Evolution of the Arctic-North Atlantic and the Western Tethys

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Frequently Asked Questions (17)

Q1. What have the authors contributed in "Paleozoic evolution of pre-variscan terranes: from gondwana to the variscan collision" ?

Q2. What is the origin of the cherts?

Q3. What is the prevailing scenario for the Alleghanian regions?

Q4. What are the relics of the pre-Variscan terranes?

Q5. What was the impact of the Givetian-Frasnian high pressure events?

Q6. Why are the accretionary sequences little known?

Q7. What is the reason for the focus of attention on the Variscides of Central Europe?

Q8. What is the origin of the Moldanubian zone?

Q9. What is the origin of the Variscan orogenic cycle?

Q10. What triggered the consumption of this embryonic eastern Rheic ocean?

Q11. What is the significance of the ysch troughs?

Q12. What is the origin of the rift shoulder uplift?

Q13. What did the lateral displacements and rotations of the Visean cordillera lead?

Q14. What was the impact of the increasing age of the paleo-Tethys slab?

Q15. What is the history of the Meguma belt?

Q16. What is the relationship between the eo-Variscan event and the island-?

Q17. What was the extent of the accretionary phase?