博格达山晚石炭纪造山活动的变形地质记录

主要由钙碱性火山岩、火山碎屑岩组成的博格达古岛弧是天山缝合造山带的重要组成部分 ,是一个发育较成熟的山链 ,其演化经历了晚古生代的韧性剪切收缩 ;中生代伸展调整及新生代再造山过程。晚古生代的造山活动在博格达山有很好的地质记录 ,并以显著的韧性剪切变形带的形成和发育同造山的褶皱构造为特点。剪切变形带内同构造的石英脉中的锆石U PbSHRIMP测年结果与山链中花岗岩、辉长岩年龄颇为一致 (311～ 316Ma) ,这个年龄反映在结束洋盆散聚、碰撞焊接的晚华力西期造山过程中 ,博格达古岛弧内存在一次虽不甚强烈 ,但又较为明显的构造岩浆事件 ,其成因可能与引起石炭纪大规模裂陆式喷发的深部断裂构造重新活动有关。     

The Variscan collage and orogeny (480–290 Ma) and the tectonic definition of the Armorica microplate: a review

The Variscan belt of western Europe is part of a large Palaeozoic mountain system, 1000 km broad and 8000 km long, which extended from the Caucasus to the Appalachian and Ouachita mountains of northern America at the end of the Carboniferous. This system, built between 480 and 250 Ma, resulted from the diachronic collision of two continents: Laurentia–Baltica to the NW and Gondwana to the SE. Between these two continents, small, intermediate continental plates separated by oceanic sutures mainly have been defined (based on palaeomagnetism) as Avalonia and Armorica. They are generally assumed to have been detached from Gondwana during the early Ordovician and docked to Laurentia and Baltica before the Carboniferous collision between Gondwana and Laurentia–Baltica. Palaeomagnetic and palaeobiostratigraphic methods allow two main oceanic basins to be distinguished: the Iapetus ocean between Avalonia and Laurentia and between Laurentia and Baltica, with a lateral branch (Tornquist ocean) between Avalonia and Baltica, and the Rheic ocean between Avalonia and the so‐called Armorica microplate. Closure of the Iapetus ocean led to the Caledonian orogeny: a belt resulting from collision between Laurentia and Baltica, and from softer collisions between Avalonia and Laurentia and between Avalonia and Baltica. Closure of the Rheic ocean led to the Variscan orogeny by collision of Avalonia plus Armorica with Gondwana. A tectonic approach allows this scenario to be further refined. Another important oceanic suture is defined: the Galicia–Southern Brittany suture, running through France and Iberia and separating the Armorica microplate into North Armorica and South Armorica. Its closure by northward (or/and westward?) oceanic and then continental subduction led to early Variscan (430–370 Ma) tectonism and metamorphism in the internal parts of the Variscan belt. As no Palaeozoic suture can be detected south of South Armorica, this latter microplate should be considered as part of Gondwana since early Palaeozoic times and during its Palaeozoic north‐westward drift. Thus, the name Armorica should be restricted to the microplate included between the Rheic and the Galicia–Southern Brittany sutures.     

Devonian-Cretaceous repeated subsidence and uplift along the Teisseyre-Tornquist zone in SE Poland — Insight from seismic data interpretation

The Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone that separates the East European Craton from the Palaeozoic Platform forms one of the most fundamental lithospheric boundaries in Europe. Devonian to Cretaceous-Paleogene evolution of the SE segment of this zone was analyzed using high-quality seismic reflection data that provided detailed information regarding entire Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary cover, with particular focus on problems of Late Carboniferous and Late Cretaceous-Paleogene basin inversion and uplift. Two previously proposed models of development and inversion of the Devonian-Carboniferous Lublin Basin seem to only partly explain configuration of this sedimentary basin. A new model includes Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous reverse faulting within the cratonic area NE from the Kock fault zone, possibly first far-field effect of the Variscan orogeny. This was followed by Late Carboniferous inversion of the Lublin Basin. Inversion tectonics was associated with strike-slip movements along the Ursynów-Kazimierz fault zone, and thrusting along the Kock fault zone possibly triggered by deeper strike-slip movements. Late Carboniferous inversion-related deformations along the NE boundary of the Lublin Basin were associated with some degree of ductile (quasi-diapiric) deformation facilitated by thick series of Silurian shales. During Mesozoic extension and development of the Mid-Polish Trough major fault zones within the Lublin Basin remained mostly inactive, and subsidence centre moved to the SW, towards the Nowe Miasto-Zawichost fault zone and further to the SW into the present-day Holy Cross Mts. area. Late Cretaceous-Paleogene inversion of the Mid-Polish Trough and formation of the Mid-Polish Swell was associated with reactivation of inherited deeper fault zones, and included also some strike-slip faulting. The study area provides well-documented example of the foreland plate within which repeated basin inversion related to compressive/transpressive deformations was triggered by active orogenic processes at the plate margin (i.e. Variscan or Carpathian orogeny) and involved important strike-slip reactivation of crustal scale inherited fault zones belonging to the Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone.     

The massive stibnite veins of the French Palaeozoic basement: a metallogenic marker of Late Variscan brittle extension

The stibnite ore deposits of the French Palaeozoic basement are spatially related to major Late Variscan strike-slip faults. They occur as small discontinuous veins mostly hosted in epizonal or catazonal siliciclastics. Stibnite crystallizes in the final stage of a polymetallic paragenesis from an antimony-bearing solution, which deposits a first discrete Fe-As assemblage at 300–400°C and 0.5–0.8 Kbar. Experimental data have shown that antimony solubility drastically decreases on cooling. Characterization of the Late Variscan antimony-bearing fluids enables us to predict the temperature range - 270/150°C - under which stibnite was precipitated. Since the latter coincides with the fluid inclusion homogenization temperature range, the pressure at which stibnite crystallized can be estimated from vapour pressure data to have been around 0.1 Kbar. Extensional brittle shear zones, developed at the end of the Late Variscan orogeny (probably at the Westphalian/Stephanian boundary), drained the hydrothermal fluids near to the surface (c. 1000 m ?) reaching the critical P-T conditions for stibnite crystallization.     

Palaeozoic history of the Armorican Massif: Models for the tectonic evolution of the suture zones

The Armorican Massif (western France) provides an excellent record of the Palaeozoic history of the Variscan belt. Following the Late Neoproterozoic Cadomian orogeny, the Cambro-Ordovician rifting was associated with oceanic spreading. The Central- and North-Amorican domains (which together constitute the core of the Armorica microplate) are bounded by two composite suture zones. To the north, the Léon domain (correlated with the “Normannian High” and the “Mid-German Crystalline Rise” in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone) records the development of a nappe stack along the northern suture zone, and was backthrusted over the central-Armorican domain during the Carboniferous. To the south, an intermediate block (“Upper Allochthon”) records a complex, polyorogenic history, with an early high-temperature event followed by the first generation of eclogites (Essarts). This intermediate block overthrusts to the north the Armorica microplate (Saint-Georges-sur-Loire), to the south: (i) relics of an oceanic domain; and (ii) the Gondwana palaeomargin. The collision occurred during a Late Devonian event, associated with a second generation of eclogites (Cellier).     

西藏当雄纳龙晚古生代裂谷盆地的识别及其意义

西藏冈底斯构造带是冈瓦纳大陆北部边缘的重要组成部分，经历了特提斯演化的全过程，并在中生代发育的典型的多岛弧－盆地系统。笔者根据冈底斯构造带中部纳龙地区晚古生代发育的沉积相类型、火山岩组合以及古生物等方面的资料，首次提出当雄纳龙盆地在中二叠世栖霞期具有裂谷盆地性质，揭示出冈底斯地区在二叠纪已转化为活动大陆边缘，为研究西藏冈底斯地区弧－盆系统的形成过程及晚古生代的区域构造特征古地理格局提供了重要的资料。     

Thermomechanical evolution of the high‐grade core in the nappe zone of Variscan Sardinia,Italy: the role of shear deformation and granite emplacement

In the nappe zone of the Sardinian Variscan chain, the deformation and metamorphic grade increase throughout the tectonic nappe stack from lower greenschist to upper amphibolite facies conditions in the deepest nappe, the Monte Grighini Unit. A synthesis of petrological, structural and radiometric data is presented that allows us to constrain the thermal and mechanical evolution of this unit. Carboniferous subduction under a low geothermal gradient (~490–570 °C GPa^?1) was followed by exhumation accompanied by heating and Late Carboniferous magma emplacement at a high apparent geothermal gradient (~1200–1450 °C GPa^?1). Exhumation coeval with nappe stacking was closely followed by activity on a ductile strike‐slip shear zone that accommodated magma intrusion and enabled the final exhumation of the Monte Grighini Unit to upper crustal levels. The reconstructed thermo‐mechanical evolution allows a more complete understanding of the Variscan orogenic wedge in central Sardinia. As a result we are able to confirm a diachronous evolution of metamorphic and tectonic events from the inner axial zone to the outer nappe zone, with the Late Variscan low‐P/high‐T metamorphism and crustal anatexis as a common feature across the Sardinian portion of the Variscan orogen.     

Geochronological and petrological constraints from the evolution in the Saxon Granulite Massif,Germany, on the Variscan continental collision orogeny

Controversy over the plate tectonic affinity and evolution of the Saxon granulites in a two‐ or multi‐plate setting during inter‐ or intracontinental collision makes the Saxon Granulite Massif a key area for the understanding of the Palaeozoic Variscan orogeny. The massif is a large dome structure in which tectonic slivers of metapelite and metaophiolite units occur along a shear zone separating a diapir‐like body of high‐P granulite below from low‐P metasedimentary rocks above. Each of the upper structural units records a different metamorphic evolution until its assembly with the exhuming granulite body. New age and petrologic data suggest that the metaophiolites developed from early Cambrian protoliths during high‐P amphibolite facies metamorphism in the mid‐ to late‐Devonian and thermal overprinting by the exhuming hot granulite body in the early Carboniferous. A correlation of new Ar–Ar biotite ages with published P–T–t data for the granulites implies that exhumation and cooling of the granulite body occurred at average rates of ~8 mm/year and ~80°C/Ma, with a drop in exhumation rate from ~20 to ~2.5 mm/year and a slight rise in cooling rate between early and late stages of exhumation. A time lag of c. 2 Ma between cooling through the closure temperatures for argon diffusion in hornblende and biotite indicates a cooling rate of 90°C/Ma when all units had assembled into the massif. A two‐plate model of the Variscan orogeny in which the above evolution is related to a short‐lived intra‐Gondwana subduction zone conflicts with the oceanic affinity of the metaophiolites and the timescale of c. 50 Ma for the metamorphism. Alternative models focusing on the internal Variscan belt assume distinctly different material paths through the lower or upper crust for strikingly similar granulite massifs. An earlier proposed model of bilateral subduction below the internal Variscan belt may solve this problem.     

U?Pb and 40Ar?39Ar geochronology of Palaeozoic units in the northern Apennines: determining protolith age and alpine evolution using the Calamita Schist and Ortano Porphyroid

In the northern Apennines, the Palaeozoic basement involved in the Late Oligocene–Middle Miocene nappe stack contains metamorphic units for which hypothetical ages have been assigned on the basis of lithological correlations with the Palaeozoic formations of the Variscan chain in Sardinia. This uncertainty concerning the age poses limitations to reconstructing the Palaeozoic stratigraphy, defining the Alpine and pre‐Alpine histories and correlations with other domains of the Variscan chain. We present the U Pb age of detrital zircon and the ⁴⁰Ar ³⁹Ar age of metamorphic muscovite for the Calamita Schist and Ortano Porphyroid, two metamorphic units of undetermined Palaeozoic age cropping out in the eastern Elba Island. The radioisotopic data allows us to: (i) define the Early Carboniferous and Middle Ordovician ages for the Calamita Schist and Ortano Porphyroid, respectively, as well as their derivation (flysch deposit and magmatic rocks); (ii) pose some constraints concerning their alpine tectonic and metamorphic histories. These new data generate a more precise reconstruction of the Palaeozoic sequence in the northern Apennines, and they document that the Palaeozoic basement involved in the alpine deformation underwent internal stacking with an inversion of the original sequence. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Kinematics of crustal stacking and dispersion in the south-eastern Bohemian Massif

The south-eastern Bohemian Massif consolidated during the Late Variscan orogeny by the oblique collision of two continental crustal blocks after closure of an oceanic realm. One microcontinent comprises portions which are now distributed among Moravian and Moldanubian units and which are characterized by Late Proterozoic tectonothermal events, especially by granitoid intrusions. The other microcontinent includes the Gföhl gneiss and granulites (Gföhl nappe) of probable Early Palaeozoic protolith ages. Both continental blocks are separated by an ophiolite-like assemblage, which is preserved in portions of the Raabs unit.Oblique crustal stacking is accompanied by north-eastward propagation of nappes in a dextral transpressive regime. Exhumation of previously thickened crust is achieved by equally oriented bulk extension but partitioned in distinct displacement paths. Coeval stacking and extension at different crustal levels is suggested.Correspondence to: H. Fritz     

Durbachites–Vaugnerites – a geodynamic marker in the central European Variscan orogen

Durbachites–Vaugnerites are K–Mg‐rich magmatic rocks derived from an enriched mantle source. Observed throughout the European Variscan basement, their present‐day geographical distribution does not reveal any obvious plate‐tectonic context. Published geochronological data show that most durbachites–vaugnerites formed around 335–340 Ma. Plotted in a Visean plate‐tectonic reconstruction, the occurrences of durbachites–vaugnerites are concentrated in a hotspot like cluster in the Galatian superterrane, featuring a distinctive regional magmatic province. Reviewing the existing local studies on Variscan durbachite–vaugnerite rocks, we interpret their extensive appearance in the Visean in terms of two factors: (i) long‐term mantle enrichment above early Variscan subduction systems; and (ii) melting of this enriched subcontinental mantle source during the Variscan collision stage due to thermal anomalies below the Galatian superterrane, possibly created by slab windows and and/or the sinking of the subducted Rheic slab into the mantle. The tectonic reorganization of Europe in the Late Palaeozoic and during the Alpine orogeny has torn apart and blurred this marked domain of durbachites–vaugnerites.     

Late Palaeozoic NE–SW ductile–brittle extension in the La Serre horst,eastern France

In the La Serre horst of the Alpine foreland, the pre-Triassic La Serre median fault zone separates a Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous granite from an ignimbrite of unknown age and from Permian deposits. Motion along this fault zone took place first in ductile conditions and then evolved in brittle conditions. Both ductile and brittle shear criteria indicate a top-NE normal-dextral displacement. Similar motions are reported along faults bounding Late Palaeozoic intramontane coal basins located in the Massif Central and correspond to a widespread NE–SW Late to Post-Orogenic extension that affected the Variscan basement during Late Carboniferous to Early Permian times. To cite this article: G. Coromina, O. Fabbri, C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Geochronological constraints on the evolution of a suture: the Ossa-Morena/Central Iberian contact (Variscan Belt,south-west Iberian Peninsula)

One of the main tectonic boundaries of the Variscan Belt in the Iberian Peninsula is the Ossa-Morena/Central Iberian contact. This contact is marked by a highly deformed unit (Central Unit) which recorded an initial high-pressure/high-temperature metamorphic evolution. Rb-Sr whole-rock isotopic data from three gneissic bodies cropping out in the Central Unit yield two Late Proterozoic ages (690 ± 134 and 632 ± 103 Ma) and an early Palaeozoic age (495 ± 13 Ma), which we interpret as protolith ages. The two Late Proterozoic orthogneisses show initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios typical of mantle-derived materials or those with significant mantle participation (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr > 0.709). These new radiometric data, together with ages previously published and the structural evolution of the Central Unit, lead to the conclusions that: (1) there are magmatic protoliths of Late Proterozoic and Early Palaeozoic ages; (2) the metamorphic evolution of this area, including the high-pressure event, belongs to the Variscan orogenic cycle; (3) the deformations observed affect the rocks of the entire Central Unit, accordingly they are post-Ordovician, i.e. Variscan; and (4) consequently, the Ossa-Morena/Central Iberian contact is interpreted here as a Variscan suture.     

West African provenance for Saxo-Thuringia (Bohemian Massif): Did Armorica ever leave pre-Pangean Gondwana? – U/Pb-SHRIMP zircon evidence and the Nd-isotopic record

Neoproterozoic rocks in the Saxo-Thuringian part of Armorica formed in an active margin setting and were overprinted during Cadomian orogenic processes at the northern margin of Gondwana. The Early Palaeozoic overstep sequence in Saxo-Thuringia was deposited in a Cambro-Ordovician rift setting that reflects the separation of Avalonia and other terranes from the Gondwana mainland. Upper Ordovician and Silurian to Early Carboniferous shelf sediments of Saxo-Thuringia were deposited at the southern passive margin of the Rheic Ocean. SHRIMP U/Pb geochronology on detrital and inherited zircon grains from pre-Variscan basement rocks of the northern part of the Bohemian Massif (Saxo-Thuringia, Germany) demonstrates a distinct West African provenance for sediments and magmatic rocks in this part of peri-Gondwana. Nd-isotope data of Late Neoproterozoic to Early Carboniferous sedimentary rocks show no change in sediment provenance from the Neoproterozoic to the Lower Carboniferous, which implies that Saxo-Thuringia did not leave its West African source before the Variscan Orogeny leading to the Lower Carboniferous configuration of Pangea. Hence, large parts of the pre-Variscan basement of Western and Central Europe often referred to as Armorica or Armorican Terrane Assemblage may have remained with Africa in pre-Pangean time, which makes Armorica a remnant of a Greater Africa in Gondwanan Europe. The separation of Armorica from the Gondwana mainland and a long drift during the Palaeozoic is not supported by the presented data.     

Granulite facies xenoliths from the Yuhuashan complex,central Jiangxi,South China: constraints on Late Palaeozoic orogeny and middle‐lower crust components

The Cretaceous Yuhuashan igneous complex contains abundant xenoliths of high‐grade metamorphic rocks, with the assemblage garnet ± hypersthene + biotite + plagioclase + K‐feldspar + quartz. The biotite in these samples has high TiO₂ (>3.5%), indicating high‐T metamorphism (623–778 °C). P–T calculations for two felsic granulites indicate that the peak metamorphism took place at 880–887 °C and 0.64–0.70 GPa, in the low pressure/high temperature (LP‐HT) granulite facies. Phase equilibrium modelling gives equilibrium conditions for the peak assemblage of a felsic granulite of >0.6 GPa and >840 °C, consistent with the P–T calculations, and identifies an anticlockwise P–T–t path. LA‐ICPMS U–Pb dating of metamorphic and detrital zircon from one xenolith reveals that the granulite facies metamorphism took place at 273.6 ± 2.2 Ma, and the protolith was a sedimentary rock deposited later than 683 Ma. This represents the first Late Palaeozoic (Variscan) granulite facies event identified in the South China Block (SCB). Coupled with other geological observations, the LP‐HT metamorphic conditions and anticlockwise P–T–t path suggest that Variscan metamorphism probably occurred in a post‐orogenic or intraplate extensional tectonic setting associated with the input of external heat, related to the underplating of mantle‐derived magma. Based on P–T estimates and the comparison of the protolith composition with mid‐ to low‐grade metamorphic rocks in the area, it is suggested that the mid‐lower crust under the Xiangshan–Yuhuashan area consists mainly of these felsic granulites and gneisses, whose protoliths were probably subducted to these depths during the Early Palaeozoic orogeny in the SCB, and underwent two episodes of metamorphism during Early Palaeozoic and Late Palaeozoic time.     

柴北缘-东昆仑地区的造山型金矿床

柴北缘－东昆仑是中国西部秦祁昆褶皱山系的一部分，它的显生宙造山经历了加里东和晚华力西－印支两个旋回，并以多岛洋／裂陷槽、软碰撞和多旋回造山为特点。该区已发现多个造山型金矿床，它们具有相似的地质－地球化学特征。有两组成矿年龄：一是是加里东期（相当于加里东造山晚期）；二是晚华力西－印支期（处于该造山旋回晚期）。前期为性地中地壳顶部－上地壳底部的金矿化，后期则形成于较浅层次（1．2－5．7km）的金矿体侵位自区域北部向南部，矿床元素组合由Au-As向Au-Sb转化，金矿成矿年龄由老变新，成矿深度相应变浅。研究认为，与碰撞有关的热事件以及逐步升高地热增温率，驱动被加热的建造水和大气降水流体沿碰撞带和大型剪切等长距离地迁移、活动，并淋取围岩的成矿元素，形成含金流体。在进入到矿床或矿体构造后，由于构造性质转换，物理化学条件亦随之改变，含金流体沉淀，形成金矿体。这些金矿形成于造山晚期，是造山作用的产物，后者为前者提供了空间、热－动力条件。     

The variscan geology of the Pyrenees

The main outlines of the geology of the Variscan part of the Pyrenees are discussed. Rocks involved in this cycle are high-grade basement gneisses, Palaeozoic sediments and their metamorphic equivalents, late intrusive granodiorites and early, pre-Variscan granites. The main features of the stratigraphy of the Palaeozoic are given.Structures fall into two domains: a low-grade suprastructure, essentially with steep folds and cleavages, and a high-grade infrastructure with dominantly low-dipping foliations. An important phase of early, pre-cleavage folding occurs in low-grade rocks mainly along the southern border of the Axial zone. In high-grade rocks most structures and the metamorphism postdate the main cleavage phase in low-grade rocks. The influence of the Alpine orogeny on the Variscan structures consists mainly of faults, steep, reverse faults in the northern, and south-directed thrusts in the southern part of the Pyrenees. Metamorphism took place under high geothermal gradients and low pressures, as indicated by the abundant occurrence of andalusite and cordierite     

Upper Palaeozoic subduction/accretion processes in the closure of Palaeotethys: Evidence from the Chios Melange (E Greece), the Karaburun Melange (W Turkey) and the Teke Dere Unit (SW Turkey)

During Late Palaeozoic time a wide ocean, known as Palaeotethys, separated the future Eurasian and African continents. This ocean closed in Europe in the west during the Variscan orogeny, whereas in Asia further east it remained open and evolved into the Mesozoic Tethys, only finally closing during Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic.Three Upper Palaeozoic lithological assemblages, the Chios Melange (on the Aegean Greek island), the Karaburun Melange (westernmost Aegean Turkey) and the Teke Dere Unit (Lycian Nappes, SW Turkey) provide critical information concerning sedimentary and tectonic processes during closure of Palaeotethys. The Chios and Karaburun melanges in the west are mainly terrigenous turbidites with blocks and dismembered sheets of Silurian–Upper Carboniferous platform carbonate rocks (shallow-water and slope facies) and poorly dated volcanic rocks. The Teke Dere Unit to the southeast begins with alkaline, within-plate-type volcanics, depositionally overlain by Upper Carboniferous shallow-water carbonates. This intact succession is overlain by a tectonic slice complex comprising sandstone turbidites that are intersliced with shallow-water, slope and deep-sea sediments (locally dated as Early Carboniferous). Sandstone petrography and published detrital mineral dating imply derivation from units affected by the Panafrican (Cadomian) and Variscan orogenies.All three units are interpreted as parts of subduction complexes in which pervasive shear zones separate component parts. Silurian–Lower Carboniferous black cherts (lydites) and slope carbonates accreted in a subduction trench where sandstone turbidites accumulated. Some blocks retain primary depositional contacts, showing that gravitational processes contributed to formation of the melange. Detached blocks of Upper Palaeozoic shallow-water carbonates (e.g. Chios) are commonly mantled by conglomerates, which include water-worn clasts of black chert. The carbonate blocks are restored as one, or several, carbonate platforms that collided with an active margin, fragmenting into elongate blocks that slid into a subduction trench. This material was tectonically accreted at shallow levels within a subduction complex, resulting in layer-parallel extension, shearing and slicing. The accretion mainly took place during Late Carboniferous time.Alternative sedimentary-tectonic models are considered in which the timing and extent of closure of Palaeotethys differ, and in which subduction was either northwards towards Eurasia, or southwards towards Gondwana (or both). Terrane displacement is also an option. A similar (but metamorphosed) accretionary unit, the Konya Complex, occurs hundreds of kilometres further east. All of these units appear to have been assembled along the northern margin of Gondwana by Permian time, followed by deposition of overlying Tauride-type carbonate platforms. Northward subduction of Palaeotethys beneath Eurasia is commonly proposed. However, the accretionary units studied here are more easily explained by southward subduction towards Gondwana. Palaeotethys was possibly consumed by long-lived (Late Palaeozoic) northward subduction beneath Eurasia, coupled with more short-lived (Late Carboniferous) southward subduction near Gondwana, during or soon after closure of Palaeotethys in the Balkan region to the west.     

Tectonic framework of the Celtic Sea and adjacent areas with special reference to the location of the Variscan Front

Structural trends in the Celtic Sea area indicate that Variscan deformation patterns were inherited from Caledonian basement structures, and that the regional fold alignment is arcuate with a regional WSW-ENE direction rather than WNW-ESE (Armorican). There is no lateral structural continuity between Southern Ireland and South Wales-Southwest England. Three major structural provinces arranged en échelon across the Variscan foldbelt are recognised: (a) Southwest England, where there was complex deformation of a major basin; (b) the South Wales-Mendips foreland area, with strong basement/cover interaction and (c) the Southern Ireland graben and flanking platform province. Late Palaeozoic depositional patterns indicate that Southern Ireland and Southwest England were separated by a WSW-ENE trending platform bounded on the north by the inherited Wexford Boundary Lineament and to the south by a previously unidentified major Palaeozoic fault zone, here termed the Bristol Channel Lineament. The South Wales-Mendips Variscan successions accumulated on this intervening Wales-Celtic Sea platform, and were partly influenced by rejuvenated Caledonian fault lines. It is suggested that the northern margin of the Rheno-Hercynian foldbelt (the Variscan Front) be taken along the Bristol Channel Lineament, which can be traced for some 400 km southwestwards towards the Goban Spur on the continental margin. This permits a rationalisation of both tectonic and major facies boundaries in locating the front. It is also suggested that the structurally localised nature of the Southern Ireland basin be recognised by designating it as the Southern Ireland Zone of the Variscan foldbelt.The sites of Mesozoic rifting in the Celtic Sea and adjacent areas, although complex in detail, appear to have been located along the Wexford Boundary and Bristol Channel Lineaments.     

Saxo‐Thuringia in the Variscan belt from a geodynamic point of view

Saxo‐Thuringia is a suture bounded part of the Variscan belt in central Europe and represents a fragment of the Armorica microplate. Structural investigations and a critical review of other geologic data allow the reconstruction of its geodynamic history. Two south‐dipping subduction zones, corresponding to the Rheno‐Herzynian and the Tepla sutures, delimited Saxo‐Thuringia before the Variscan orogeny. As a result of the continental collision between Avalonia to the north and a further fragment of Armorica to the south, both outer realms of Saxo‐Thuringia record high‐grade metamorphism and a subsequent uplift between 340 and 310 Ma. Contemporaneously, the low‐grade metamorphic internal zone of Saxo‐Thuringia records thrust contraction of the late Pre‐Cambrian basement and the formation of a fold belt in the overlaying Palaeozoic deposits. Two pre‐Variscan tectonic imprints are distinguishable: (1) the consolidation of late Pre‐Cambrian basement in the Cadomian–Avalonian belt and (2) a Cambrian and early Ordovician rift setting related to the opening of the Rheic ocean and the fragmentation and separation of Armorica.