Abstract
The existence of pieces of the Variscan belt in the Alpine basement has been acknowledged for a long time but the correlation of these massifs to the litho-tectonic domains established in Western Europa outside the Alpine chain is still disputed. Due to their ubiquitous character, the abundant late Variscan migmatites and granites are useless to reconstruct the Variscan architecture in the Alpine basement. Ophiolitic sutures, high- and low-grade metamorphic units, and foreland basins provide a preliminary reconstruction of the Variscan orogen exposed in the Alpine basement. The longitudinal extension of the Armorican and Saxo-Thuringian microcontinents between Laurussia and Gondwana is proposed independently of the Intra-alpine and Galatian terranes. The litho-tectonic units of the Corsica-Sardinia segment are correlated to the Moldanubian, Armorican and Saxo-Thuringian Domains. In the Alpine Helvetic and Penninic Domains, the Chamrousse ophiolites are ascribed to the Tepla-Le Conquet suture, whereas the Lepontine, and Stubach ophiolites represent the Rheic suture. The south-directed nappe stack of the South Alpine Domain is similar to the Moldanubian French Massif Central. In the Austroalpine nappe stack, the Ritting ophiolites separate Saxo-Thuringia and Armorica continental blocks. Disentangling the Variscan belt in the Alpine basement suggests a concave-to-the-East arcuate structure called here the Variscan Alpidic orocline.
Highlights
Received: 12 December 2021Between northern Europa, characterized by the Precambrian Baltic shield, and theEarly Paleozoic Caledonian belt, and southern Europa characterized by the CenozoicAlpine orogenic belt, and the late-orogenic Mediterranean basins, Medio Europa is the place of the Paleozoic Variscan belt that forms the backbone of the continent (Figure 1).From Iberia to Bohemia, the Variscan belt has been subdivided into four domains, namelyRheno-Hercynian, Saxo-Thuringian, Armorican, and Moldanubian (Figure 2, see Section 2 below for details)
The late-orogenic Mediterranean basins, Medio Europa is the place of the Paleozoic Variscan belt that forms the backbone of the continent (Figure 1)
This paper aims at presenting the structural and metamorphic data acquired in the Variscan massifs involved in the Alpine orogen in the western Alps, southern Alps, and Austroalpine areas
Summary
Between northern Europa, characterized by the Precambrian Baltic shield, and the. Early Paleozoic Caledonian belt, and southern Europa characterized by the Cenozoic. The links between these terranes and the four Variscan domains devoid of any important Alpine overprint outside of the Alpine belt are seldom considered (Figure 2). Another group of thought interprets the Western Alps’ external crystalline. This is the case in the French Variscan segment, where there is no significant difference between the widespread migmatites and granitic plutons observed in the Moldanubian, Armorican, and Saxo-Thuringian Domains These rocks that formed during the late-orogenic stages will not be considered since their ubiquitous character does not help to reconstruct the early Variscan architecture
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