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Mainland Europe |
Enheten för Paleobiologi, Box 564, S-751 22 Uppsala, Sweden
Some of the misconceptions which have figured in discussions of Variscan geology are analysed. Subduction (but not in the obvious sense), strike-slip movement and sole thrusts may all have a part to play, but none of these alone explains the Variscides. Kossmat’s scheme of tectonic zones still deserves attention. So, too, do questions concerning the pre-Variscan geology, especially the prevalence of rift-structures, in central and western Europe. The problem of integrating the pattern of Palaeozoic tectonism in Europe with that in eastern North America is briefly explored. It is suggested that Caledonian and Variscan be treated as parts of one chapter of tectonism and that much of the early tectonic history of central and western Europe be regarded as Pan-African. It is argued that western Europe is unlikely to produce evidence of structural transpositions on the scale recently revealed by seismic reflection profiling in the southern Appalachians. It is also suggested that the idea of a Variscan front is largely illustory.
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