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

A long-lasting steady period of isotopically heavy carbon in the late Silurian ocean: evolution of the δ13 record and its significance for an integrated δ13, graptolite and conodont stratigraphy

“…Facies distribution indicates that shallow water domains were surrounded by deeper and open marine settings dominated by hemipelagic deposition. Whether the Barrandian formed part of accreted peri-Gondwanan terrains (Stampfli et al 2002) or it was a small isolated crustal block (microcontinent or terrane) often referred to as Perunica (Havlíček et al 1994, Cocks & Torsvik 2002) is still a matter of discussion. Nevertheless, the latter seems to be the more likely scenario as the Silurian faunas of the Barrandian show a distinct affinity to the peri-Gondwanan as well as to the Baltic-Avalonian-Laurentian faunas, indicating that Perunica was located in the temperate zone (Kříž 1999a(Kříž , 2008Manda 2008;Budil et al 2010;Tasáryová et al 2011).…”

Provenance of Pleistocene Rhine River Middle Terrace sands between the Swiss–German border and Cologne based on U–Pb detrital zircon ages

“…The complex European geology is a result of repeated collisions between Gondwana, Laurentia, Baltica, and numerous peri-Gondwanan terranes interchanging with phases of continental extension (e.g., Nance et al 2010;Stampfli et al 2002;Ziegler and Dèzes 2006). At the end of the Neoproterozoic and during the Early Cambrian, periGondwanan terranes drifted toward the north, either as separate entities or as parts of Africa (Robardet 2003;Tait et al 1997;Linnemann et al 2004Linnemann et al , 2007 and were reassembled during the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies (e.g., Kroner et al 2007;Krawczyk et al 2008;Nance et al 2010;Zeh and Gerdes 2010).…”

U–Pb zircon ages (SHRIMP) for Cadomian and Early Ordovician magmatism in the Eastern Pyrenees: New insights into the pre-Variscan evolution of the northern Gondwana margin

“…In these models, an Andean-type continental margin triggered by the southward subduction of the Iapetus or Proto-Thethys Ocean (570-520 Ma) is followed by a bad<-arc rifting episode (520-500 Ma) prior to the separation of a terrane from northern Gondwana (490-485 Ma) (Neubauer, 2002;Stampfli et al, 2002;. Cambrian igneous activity related to a rifting episode is wide spread in the Iberian massif (Simancas et al, 2004), but it has not been recognized in the Pyrenees to date.…”

“…In recent years, the development of isotopic geochemistry and the improvement in geochronological methods have made great strides in the reconstruction of the Cadomian orogen and its geodynamic evo lution and in the transition of the Cadomian to the Variscan cycle in the European realm (e.g., Stampfli et al, 2002;Linnemann et al, 2004;Samson et al, 2005;Gerdes and Zeh, 2006). In this regard, the Iberian Massif has played a major role for three main reasons: (i) good pre servation of pre-Variscan sediments, unaffected or affected by very low grade metamorphism, (ii) fairly complete stratigraphic sequences with thick Precambrian series, and (iii) the presence of volcanic and plutonic rocks emplaced in several stratigraphic levels at different times and with diverse geochemical signatures (Nagler et al, 1995;Femandez Suarez et al, 1998;Valladares et al, 2002;Bandres et al, 2004;Rodrtguez-Alonso et al, 2004;Silva and Pereira, 2004;Dlaz Garda, 2006 and references therein).…”