2006/01/09 by Max Sommer, Gerhard Katzung · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Geological and Geochemical Analysis #Geological and Geophysical Studies Worldwide #Geological Formations and Processes Exploration
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1365-3121.2005.00664.x
openalex publication_date 2006/01/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/23
Abstract 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.