Discussion on a new model for the Hercynian Orogen of Gondwana France and Iberia by D. Shelley & G. Bossière.

Carine Cartier (1) , Michel Faure (1) , H. Lardeux (2)

1 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans
2 UCO - Université Catholique de l'Ouest

In spite of numerous studies, the geodynamic evolution of the Hercynian Orogeny of Western Europe is still controversial. In a recent paper, Shelley and Bossière (2000) propose that the Hercynian Orogeny in Iberia and France was a ‘collage' of distinct fault-bounded ‘terranes' developed during a major dextral wrenching of more than 2000 km. This interpretation is in line with that already proposed by Badham (1982) but is at variance with most other published models that emphazise tangential tectonics, that is to say thrusting and collision tectonics driven by oceanic and continental subduction (e.g. Matte; Ledru; Dias and Faure and references therein). The Shelley and Bossière model has been criticized for parts dealing with the Iberian branch of the orogen by Pereira and Silva (2001). In the following, we shall comment on the strike-slip model for the S. Armorican branch of the belt, on the basis of first-hand geological data aquired from the SE part of the Armorican Massif ( Cartier and Cartier) and general considerations on the Hercynian Belt.

Keywords: Hercynian belt; Armorican Massif; Geodynamics; Thrust tectonics; Collage

Domains: Tectonics

Carine Cartier, Michel Faure, H. Lardeux. Discussion on a new model for the Hercynian Orogen of Gondwana France and Iberia by D. Shelley & G. Bossière.. Journal of Structural Geology, 2002, 24, pp.1659-1663. ⟨10.1016/S0191-8141(01)00150-X⟩. ⟨hal-00072435⟩