Tectonics and plate tectonics model for the Variscan belt of Europe

A plate tectonics model is presented to explain the tectonometamorphic characteristics of the European Variscides. After the closing of two oceanic domains by two-sided subduction (500-420 Ma) and obduction (420-380 Ma), collision of the European and African continental plates occurred. We propose that the subsequent complex intracontinental deformation (380-290 Ma) is the result of a double subduction of the continental lithosphere accompanied by crust-mantle décollement. This mechanism explains the progressive crustal thickening and migration of the deformation through time from the sutures toward the external parts of the Variscan Belt. Accounting for this model and for the relationships between the European Variscides and the other Paleozoic peri-Atlantic belts (Caledonides, Appalachian, Mauritanides and Morocco), we infer the relative positions of Africa, America and Europe between the Silurian and the Permian.