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Geological Society, London, Memoirs; 2006; v. 32; p. 355-388;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.MEM.2006.032.01.22
© 2006 Geological Society of London

Mesozoic-Palaeozoic Europe

Post-Variscan (end Carboniferous-Early Permian) basin evolution in Western and Central Europe

T. McCann1, C. Pascal2,3, M.J. Timmerman4, P. Krzywiec5, J. López-Gómez6, L. Wetzel7, C.M. Krawczyk8, H. Rieke9 & J. Lamarche10

1 Geologisches Institut, Bonn University, Nufiallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany (tmccann{at}uni-bonn.de)
2 Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands
3 Present address: NGU, Geological Survey of Norway, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
4 Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
5 Polish Geological Institute, ul, Rakowiecvka 4, 00-975 Warsaw, Poland
6 Instituto de Geología Economica, CSIC-UCM Facultad de Geología, 28040-Madrid, Spain
7 Geologisch-Paldontologisches Institut, University of Basel, Bemoullistrasse 32, CH-4046, Basel, Switzerland
8 Geoforschungszentrum, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
9 PanTerra Geoconsultants B.V., Weversbaan 1-3, 2352 BZ Leiderdorp, Netherlands
10 Universitá de Provence, Unitá CNRS Gáologie des Carbonatás, Place Victor Hugo, Case 67, 13331 Marseille, France

The Variscan orogeny, resulting from the collision of Laurussia with Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea, was followed by a period of crustal instability and re-equilibration throughout Western and Central Europe. An extensive and significant phase of Permo-Carboniferous magmatism led to the extrusion of thick volcanic successions across the region (e.g. NE German Basin, NW part of the Polish Basin, Oslo Rift, northern Spain). Coeval transtensional activity led to the formation of more than 70 rift basins across the region. The various basins differ in terms of their form and infill according to their position relative to the Variscan orogen (i.e. internide or externide location) and to the controls that acted on basin development (e.g. basement structure configuration). This paper provides an overview of a variety of basin types, to more fully explore the controls upon the tectonomagmatic-sedimentary evolution of these important basins.