Orocimales y delaminación: relaciones y efectos

Abstract

Late- to post-orogenic oroclinal bending in conjunction with thinning of the lithospheric mantle is potentially an important component of the waning stages of plate convergence in collisional orogenies. This paper addresses possible and hitherto unexplored cause-effect relationships between oroclinal bending of an originally linear orogenic belt and lithospheric thinning and delamination based on an example from the Western European Variscan Belt (WEVB). We suggest that late- to post-orogenic bending of the lithosphere around a vertical axis may cause thickening and eventual detachment of the lithospheric root of orogenic belts such as the WEVB. The proposed hypothesis is consistent with the chronology of tectonic, metamorphic, magmatic and hydrothermal events recorded in the WEVB.