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Abstract: The Armorican Massif (western France) provides an excellent record of the Palaeozoic history of the Variscan belt. Following the Late Neoproterozoic Cadomian orogeny, the Cambro-Ordovician rifting was associated with oceanic spreading. The Central- and North-Amorican domains (which together constitute the core of the Armorica microplate) are bounded by two composite suture zones. To the north, the Léon domain (correlated with the “Normannian High” and the “Mid-German Crystalline Rise” in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone) records the development of a nappe stack along the northern suture zone, and was backthrusted over the central-Armorican domain during the Carboniferous. To the south, an intermediate block (“Upper Allochthon”) records a complex, polyorogenic history, with an early high-temperature event followed by the first generation of eclogites (Essarts). This intermediate block overthrusts to the north the Armorica microplate (Saint-Georges-sur-Loire), to the south: (i) relics of an oceanic domain; and (ii) the Gondwana palaeomargin. The collision occurred during a Late Devonian event, associated with a second generation of eclogites (Cellier). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We estimate strain rates of three parameters that describe the buildup of a tectonic wedge (Jura front, France). The uplift rate on frontal ramps decreases with the slip on the ramps and the coeval increase of vertical loads. The migration rate of the tip of the sole thrust appears to be episodic and faster than the translation rate of the backstop. The long-term tilting rate appears to be constant, whereas the short-term rate is slightly slower. We propose a model of wedge growth that proceeds without underthrusting. In a prefractured medium, the wedge would activate the frontal ramp with a weaker frictional resistance than the forward décollement. An instantaneous forward jump of the deformation front would occur when the resistance on the ramp equals the resistance of the frontal décollement. This model differs from those proposed for accretionary zones, and relates to the backstop of a single tapered orogenic belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]