Reconstructing the Variscan Terranes in the Alpine Basement: Facts and Arguments for an Alpidic Orocline

The existence of pieces the Variscan belt in Alpine basement has been acknowledged for a long time but correlation these massifs to litho-tectonic domains established Western Europa outside chain is still disputed. Due their ubiquitous character, abundant late migmatites and granites are useless reconstruct architecture basement. Ophiolitic sutures, high- low-grade metamorphic units, foreland basins provide preliminary reconstruction orogen exposed longitudinal extension Armorican Saxo-Thuringian microcontinents between Laurussia Gondwana proposed independently Intra-alpine Galatian terranes. units Corsica-Sardinia segment correlated Moldanubian, Domains. In Helvetic Penninic Domains, Chamrousse ophiolites ascribed Tepla-Le Conquet suture, whereas Lepontine, Stubach represent Rheic suture. south-directed nappe stack South Domain similar Moldanubian French Massif Central. Austroalpine stack, Ritting separate Saxo-Thuringia Armorica continental blocks. Disentangling suggests concave-to-the-East arcuate structure called here Alpidic orocline.