Oroclinales y delaminación, relaciones y efectos

Abstract

Late- to post-orogenic oroclinal bending in conjunction with thinning of the lithospheric mantle is potentially animportant component of the waning stages of plate convergence in collisional orogenies. This paper addressespossible and hitherto unexplored cause-effect relationships between oroclinal bending of an originally linearorogenic belt and lithospheric thinning and delamination based on an example from the Western EuropeanVariscan Belt (WEVB). We suggest that late- to post-orogenic bending of the lithosphere around a vertical axismay 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 andhydrothermal events recorded in the WEVB.