the colima volcanic complex mexico part ii late quaternary cinder cones since the late pleistocene eleven cinder and lava cones have erupted on the floor of the southern colima graben ne and nw of the large active andesitic volcano colima scoria and lava samples from nine of the cones form a completely transitional basic alkalic series including basanites 9 leucite basanites 3 and minettes 15 the commonest variety of mica lamprophyre these samples represent primitive high temperature magmas with 47 6 50 3 sio2 7 4 15 3 mgo 2 5 4 4 k2o and 2 2 9 9 normative nepheline all members of this basic alkalic suite contain mg olivine fo75 94 chromite augite and late plagioclase and titanomagnetite the petrographic transition from basanite to minette is marked by the appearance of sanidine and the volatile bearing phases phlogopite apatite and analcime during late stages of crystallization as these phases increase in abundance presumably reflecting a rise in magmatic volatile content there are corresponding increases in the whole rock concentrations of 16 incompatible elements although these incompatible elements are relatively abundant even in the basanites many are highly concentrated in the minettes ba 4 200 ppm sr 3 100 ppm zr 550 ppm ce 190 ppm hf 18 ppm among the incompatible elements the degrees of enrichment in the minettes relative to the basanites decrease in the order h th ce la nd zr hf u ba sm eu pb p nb sr ti these enrichments may reflect the increasing importance of minor incompatible element rich mantle phases during partial melting the concentrations of alkali metals k na rb and cs do not correlate with these other elemental enrichments the leucite basanties have similar incompatible element contents to many minettes differing from them only in the presence of leucite rather than analcime and ti f rich groundmass phlogopite rather than hydrous phlogopite phenocrysts thus the leucite basanites represent relatively dry equivalents of minettes two of the eleven cinder cones are calc alkaline in nature and do not belong to the basanite minette group the easternmost cone is constructed of high al basalt and the northernmost of basaltic andesite the high al basalt 49 5 sio2 9 3 mgo 221 ppm ni closely approximates a parental magma to the post caldera andesitic suite of v colima 56 5 61 6 sio2 the basaltic andesite is relatively enriched in incompatible elements compared to the high al basalt v colima trend the ne normative basanite minette samples are highly enriched in incompatible elements while the contemporaneous hy qz normative calc alkaline suite encompassing the high al basalt and v colima s andesites is characterized by relatively low abundances of these elements no likely mineral assemblage can relate the alkaline and calc alkaline suites through crystal fractionation they probably represent fundamentally different melting events during the quaternary the main focus of andesitic volcanism in the southern colima graben has migrated southward with time volcan colima marks its present position 5 km south of the pleistocene volcano nevado de colima and another 15 km from the still older volcan cantaro the eruptions of basic alkalic magma probably occurred during the late stages of nevado s life and through the life of v colima they generally migrated from west to east with time towards v cantaro the most recent cone v apaxtepec is the only one east of the andesitic colima cantaro axis the oldest and the two youngest cones produced basanites while minettes dominated at cones of intermediate ages the cinder cone eruptions may have coincided with a phase of lamprophyre dike injection into plutons solidifying beneath the extinct volcanoes north of v colima the southern end of the colima graben can be viewed then as the volcanic analog of many classical post plutonic hypabyssal lamprophyre localities

evidence of an imbricate crustal thrust belt in the southern british variscides contributions of southwestern approaches traverse swat deep seismic reflection profiling recorded through the english channel and the celtic sea the southwestern approaches traverse swat seismic reflection profiles recorded through the celtic sea and the english channel provide unexpected data concerning notably the deep structure of the irish and south british variscan crust one of the most significant results is the recognition of prominent deep southerly dipping reflectors regarded as large scale foreland directed variscan thrusts which constitute in the southern innermost zones a crustal stacking wedge the resulting overthickened crust may have induced the petrogenesis of the cornubian granitic batholith by an anatectic melting process the roots of this crustal duplex are not imaged on the swat lines because of their subsequent assimilation by the more recent layering of the present day lower crust upward the deep crustal ramps are assumed to flatten out and to join a roof thrust which acts as a major midcrustal decoupling zone not revealed by the swat profiles and which underlies the thick devonian allochthonous high strained units of cornwall northward this shallow northerly verging shear zone is overstepped by the tintagel antithetic back thrusts which are closely related to deeper northward dipping basement faults considered as caledonian features southward the imbricate crustal thrust unit is overridden by the lizard ophiolitic suture which appears as a 8 km thick gently southerly dipping sheared zone crosscuttting the entire crust and rooting deep beneath the present day moho its hanging wall is constituted by the channel cadomian block characterized by an almost seismically featureless upper crust which is not involved in the main variscan thrust stacking northward the imbricate thrust unit is delineated by a moderately southerly dipping ramp which penetrates straight down into the upper crust without any evidence of an intervening flat lying decollement level this frontal ramp emerges along a broadly 110 n trending discontinuous thrust front located above the northern downfaulted margins of the munster ireland and pembroke wales devonian basins the swat deep seismic data relate the overall variscan crustal shortening undergone by the south british domain to an oblique converging process involving a continental shelf pinched between the rigid allochthonous channel block and the northern autochthonous foreland this crustal shortening occurred during a carboniferous intracontinental collisional context subsequent to the closure and the obduction of a small oceanic crust floored basin lizard

crystallization paths of leucite bearing lavas examples from italy the salic phases found in leucite basanites trachytes and phonolites may be used to portray crystallization in the system naalsio 4 kalsio 4 caal 2si 2o 8 sio 2 the phonolite pentahedron only two lavas have been found that contain the assemblage leucite nepheline plagioclase sanidine and liquid a natural pseudo invariant assemblage at 900 c 100 equivalent to the isobaric invariant point of the four component system the diversity of phases in this group of lavas illustrates the role of halogens in controlling their crystallization paths thus the presence of f in the leucite basanites has stabilized magnesian biotite and suppressed sanidine as has been found in other basanitic lavas brown and carmichael 1969 the presence of cl in these same lavas has induced the crystallization of sodalite which takes the place of nepheline in the groundmass however in the leucite trachytes biotite has suppressed olivine and coexists with sanidine and leucite the presence of s may produce hauyne at the expense of nepheline and in general sulphate minerals which include apatite have the role in lavas of low silica activity that pyrrhotite plays in liquids of high silica activity both pyroxenes and titaniferous magnetites in this suite of lavas are very aluminous groundmass crystals of pyroxene may have one fifth of si replaced by al other phases which occur occasionally are melanite garnet and a potassium rich hastingsite but neither ilmenite nor a sulphide mineral has been found phenocryst equilibration temperatures derived from olivine and sr rich plagioclase are generally in the range from 1 050 c to 1 150 c the high content of incompatible elements e g k ba rb f sr p in these lavas suggests that they represent a small liquid fraction from a mantle source which possibly contains phlogopite

tectonic framework of the celtic sea and adjacent areas with special reference to the location of the variscan front abstract structural trends in the celtic sea area indicate that variscan deformation patterns were inherited from caledonian basement structures and that the regional fold alignment is arcuate with a regional wsw ene direction rather than wnw ese armorican there is no lateral structural continuity between southern ireland and south wales southwest england three major structural provinces arranged en echelon across the variscan foldbelt are recognised a southwest england where there was complex deformation of a major basin b the south wales mendips foreland area with strong basement cover interaction and c the southern ireland graben and flanking platform province late palaeozoic depositional patterns indicate that southern ireland and southwest england were separated by a wsw ene trending platform bounded on the north by the inherited wexford boundary lineament and to the south by a previously unidentified major palaeozoic fault zone here termed the bristol channel lineament the south wales mendips variscan successions accumulated on this intervening wales celtic sea platform and were partly influenced by rejuvenated caledonian fault lines it is suggested that the northern margin of the rheno hercynian foldbelt the variscan front be taken along the bristol channel lineament which can be traced for some 400 km southwestwards towards the goban spur on the continental margin this permits a rationalisation of both tectonic and major facies boundaries in locating the front it is also suggested that the structurally localised nature of the southern ireland basin be recognised by designating it as the southern ireland zone of the variscan foldbelt the sites of mesozoic rifting in the celtic sea and adjacent areas although complex in detail appear to have been located along the wexford boundary and bristol channel lineaments

potassium rich volcanic rocks of the muriah complex java indonesia products of multiple magma sources abstract the extinct pleistocene volcano muriah situated behind the main pleistocene recent sunda magmatic arc in north central java has erupted at least two contrasted groups of lavas one group forms a well defined compositional series anhydrous series from leucite basanite to tephritic phonolite with olivine and tschermakitic clinopyroxene the main phenocrysts the other group the hydrous series includes compositionally variable tephrites and high k andesites with common plagioclase biotite and amphibole lavas of the anhydrous series are much richer in lil trace elements than the most potassic lavas of neighbouring active volcanoes but relative hfs element enrichment is less pronounced ree patterns have almost constant slopes from la 250 600 times chondrites to yb 5 10 times chondrites while those of lavas of active centres are less light enriched and show flattening in the heavy ree anhydrous series initial 87sr 86sr ratios 0 7043 0 7046 are lower than those of active centres 0 7047 0 7053 hydrous series lavas are intermediate in all these geochemical characteristics the most mafic a series leucite basanite with mg mg fe 2 0 69 140 ppm ni and 620 ppm cr was probably derived from the primary magma for the series by fractionation of only 5 wt olivine its ree pattern suggests derivation from a garnet bearing source experiments on this basanite with up to 10 olivine and 20 orthopyroxene added and in the presence of h2o and h2o co2 mixtures have shown that for all but very high magma water contents the olivine and garnet liquidus fields are widely separated by fields of phlogopite and clinopyroxene there is no liquidus field of orthopyroxene hence if magma production involved an equilibrium melting process alone the most probable sources are of garnet bearing phlogopite clinopyroxenite type alternatively this magma may represent the end product of interaction between a low k basanite magma from a garnet lherzolite source in the asthenosphere and a phlogopite bearing lherzolite zone in the lower lithosphere its production was probably related to crustal doming and extension superimposed on the dominant subduction regime hydrous series magmas may have resulted from mixing between anhydrous series magmas and high k calc alkaline basaltic to andesitic magmas more directly related to subduction processes

precadomian relicts in the armorican massif their age and role in the evolution of the western and central european cadomian hercynian belt abstract well dated precambrian is mostly developed in the north of the armorican massif in which area voluminous cadomian magmatism is dated at between 650 and 550 ma much older relicts occur at cap de la hague in guernsey and in the tregor and are also found in the northern continental margin of the iberian peninsula in all these occurrences whole rock systems have been opened so that the true ages cannot be determined by the rb sr whole rock isochron method four u pb zircon ages are between 1 8 and 2 ga in guernsey icart orthogneisses in tregor port beni trebeurden morguignen orthogneisses there is no evidence from strontium isotopes that these isolated and scattered relicts have a wide extension or that such ancient continental crust played an important role in magma genesis from 650 ma to 270 ma ago on the contrary the evolution of initial 87sr 86sr ratios with time shows that the observed mid and west european continental crust is probably not older than 700 ma the increase of the initial 87sr 86sr ratios of the magmas with time suggests that after its formation in cadomian times this segment of continental crust evolved virtually as a closed system and hercynian magmatism arose principally from re melting of relatively young sialic components

crustal structure beneath southern england from deep seismic reflection profiles seismic reflection events from recently acquired profiles in southern england are interpreted in terms of stratigraphic and structural interfaces between rock units in particular evidence is brought forward that a series of reflection events dipping between 22 and 27 with azimuth averaging 160 represents 2 major thrust zones occurring in the variscan floor beneath mesozoic cover a geological model based upon borehole information and regional geological considerations is presented the tentative recognition of crystalline basement overlain and overstepped by late proterozoic rocks of variable thickness suggests that basement in this area was unstable from late precambrian times the mesozoic structural evolution can be related to tectonic re activation of major concealed thrust zones in the palaeozoic 9basement9

superimposed variscan caledonian and proterozoic features inferred from deep seismic profiles recorded between southern ireland southwestern britain and western france abstract from southern ireland to the northern bay of biscay subduction was active from the proterozoic to the late palaeozoic they led to the cadomian caledonian and variscan collisions features characterizing these three orogenies have been crossed by the winch swat wam and bay of biscay deep seismic profiles recorded by the birps and ecors groups in the celtic sea the variscan front is characterized by a s dipping ramp rising directly from the middle crust with much less northward flattening than shown by the front in the northern france and west germany profiles south of the variscan front other s dipping reflections occur above a possible deep detachment the lizard ophiolitic suture marks s dipping events traversing the entire crust and the present moho in the english channel several sets of prominent n dipping reflections occurring in the celtic sea and south irish sea are interpreted as caledonian features running parallel to the caledonian iapetus suture and the pattern of folds and faults recognized in wales and southeastern ireland proterozoic s dipping subduction is recorded by geological data in northern wales and the english channel related crustal structures correspond to deep seismic events cutting across the lower crust and the moho and show the same apparent dip as the variscan features parallelism between dips and or strikes of structural features with different ages suggests a tectonic heritage the crust thus appears to be characterized by n and s dipping features which cut across large parts of it and may be assigned to variscan caledonian or candomian thrusts or shear zones the lower part of the crust shows a band of high amplitude subhorizontal reflections and a flat moho reflection which seem to have overprinted the above mentioned dipping features in a later period the lack of evidence of any shallow detachment in the caledonian and variscan belts together with the presence of dipping crustal thrust like features suggest that the region may have reached the very latest collisional stage the end of both of these orogenies

the variscan fold thrust belt of southeast ireland and its control on early mesozoic extension and deposition a method to predict the sherwood sandstone

depositional architecture and transgressive regressive cycles within liassic backstepping carbonate ramps in the basque cantabrian basin northern spain an integrated stratigraphical sedimentological geochemical and sequential analysis has been carried out on the liassic rocks of the basque cantabrian basin in northern spain using outcrop and subsurface data the study documents the progressive drowning and backstepping of an epeiric carbonate ramp that originated during the worldwide late triassic early jurassic transgression two major carbonate depositional systems have been recognized within the drowning succession 1 a late triassic early sinemurian shallow marine ramp which reflects a progressive marine transgression over triassic continental deposits 2 a late sinemurian toarcian set of hemipelagic ramps which recorded the progressive drowning and backstepping of the ramp system during a second major event of marine flooding sequence stratigraphic analysis of the liassic succession has revealed that transgressive regressive trends constitute the most evident cyclicity a major transgressive regressive cycle and six subsidiary transgressive regressive facies cycles have been defined in the basin and compared with those defined in other european basins although a good correlation exists for the major transgressive regressive cycle significant discrepancies have been found for the number limits and extent of the transgressive regressive facies cycles reflecting the effects of local tectonics the overall backstepping within the basque cantabrian basin resulted in a dominance of transgressive episodes across a range of different scales accordingly regressive intervals are less well developed except during limited periods of active tectonics as occurred in the mid sinemurian these progressively longer and deeper marine flooding intervals followed by relative stillstand or minor sea level falls are interpreted to reflect high thermal subsidence rates coupled with a liassic eustatic transgression

thin skinned tectonics in the northern rhenish massif germany a network of profiles in the hercynian mountain system geo traverse rhenoherzynikum is needed to determine details of the geological structure and find the reasons for tectonic movements outstanding features within the mountain system such as the large fault zone along the southern boundary of the hunsruck1 and the left flank of the rhinegraben have already been investigated by reflection seismology2 3 we describe here a new reflection refraction experiment carried out in 1978 in the most northern part of the rhenish massif across the stavelot venn massif near aachen fig 1 while layers in the lower crust dip to the nnw a strong upper reflector at 3 4 km depth shows a slight dip to the sse and indicates a prominent fault zone near aachen known in belgium as the faille du midi here a comparable and apparently identical reflector was found some 100 and 175 km to the west of our profile we interpreted this reflector as a prominent and well lubricated thrust fault along which a huge horizontal nappe displacement took place during the last stages of the variscan orogeny

the deep structure of northern england and the iapetus suture zone from birps deep seismic reflection profiles the nec deep seismic reflection profile images structures in the lower crust which represent the iapetus suture zone beneath southern scotland and northern england on the basis of reflectivity characteristics of the lower crust and reflection moho we recognize four different crustal zones which correspond to four crustal terrane types midland valley zone a a sub continental subduction complex zone b lake district zone c and midland platform zone d the junctions between each of these zones are interpreted as being tectonic a and b originate from the northern continental margin of the iapetus ocean and are separated from c and d which are derived from a southern continent by strong northerly dipping reflections between approximately 15 and 30 km deep in the crust the structure responsible for these reflections does not displace the reflection moho north of the ab cd junction the base of zone b and base of the reflective crust is marked by a pair of parallel reflectors persistent for a horizontal length of about 55 km these reflectors are interpreted as the top and bottom of a slice of remnant oceanic crust at their northerly limit the deepest of the two parallel reflectors transects the moho to a depth of 6 7 km into the uppermost mantle we suggest that their termination delimits the northerly extent of a decollement or shear zone at the present continental moho the shear zone was active during the late stages of caledonian collision when mantle originally from beneath the southern continent underthrust old and newly created crust of the collision zone

an interpretation of the variscan structures in sw england the variscan structures in sw england apart from the high level structures in the culm synclinorium of n devon are recumbent with an overall gentle southward dip of cleavages thrusts and recumbent folds translation was towards the nnw the structures are interpreted on a thin skinned model with a basal decollement dipping gently s related to a s dipping subduction zone s of the lizard the granites are thought to have been generated to the s of their present position and injected northwards above the decollement zone

the variscan front and the midi fault between the channel and the meuse river abstract the ecors seismic profile allows a new insight into the deep geology of northern france various geological data such as ancient coal mines surface mapping and boreholes are used to interpret the seismic profile a new cross section directly superimposed on the ecors seismic profile cambrai dreux is compared with a previous one drawn along the meuse river through the ardenne massif the cylindrism and length balancing hypotheses are discussed by comparing the two cross sections the main geological results are a the emplacement of the dinant nappe is later than most of its internal deformation and b major folding and thrusting give an approximate 30 35 shortening without taking into account the internal deformation minor folding and cleavage and the unknown net translation vector of the dinant nappe 50 km at least possibly 150 km

correlation between seismic anisotropy and major geological structures in sw iberia a case study on continental lithosphere deformation in this paper we postulate a correlation between the lithospheric structure and seismic anisotropy inferred from geophysical data and the major structures and tectonic history past tectonothermal features of the outcropping basement rocks in sw iberia oblique plate convergence orogenesis and terrane accretion have been documented for pre mesozoic times in this area however the deviations and areal variations observed between the azimuthal anisotropy of seismic waves and the structural trends of the accessible crust indicate that the tectonic model of orogen parallel lithospheric deformation does not appear to succeed in relating hercynian surface geology and the structural geology of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle the model of polyorogenic lithosphere deformation proposed accounts for this divergence and is supported from additional perspectives including the manifestation of thermal effects induced in the crust by lithospheric mantle shear zones the incidence of crust mantle coupling and or decoupling and the scales of subcrustal heterogeneity

paleozoic evolution of the armorica plate on the basis of paleomagnetic data new paleomagnetic data support the contention that armorica and gondwana formed a coherent block until ordovician time however by early devonian time armorica collided with the north american northern european assembly to form the old red continent and the collision itself was responsible for the acadian orogeny not for the earlier taconic orogeny as postulated previously the carboniferous collision of gondwana with the old red continent subsequently formed pangaea and produced the appalachian hercynian orogeny

traces of caledonian and proterozoic crustal features in deep seismic profiles recorded between france and the british isles abstract the area between france and the british isles has undergone three major orogenies since proterozoic times the cadomian monian late proterozoic caledonian late silurian early devonian and variscan devonian carboniferous this paper shows that crustal structures related to the first two orogenies can be recognized in deep seismic profiles in the english channel the celtic sea and the irish sea in the northernmost area remarkable north dipping reflections in the deep crust of the celtic and irish seas may be correlated with surface structures and interpreted as caledonian south verging thrusts parallel to the lapetus suture these features occur as far south as the cornubian ridge cornwall within the northern segment of the variscan north verging thrust belt the latter is characterized by south dipping reflections interpreted as variscan thrusts caledonian thrusts were probably re activated by the variscan compression evidence of caledonian thin skinned detachment cannot be recognized in the seismic profiles it is possible that either detachment structures were strongly deformed and obliterated by late caledonian thrusting or that detachment may never existed caledonian shortening was probably dominated by deep rooted crustal thrusts as a result of the overall obliquity of the collision caledonian thrusts are regarded as very late features formed when the crust between the colliding continents was already relatively thick they are distributed throughout the southern caledonides including the lapetus suture area deep south dipping reflections in the lower crust in the southern irish sea and the english channel may be related to the cadomian monian orogenic event the cadomian caledonian and variscan features have probably been re activated a number of times

birps deep seismic reflection studies of the british caledonides the western isles north channel winch traverse fig 1 an extension of the successful moist profile1 was recorded in 1982 at sea along the west coast of britain for birps british institutions reflection profiling syndicate by the geophysical company of norway geco the purpose of the winch traverse was to study crustal structure of the caledonian foreland to cross the caledonian orogen and to establish the three dimensional geometry of mantle reflectors originally seen on moist we describe here the data first emphasizing british caledonian structures and then discussing features of the deep crust of wider significance the data are of very good quality and contain clear moho and upper mantle reflections the lower crust is surprisingly reflective deeply penetrative thrusts are observed and there is firm evidence that several of the mesozoic basins round the shores of the united kingdom were formed by reactivation of older features

the pontesford lineament welsh borderland the ne trending pontesford lineament centres on the pontesford linley and adjacent faults in the shelve longmynd inlier to the ne it is usually drawn along the se edge of the cheshire basin and to the sw along a variety of lines parallel to or converging with the church stretton fault new mapping and reassessment of published data suggest that sw of the pontesford linley fault the lineament is logically drawn along the clun forest disturbance a post pridoli late silurian fold fault belt then across the nw side of the llandrindod inlier to flank the tywi lineament the lineament was intermittently active at least from mid ordovician through to triassic time with both strike slip and dip slip displacements that involved the upper part of the precambrian basement late ordovician and early silurian strike slip was particularly important the lineament controlled the sites of several silurian sedimentary basins ordovician contrasts across the lineament can be explained either by contemporary fault control or by subsequent large displacements juxtaposing unlike terranes the long history of reactivation and basement control on the pontesford lineament is typical of lineaments throughout wales and the borderland it suggests that both caledonian and variscan structural trends n of the variscan front may be inherited from older pre silurian or even precambrian basement structures

deep events in u k south western approaches summary apparently planar dipping events are observed in seismic data off south west britain within otherwise essentially transparent upper and middle crust these are believed to represent variscan thrusts some of which were re activated during the post carboniferous phase of extension that affected the southern u k they can be seen in two extensive commercial seismic surveys recorded to 6 s two way time twt and where laterally persistent they have been mapped to reveal their essentially planar nature commonly these dipping events are associated with deeper near horizontal or gently convex upwards events with which they often appear to converge where real these are thought to indicate a complex fault system or possibly the top of the reflective lower crust the thrusts are seen over the whole area except where granite is known to occur and commonly exert a major control on the position and subsequent deformation of overlying sedimentary basins

neodymium isotopic composition of quaternary island arc lavas from indonesia abstract 143 nd 144 nd ratios measured in quaternary lavas from java and the banda arc of indonesia range from 0 51242 to 0 51280 and exhibit an inverse correlation with 87 sr 86 sr isotopically the indonesian samples resemble andean rather than island arc lavas the samples from java plot either within or adjacent to the mantle array towards higher 87 sr 86 sr ratios samples from the banda arc and the anomalous calc alkaline volcano papandajan are characterized by relatively low 143 nd 144 nd and high 87 sr 86 sr ratios these characteristics are consistent with the interpretation that subducted terrigenous material was involved in the genesis of these lavas furthermore the banda arc samples appear to lie on a mixing line between isotopic compositions characteristic of the mantle and upper continental crust a high k trachyte from the alkaline volcano muriah java has isotopic characteristics of the mantle 143 nd 144 nd 0 51270 87 sr 86 sr 0 70424 which implies that the extreme enrichment in large ion lithophile elements in its source must have occurred only shortly before its formation the inferred 143 nd 144 nd ratio of the unmodified mantle beneath java and the banda arc is lower than that observed in mid ocean ridge basalt which may have important implications for a better understanding of the geochemical structure of the mantle

geophysical images of the deep crust the iapetus suture the iapetus suture arguably the most fundamental lineament of british and irish structure has been previously identified on the birps winch deep seismic reflection profiles offshore as a nw dipping feature new depth migrated interpretations of these and other reflection data show good correlation of structure for 100 km along strike in the northern irish sea towards magnetotelluric stations onshore in the north of england and southern uplands of scotland three different methods of inverting data from these sites all reveal a thin nw dipping slab of high conductivity a contour map of the suture trace dipping at 15 25 nw can be constructed down to and through the moho at 28 km depth this map suggests crustal stretching below the solway basin the mylonitic suture zone is characterized by good seismic reflection layering high conductivity presumably fluid produced and a steep increase of p wave velocity over the few kilometres of its width crustal refraction experiments lispb and cssp provide useful velocities but locally misleading structure so that the combination of the seismic reflection and geoelectric methods may be the most powerful means of determining deep crustal structure with a good degree of both vertical and lateral resolution

large variscan overthrusts beneath the paris basin the ecors project is devoted to the deep geophysical investigation of the continental and oceanic crust in france through the study of fundamental problems such as the formation of basins mountain belts and continental margins the first of the profiles completed is the nord de la france which is mainly devoted to the survey of the major units of the northern hercynian belt and of the deep crust below the mesozoic paris basin the deep geophysical investigations undertaken on this profile have led tothe acquisition of diverse information such as vibroseismic wide angle reflection refraction and magnetotelluric data the main results presented here show evidence of large overthrusts in the variscan chain which is currently buried beneath the thin mesozoic cover of the paris basin they show a differentiation of structural units in the upper crust their link with the lower crust and the depth and geometry of the moho they also give rise to some speculations regarding the nature of various gravimetric and magnetic anomalies such as the large anomalie magnetique du bassin de paris ambp