scholarly journals Cenozoic mountain building and topographic evolution in Western Europe: impact of billion years lithosphere evolution and plate tectonics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic Mouthereau ◽  
Paul Angrand ◽  
Anthony Jourdon ◽  
Sébastien Ternois ◽  
Charlotte Fillon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Dynamic Change ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Continental Lithosphere ◽  
Magmatic Evolution ◽  
Mountain Building ◽  
Topographic Evolution

The architecture and nature of the continental lithosphere result from billions of years of tectonic and magmatic evolution. Continental deformation over broad regions form collisional orogens which evolution is controlled by the interactions between properties inherited from hits long-lasting evolution and plate kinematics. The analysis of present-day kinematic patterns and geophysical imaging of lithosphere structure can provide clues on these interactions. However how these interactions are connected through time and space to control topographic evolution in collision zones is unknown. Here we explore the case of the Cenozoic mountain building and topographic evolution of Western Europe. We first review the tectono-magmatic evolution of the lithosphere of Europe based on the exploitation of geological, geochronological and geochemical constraints from ophiolites, mafic rocks and xenoliths data. Combined with the analyses of low-temperature thermochronological and plate kinematic constraints we discuss the key controlling parameters of the topography. We show that among the required ingredients is the primary effect of plume-, rift- and subduction-related metasomatic events on lithosphere composition. Those main events occurred during the Neoproterozoic (750-500 Ma) and the late Carboniferous-Permian (310-270 Ma). They resulted in the thinning and weakening of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle of Europe. Contrasting lithosphere strengths and plate-mantle coupling in Western Europe with respect to the cratonic lithosphere of West Africa Craton and Baltica is the first-order parameter that explain the observed strain and stress patterns. Subsequent magmatic and thinning episodes, including those evidenced by the opening of the early Jurassic Alpine Tethys and the CAMP event, followed by late Jurassic and early Cretaceous crustal thinning, prevented thermal relaxation of the lithosphere and allowed further weakening of the European lithosphere. The spatial and temporal evolution of topographic growth resolved by the episodes of increased exhumation show two main periods of mountain building. During the late Cretaceous-early Cenozoic (80-50 Ma) contractional deformation was distributed from North Africa to Europe, but the topographic response to the onset of Africa-Eurasia convergence is detected only in central Europe. The lack of rapid exhumation signal in southern Europe and north Africa reveal that the initial continental accretion in these regions was accommodated under water in domains characterized by thin continental or oceanic crust. The second phase of orogenic uplift period starts at about 50 Ma between the High Atlas and the Pyrenees. This second key period reflects the time delay required for the wider rift systems positioned between Africa and Europe to close, likely promoted by the acceleration of convergence. Tectonic regime then became extensional in northern Europe as West European Rift (WER) opened. This event heralds the opening of the Western Mediterranean between Adria and Iberia at ca. 35 Ma. While mature orogenic systems developed over Iberia at this time, the eastern domain around northern Adria (Alps) was still to be fully closed. This kinematic and mechanical conditions triggered the initiation of backarc extension, slab retreat and delamination in the absence of strong slab pull forces. From about 20 Ma, the high temperature in the shallow asthenosphere and magmatism trapped in the mantle lithosphere contributed to topographic uplift. The first period (80-20 Ma) reveals spatially variable onset of uplift in Europe that are arguably controlled by inherited crustal architecture, superimposed on the effect of large-scale lithospheric properties. The second period marks a profound dynamic change, as sub-lithospheric processes became the main drivers. The channelized mantle flow from beneath Morocco to Central Europe builds the most recent topography. In this study, we have resolved when, where and how inheritance at lithospheric and crustal levels rule mountain building processes. More studies focus on the tectonic-magmatic evolution of the continental lithosphere are needed. We argue that when they are combined with plate reconstructions and thermochronological constraints the relative impact of inheritance and plate convergence on the orogenic evolution can be resolved.

Cenozoic mountain building of Western Europe controlled by continental lithosphere evolution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Mouthereau ◽  
Paul Angrand
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Thermal Transformation ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Geochemical Evolution ◽  
Continental Lithosphere ◽  
Mountain Building ◽  
East European ◽  
Tectonic Model ◽  
Extensive Body

<p><span>The heterogeneous continental lithosphere of Europe inherits billion of years of tectonic evolution, mineral transformation and magmatic addition. </span><span>Though there is now an extensive body of studies on the long-term geological, geochronological and geochemical evolution of the continental crust and lithospheric mantle available in Europe, yet this knowledge has not been linked to the understanding of tectonic evolution of Cenozoic Alpine mountain building. </span>In this aim, we review geophysical, geological, petrographical, geochemical, and thermochronological constraints to infer a kinematically coherent time-integrated tectonic model for the evolution of mountain building in Western Europe, <span>along a 4000 km long lithospheric transect from Africa to the East European Craton. </span>We show that <span>the key drivers of plate-scale processes related to </span> Alpine orogenic and topographic evolution reflect three main ingredients : 1) a protracted magmatic and tectono-thermal transformation of Africa (Gondwana) and North Europea (Baltica) cratonic mantle lithosphere since the Neoproterozoic, 2) an overall limited Mesozoic Tethyan extension of the weak Variscan lithosphere characterized by the lack of wide, thermally relaxed, oceanic lithosphere, 3) a relatively slow Cenozoic convergence between Africa and Europe, preserving initial stages of distributed tectonic inversion of rifted continental blocks throughout Europe, and partial subduction and delamination in the Mediterranean region of the most evolved lithospheric domains. </p>

Book Reviews

Journeys ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-153
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Travel Writing ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Cultural Exchanges ◽  
Orhan Pamuk

Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: Memories of a City Fiona SmythGerald MacLean (ed.), Re-Orienting the Renaissance. Cultural Exchanges with the East Clifford Edmund Bosworth, An Intrepid Scot. William Lithgow of Lanark’s Travels in the Ottoman Lands, North Africa and Central Europe, 1609–21 Alex Drace-FrancisDaniel Carey (ed.), Asian Travel in the Renaissance John E. Wills, Jr.Gerald M. MacLean, The Rise of Oriental Travel: English Visitors to the Ottoman Empire, 1580–1720 Felipe Fernández-ArmestoDebbie Lisle, The Global Politics of Contemporary Travel Writing Benjamin J. MullerBassam Tayara, Le Japon et les Arabes. La vision du Monde Arabe au Japon, des époques anciennes jusqu’au tournant de Meiji Elisabeth AllèsAlain Roussillon, Identité et Modernité – Les voyageurs égyptiens au Japon Bassam TayaraBenoit de L’Estoile, Federico Neiburg, and Lygia Sigaud (eds.), Empires, Nations, and Natives: Anthropology and State-Making Talal Asad

scholarly journals Conflict antiquities’ rescue or ransom: The cost of buying back stolen cultural property in contexts of political violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Samuel Andrew Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Criminal Organizations ◽  
Revenue Streams ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Safe Zones

Abstract Rescue has long been a defense for the removal of cultural property. Since the explosion of iconoclasm in West Asia, North Africa, and West Africa, there has been a growing demand for cultural property in danger zones to be “rescued” by being purchased and given “asylum” in “safe zones” (typically, in the market countries of Western Europe and North America). This article reviews evidence from natural experiments with the “rescue” of looted antiquities and stolen artifacts from across Asia and Europe. Unsurprisingly, the evidence reaffirms that “rescue” incentivizes looting, smuggling, and corruption, as well as forgery, and the accompanying destruction of knowledge. More significantly, “rescue” facilitates the laundering of “ordinary” illicit assets and may contribute to revenue streams of criminal organizations and violent political organizations; it may even weaken international support for insecure democracies. Ultimately, “rescue” by purchase appears incoherent, counter-productive, and dangerous for the victimized communities that it purports to support.

Regional Identities and Cultures of Medieval Jews

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Regional Identity ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Rich Variety ◽  
Regional Cultures ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Middle Ages

Though the existence of Jewish regional cultures is widely known, the origins of the most prominent groups, Ashkenaz and Sepharad, are poorly understood, and the rich variety of other regional Jewish identities is often overlooked. Yet all these subcultures emerged in the Middle Ages. Scholars contributing to the present study were invited to consider how such regional identities were fashioned, propagated, reinforced, contested, and reshaped — and to reflect on the developments, events, or encounters that made these identities manifest. They were asked to identify how subcultural identities proved to be useful, and the circumstances in which they were deployed. The resulting volume spans the ninth to sixteenth centuries, and explores Jewish cultural developments in western Europe, the Balkans, North Africa, and Asia Minor. In its own way, each chapter considers factors — demographic, geographical, historical, economic, political, institutional, legal, intellectual, theological, cultural, and even biological — that led medieval Jews to conceive of themselves, or to be perceived by others, as bearers of a discrete Jewish regional identity. Notwithstanding the singularity of each chapter, they collectively attest to the inherent dynamism of Jewish regional identities.

scholarly journals Intelektualiści zachodnioeuropejscy od wybuchu II wojny światowej do współczesności

2015 ◽  
pp. 145-164
Author(s):  
Maria Tomczak
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
World War 2 ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
New Formula

This study aims to show the forms of political involvement of Western European intellectuals. In doing so, the paper attempts to answer the question about the role they played in Western and Central Europe in the discussed period. The paper also demonstrates the cultural and political causes of their decline.streszczenieFor the intellectuals of Western and Central Europe, World War 2 was an extremely difficult period. The genocidal policies of the totalitarian states induced them to take a position, while at the same time depriving them of the ability to express their views publicly. This engendered a sense of helplessness; also, apart for a few exceptions, only emigrants could actually perform the function of intellectuals. Among those, an important role to play fell to two groups: German emigrants who distanced themselves from their nation, and Jewish emigrants, who addressed the subject of the Holocaust. After the war, the Iron Curtain also restricted the actions of intellectuals. It soon turned out that the tenor of spiritual life was set by left-wing authors, fascinated with the USSR. The fascination petered out after the disclosure of Stalin’s crimes in 1956. It was terminated definitively by the ruthless suppression of the Prague Spring. It was at that time that conservatism and right-wing intellectuals returned to Europe. Their aim was to reverse the trend and prevent Western Europe from drifting leftward. The change of the paradigm served to settle the scores with the leftist intellectuals. They were accused of subversive activities against the state and nation or treason. Also, in the intellectual circles there emerged a conviction that the previous formula had been exhausted. A new formula of activities of intellectuals was considered particularly in France, by authors of such eminence as R. Aron, M. Foucault, or P. Bourdieu. The deconstruction of the figure of the intellectual was completed by J.-F. Lyotard, who pronounced the death of intellectuals. Involvement of intellectuals remained a valid notion only in the countries of the Eastern bloc. In post-Cold War Europe, the decline of intellectuals became even more discernible. This was occasioned by a number of political and cultural factors. In this respect, particular role should be attributed to postmodernism which, by disproving the Enlightenment understanding of culture, undermined the role played by intellectuals.

Plate tectonics and mountain building

2010 ◽  
pp. 149-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Frisch ◽  
Martin Meschede ◽  
Ronald Blakey
Keyword(s):  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Mountain Building

Song of the Earth

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Ervin-Blankenheim
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Historical Maps ◽  
Mountain Building ◽  
Species Extinction ◽  
Geologic Time ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Relationship

This book is a scientific, historical, and philosophical narrative for general readers that explores the relationship between humans and the Earth and the geologic principles of time, plate tectonics, and change in life forms. Illustrated with striking historical maps, figures, and pictures, this comprehensive work can be read as a thrilling biography of the Earth itself, including narrative sections on the lives of pioneering geologists; the reality and sublimity of geologic time; the birth, destruction, and rebirth of the planet and its atmosphere over repeated cycles spanning some 4-plus billion years; the science underlying both mountain building and oceanic evolution; the influence of climate change and species extinction on the development of the Earth; and the interplay between not only how Earth has influenced life but how life, in turn, has distinctly shaped our planet.

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