U-Pb dating of detrital zircons separated from paragneiss of the Myrsini Crystalline Complex of eastern Crete yielded peaks in 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages at 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 Ga. A striking Mesoproterozoic age gap is present between 1.1 and 1.6 Ga. The new data are compatible with U-Pb zircon ages derived from surrounding crystalline complexes of the Cyclades, the Menderes Massif, Egypt, and the Levant. Possible provenances of the zircons of the eastern Mediterranean domains are the Sahara meta-craton, the Arabian-Nubian Shield, and the Kibaran belt of central Africa. Because the age spectra of the eastern Mediterranean crystalline complexes differ significantly from those of the Cadomian- and Avalonian-type terranes, they are regarded as a separate collection of peri-Gondwanan terranes referred to as Minoan terranes. In late Neoproterozoic to ?Cambrian times, the latter underwent Andean-type orogeny at the northern border of East Gondwana, close to Egypt and the Levant. There is no evidence that the Minoan terranes traveled for long distances in Phanerozoic times.

Abstract The pre-Alpine evolution of the external Hellenides is poorly constrained because of the Alpine impact which largely erased the older orogenic imprints. Only a few outcrops with pre-Alpine basement exist, one of which is located in eastern Crete. The pre-Alpine basement, part of the Phyllite–Quartzite Unit, is composed of four sub-complexes, which are different in protolith age, type and age of metamorphism, and postmetamorphic cooling history. The lowermost, Kalavros crystalline complex (KCC) underwent Permian amphibolite-facies metamorphism related to top-to-the-NE shearing. The KCC exhibits a four-stage garnet zonation and a late, high-temperature event associated with the growth of K-feldspar. The KCC is overlain by the Myrsini crystalline complex (MCC), which underwent Carboniferous amphibolite facies metamorphism associated with top-to-the-north shearing. Late cooling of the MCC is documented by Jurassic fission track ages of zircon. The Chamezí crystalline complex underwent upper greenschist-facies metamorphism related to top-to-the-north shearing. In addition, the Vaí crystalline complex, in an uncertain structural position, is characterized by Triassic emplacement of granite, followed by amphibolite-facies top-to-the-NW shearing and cooling, as is indicated by Jurassic fission-track ages of zircon. A preliminary tectonic model is presented, which invokes south-directed subduction, collision and accretion of the crystalline complexes to the northern margin of Gondwana.

Abstract A period of pervasive high-temperature metamorphism and igneous activity from 340 to 325 Ma is a well-established characteristic of the Variscan Orogen of Central Europe. During this stage, the internal zone of the orogen was virtually soaked by granitic to granodioritic magmas. Petrological data point to temperatures of 600–850°C at upper- to mid-crustal levels. These elevated temperatures occurred during the final convergence stage and may be comparable with similar processes inferred from geophysical evidence for the present-day Tibetan Plateau, in both regional extent and significance for the orogen's evolution. We review various geodynamic scenarios that may have provided the heat for melting and metamorphism, and compare model predictions with field data from the Variscides. All lines of evidence point to a geodynamic scenario that led to thickening of the continental crust with increased internal radiogenic heating, but without simultaneous thickening of the mantle lithosphere. Possible mechanisms include convective removal of the thermal boundary layer, delamination of part of the lithospheric mantle, and subduction of the mantle lithosphere of the downgoing plate. However, with the present stage of knowledge it is virtually impossible to single out one of these three mechanisms, as their geological consequences are so similar.