PostVariscan

PostVariscan refers to the stage of Earth’s history after the Variscan (Hercynian) orogeny, a major late Paleozoic mountain-building event that affected the northern and central European crust. The term is used in regional geology to describe the subsequent tectonic, magmatic, and sedimentary evolution of the crust. It is not a formal geological period but a chrono-tectonic label indicating processes that followed the main orogenic phase.

Typical post-Variscan features include crustal extension and subsidence in basins that formed adjacent to the eroded Variscan mountains, leading to thick sedimentary sequences of late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic age. There is widespread intrusion of granitoids and related magmatism during the post-collisional stage, as the crust thickened and later relaxed. Reactivation of Variscan faults and the development of intracratonic or peripheral basins are common. The stratigraphic record often shows a transition from collisional deformation to basinward aggradation, fluvial to deltaic sedimentation, coal measures, red beds, and, in some regions, evaporites or marine incursions, reflecting climatic shifts.

Geographically, the term is most commonly applied to the European Variscan belt and its margins, where post-Variscan sequences are well preserved and studied. In a broader sense, post-Variscan concepts appear in other regions affected by the same orogenic event, though regional timing and lithology vary. The term emphasizes a distinct post-orogenic phase rather than a specific global time interval.