Magmatic pulses during orogeny: when and how fast is magma added to the upper crust?

A new paper by Trubač et al. combines geochronologic data with a GIS-based spatial analysis of plutons in the Bohemian Massif, Variscan belt, to examine the magma fluxes and temporal pattern of plutonism during collisional orogeny. The collisional orogens differ from continental margin arcs, where the plutonic material is added in repeating cycles to the upper crust during protracted oceanic subduction. Instead, it was shown that the collisional plutonism reflects a secular thermotectonic evolution of the orogen, where magma sources change from mantle-dominated to intracrustal, paralleled by increasing significance of crustal recycling at the expense of crustal growth. The analysis also suggests that crustal thickening, commonly regarded as the main cause of plutonism in collisional orogens, may be of relatively lower significance than a late-stage mantle delamination.

Trubač J., Žák J., Kondrová L. (2020): Magmatic tempos in large hot orogens in comparison with continental margin arcs. Journal of Geology 128, 465-475. (DOI)