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The ancient massifs of France, parts of the variscan belt of western Europe — The French Paleozoic massifs are parts of the Variscan belt. During Early Paleozoic times, two Gondwana-originated platforms were separated by a central domain characterized by a thinned continental or even oceanic crust. Another oceanic axis comprized the Alpine External Crystalline massifs. The convergence and final collision of the two platforms induced the development of a Late Ordovician HP to Late Devonian HT-metamorphism contemporaneous with the emplacement of crystalline nappes upon the southern platform (southern Armorican Massif, Central Massif, Central Vosges). During the Carboniferous, the internal zones were thrusted upon the external zones, the former Gondwanian platforms, where foreland basins developed., Piqué Alain. Les massifs anciens de France, segments de la chaîne varisque d'Europe occidentale / The ancient massifs of France, parts of the variscan belt of western Europe. In: Sciences Géologiques. Bulletin, tome 44, n°3-4, 1991. Les massifs anciens de France - II, sous la direction de Alain Piqué. pp. 371-385.