Late orogenic extension in mountain belts: insights from the basin and range and the late Paleozoic Variscan belt

A comparative study of orogenic domains of the Range and Basin province and Variscan belt indicate the presence of extended shear zones in prominent metamorphic core complexes. The shear zones develop from heterogeneous deep-seated ductile deformation and evolutes from noncoaxial flow. The deformations influence the hot crust layers and indicate that orogenic extensions depend on contractional tectonics.