Geology and Tectonic Development of the Czech Republic

Abstract

Even if the Czech Republic occupies a small area in Central Europe, it is unique by the very interesting and varied geological and tectonic development that is recorded in the structure of the present-day Earth’s crust, especially in the case of the Bohemian Massif. The Bohemian Massif can be interpreted as a heterogeneous unit composed of four separate regional domains. Each of them is defined especially by a specific stratigraphic content, tectomagmatic development and tectonic limitation in relation to its surroundings. The history of its development involves a long time period from the Paleoproterozoic to the recent period, i.e. about 2.1 × 10⁹ years. Basic features of the Earth’s crust structure, reflecting in geological maps, were however impressed on the area of the country only by relatively younger phases of Variscan orogeny and, to a lesser extent, Alpine orogeny that affected the eastern part of the country—the Western Carpathians. At the beginning of the Westphalian, the Bohemian Massif became part of the stabilised Variscan crust of the West European Platform, which in consequence meant that it began to act as a single unit, in which any mutual lateral displacement of units, metamorphosis and associated ductile deformation took place no longer. The Western Carpathians are one of partial branches of the vast orogenic belt of the Alpides created from the former Tethys Ocean. The development of the Western Carpathians already begins shortly after terminating the Variscan orogeny. At present, the Carpathians are divided from south to north into the Inner, Central and Outer Western Carpathians. The Central as well as the Inner Carpathians do not occur in the territory of the Czech Republic. The younger accretionary complex in the area of Moravia and Silesia is composed of the Pouzdřany, Ždánice, Subsilesian, Silesian and Fore-Magura Units.