Hercynian Europe

Abstract

The Hercynian massifs of Europe (see Fig. 9.1) form a series of detached uplands and plateaus of varied relief and frequently complex geology that extend from southern Ireland in the west through central Europe to southern Poland. This chapter also includes the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia for convenience, but the Iberian massif is dealt with separately in Chapter 12 to show its relationships with the other adjacent units of Iberia (see Chapters 11 and 13). The Ural Mountains, where the closing tectonic phase was Hercynian, are examined in Chapter 19. In central Europe, the Hercynian massifs are often referred to as the Mittelgebirge, meaning literally ‘middle mountains’, because they attain only moderate heights compared with the higher Alpine and Carpathian chains to the south.