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Issues Published in 2006 -- Volume 2

February 2006 – Volume 2 Number 1

User Research Facilities in the Earth Sciences

GUEST EDITORS
Stephen R. Sutton

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
Michael F. Hochella, Jr.

April 2006 – Volume 2 Number 2 

Arsenic

GUEST EDITOR
David J. Vaughan

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
Michael F. Hochella, Jr.

June 2006 – Volume 2 Number 3

Water on Mars

GUEST EDITOR
Harry Y. (Hap) McSween, Jr.

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
Rodney Ewing

August 2006 – Volume 2 Number 4

Early Earth

GUEST EDITORS
John W. Valley

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
Ian Parsons

October 2006 – Volume 2 Number 5 

Glasses and Melts: Linking Geochemistry and Materials Science

GUEST EDITORS
Georges Calas, Grant S. Henderson, and Jonathan F. Stebbins

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
E. Bruce Watson

December 2006 – Volume 2 Number 6 

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Environmental Aspects

GUEST EDITOR
Rodney C. Ewing

PRINCIPAL EDITOR
E. Bruce Watson

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December 2025 --The Variscan Orogeny in Europe – Understanding Supercontinent Formation

The Variscan orogen formed between 380 and 300 million years ago through several accretionary and collisional cycles, culminating with the construction of the Pangea supercontinent. This process occurred via sequential opening and closure of oceanic basins, synchronous detachment of Gondwana derived continental ribbons, and their outboard amalgamation onto the Laurussia margin. The Variscan orogen is rather unique compared with other orogenic belts on Earth: its overthickened and dominantly magmatic crust in the central belt, surprisingly minor mantle involvement in the magmatic and geodynamic processes, coherent and pulsed magmatism along the collision suture, and its complex accretionary history. Because its final product, Pangea, is the youngest and best-understood supercontinent on Earth, the Variscan orogeny offers clues for understanding the mechanisms of supercontinent formation.