The European continental crust through detrital zircons from modern rivers: Testing representativity of detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology

With the aim of testing the representativity of detrital zircon U-Pb datasets, we combine new and published data from 31 large river systems in Europe and compare this information with the well-known geology of the continent. Detrital zircon ages range from Archean to Cenozoic and age clusters can be linked to different orogenic cycles and the formation of supercontinents thus representing all relevant geological events in Europe at the continental scale. The Variscan Orogen is the largest episode of crustal reworking in Europe and consequently Variscan detrital zircons occur in all rivers. Other important age clusters are the Alpine 40–25 Ma, post-Alpine 10–0.2 Ma, the Caledonian 490–400 Ma, and the Avalonian-Cadomian 650–540 Ma. Detrital zircons of 1170–930 Ma and 1700–1400 Ma are significant in Scandinavia, as well as 2900–2500 Ma and ca. 1850 Ma in east Europe.