# Jiří Žák on the Orogenies that Shaped Central Europe Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/geology-bites-159592/ji-k-on-the-orogenies-that-shaped-central-europe Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/geology-bites-159592/ji-k-on-the-orogenies-that-shaped-central-europe.md Podcast: [Geology Bites](https://stenobird.com/podcast/geology-bites-159592) Published: 2025-10-06T13:42:55+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/geologybites/episodes/Ji-k-on-the-Orogenies-that-Shaped-Central-Europe-e395g15 Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/80e7bb4/podcast/play/109280741/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-9-6%2F60b2bf27-2c2c-4775-d2e2-d6ab278a4aec.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/geology-bites-159592/episodes/ji-k-on-the-orogenies-that-shaped-central-europe Duration seconds: 1699 ## Resource In this episode, Jiří Žák describes the two main orogenies whose remnants figure prominently in central European geology: the Cadomian orogeny that lasted from the late Neoproterozoic to the early Cambrian (c. 700 Ma to c. 425 Ma) and the Variscan orogeny that occurred in the late Paleozoic (c. 380 Ma to 280 Ma). The Cadomian took place on the northern margins of Gondwana, only later to rift and travel north to form what was to become Europe. The Variscan was caused by the collision of Gondwana with Laurussia in the final stages of the assembly of the supercontinent Pangea. Both orogenies have been heavily eroded, and we see their imprint in the form of metamorphic rocks, volcanic rocks, granites, and deformation structures. These are scattered across Europe, from southern Britain to eastern Europe. Žák has been studying the geology of central Europe for over 25 years using methods ranging from structural studies in the field to detrital zircon geochronology. He is a Professor in the Institute of Geology and Paleontology at Charles University in Prague. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/geology-bites-159592/episodes/ji-k-on-the-orogenies-that-shaped-central-europe/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/geology-bites-159592/ji-k-on-the-orogenies-that-shaped-central-europe.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.