Comment on “The Late Devonian Variscan suture of the Iberian Massif: A correlation of high-pressure belts in NW and SW Iberia. Tectonophysics 654, 96–100" by R. Fernández and R. Arenas

• We document the Variscan crustal structure of SW Iberia.
• This crustal structure is incompatible with an allochthonous terrane.
• A vast Variscan allochthon is not supported.
• SW Iberia records oblique collision unlike frontal collision in NW Iberia.

A vast Variscan nappe spreading from the Allochthonous Complexes of NW Iberia to the Ossa-Morena Zone in SW Iberia has been proposed by Díez Fernández and Arenas (2015), based on the correlation of different outcrops of high-pressure and MORB-type rocks. This interpretation conflicts with well-known geological and geophysical data regarding the SW Iberian Variscides, which point to: i) major kinematic and geometric inconsistencies come up when interpreting the Ossa-Morena Zone as an allochthonous unit, ii) the outcrops of high-pressure and MORB-type rocks belong to two different sutures rather than a single one, and iii) SW Iberia is characterized by transpressional deformation related to a very oblique left-lateral continental collision, while NW Iberia features a rather frontal collision.