Chapter 2 Regional Context and Lithotectonic Framework of the 2.0–1.8 Ga Svecokarelian Orogen, Eastern Sweden

Six separate lithotectonic units, referred to from north to south as the Överkalix, Norrbotten, Bothnia–Skellefteå, Ljusdal, Bergslagen and Småland units, are identified inside the western part of the 2.0–1.8 Ga Svecokarelian orogen, Fennoscandian Shield, Sweden. Apart from the boundary between the Norrbotten and Bothnia–Skellefteå lithotectonic units in northern Sweden, which is defined on the basis of a change in crustal basement from Neoarchean (and possibly older) in the NE (Norrbotten) to juvenile Paleoproterozoic crust further south (Bothnia–Skellefteå), all the boundaries are defined by shear zones or combinations of zones that, in places, form broader shear belts up to several tens of kilometres thick. The identification of lithotectonic units provides a necessary foundation for a more detailed synthesis of the tectonic evolution of the 2.0–1.8 Ga orogeny in northern Europe, emphasizing in particular the allochthoneity between most of these units inside this part of the orogen.