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Kinematic data from the internal zones of the Western Alps indicate both top-to-SE and top-to-NW shearing during syn-kinematic greenschist facies recrystallisation. Rb/Sr data from white micas from different kinematic domains record a range of ages that do not represent closure through a single thermal event but reflect the variable timing of syn-kinematic mica recrystallisation at temperatures between 300-450°C. The data indicate an initial phase of accretion and foreland-directed thrusting at c. 60 Ma followed by almost complete reworking of thrust-related deformation by SE-directed shearing. This deformation is localised within oceanic units of the Combin Zone and the base of the overlying Austroalpine basement and forms a regional scale shear zone that can be traced for almost 50 km perpendicular to strike. The timing of deformation in this shear zone spans 9 Ma from 45-36 Ma. The SE-directed shear leads to local structures that cut upwards in the transport direction with respect to tectonic stratigraphy, and such structures have been interpreted in the past as backthrusts in response to ongoing Alpine convergence. However, on a regional scale the top-to-SE deformation is related to crustal extension, not shortening, and is coincident with exhumation of eclogites in its footwall. During this extension phase, deformation within the shear zone migrated both spatially and temporally giving rise to domains of older shear zone fabrics intercalated with zones of localised reworking. Top-NW kinematics preserved within the Combin Zone show a range of ages. The oldest (48 Ma) may reflect the final stages of emplacement of Austroalpine Units above Piemonte oceanic rocks prior to the onset of extension. However, much of the top-to-NW deformation took place over the period of extension and may reflect either continuing or episodic convergence or tectonic thinning of the shear zone. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar data from the region are complicated due to the widespread occurrence of excess 40 Ar in eclogite facies micas and partial Ar loss during Alpine heating. Reliable ages from both eclogite and greenschist facies micas indicate cooling ages in different tectonic units of between 32-40 Ma. These ages are slightly younger than Rb/Sr deformation ages and suggest that cooling below c.350°C occurred after juxtaposition of the units by SE-directed extensional deformation.Our data indicate a complex kinematic history involving both crustal shortening and extension within the internal zones of the Alpine orogen. To constrain the palaeogeographic and geodynamic evolution of the Alps

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Rock fabricsthe preferred orientation of grainsprovide a window into the history of rock formation, deformation and compaction. Chondritic meteorites are among the oldest materials in the Solar System 1 and their fabrics should record a range of processes occurring in the nebula and in asteroids, but due to abundant fine-grained material these samples have largely resisted traditional in situ fabric analysis. Here we use high resolution electron backscatter diffraction to map the orientation of sub-micrometre grains in the Allende CV carbonaceous chondrite: the matrix material that is interstitial to the mm-sized spherical chondrules that give chondrites their name, and finegrained rims which surround those chondrules. Although Allende matrix exhibits a bulk uniaxial fabric relating to a significant compressive event in the parent asteroid, we find that fine-grained rims preserve a spherically symmetric fabric centred on the chondrule. We define a method that