Geodynamic evolution of the Tethyan margins of the Western Alps

Stampfli, Gérard M.; Marchant, Robin

doi:10.1007/978-3-0348-9098-4_17

Cited by 61 publications

(62 citation statements)

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“…The location and the vergence of this (these) subduction(s) remain(s) currently the matter of debates. Some authors (Faccenna et al, 2014;Jolivet and Faccenna, 2000;Lacombe and Jolivet, 2005;Stampfli and Marchant, 1997) place a single and permanent west/northwest-verging subduction east and south of AlKaPeca. This hypothesis minimizes or ignores the existence of a western Ligurian Tethys.…”

Section: Major Tectonic Events and Kinematic Reorganizations In The Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Tell-Rif orogenic system (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and the structural heritage of the southern Tethys margin

Leprêtre

Lamotte

Combier

et al. 2018

BSGF - Earth Sci. Bull.

102

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-The Tell-Rif (Tell in Algeria and Tunisia; Rif in Morocco) is the orogenic system fringing to the south the West Mediterranean basins. This system comprises three major tectonic-palaeogeographic zones from north to south: (1) the internal zones (AlKaPeCa for Alboran, Kabylies, Peloritan, Calabria) originating from the former northern European margin of the Maghrebian Tethys, (2) the "Flyschs zone" regarded as the former cover of the oceanic domain and (3) the external zones, forming the former southern Maghrebian Tethys margin more or less inverted. The Tell-Rif is interpreted as the direct result of the progressive closure of the Maghrebian Tethys until the collision between AlKaPeCa and Africa and, subsequently, the propagation of the deformation within Africa. This gives a consistent explanation for the offshore Neogene geodynamics and most authors share this simple scenario. Nevertheless, the current geodynamic models do not completely integrate the Tell-Rif geology. Based on the analysis of surface and sub-surface data, we propose a reappraisal of its present-day geometry in terms of geodynamic evolution. We highlight its non-cylindrical nature resulting from both the Mesozoic inheritance and the conditions of the tectonic inversion. During the Early Jurassic, we emphasize the development of NE-SW basins preceding the establishment of an E-W transform corridor connecting the Central Atlantic Ocean with the Ligurian Tethys. The Maghrebian Tethys developed just after, as the result of the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous left-lateral spreading between Africa and Iberia. By the Late Cretaceous, the occurrence of several tectonic events is related to the progressive convergence convergence between the two continents. A major pre-Oligocene (pre-35 Ma) compressional event is recorded in the Tell-Rif system. The existence of HP-LT metamorphic rocks associated with fragments of mantle in the External Metamorphic Massifs of the Eastern Rif and Western Tell shows that, at that time, the western part of the North-African margin was involved in a subduction below a deep basin belonging to the Maghrebian Tethys. At the same time, the closure of the West Ligurian Tethys through east-verging subduction led to a shift of the subduction, which jumped to the other side of AlKaPeCa involving both East Ligurian and Maghrebian Tethys. Slab rollback led to the development of the Oligo-Miocene back-arc basins of the West-Mediterranean, reworking the previous West Ligurian Tethys suture. The docking of AlKaPeCa against Africa occurred during the Late Burdigalian (17 Ma). Subsequently, the slab tearing triggered westward and eastward lateral movements that are responsible for the formation of the Gibraltar and Tyrrhenian Arcs respectively. The exhumation of the External Metamorphic Massifs occurred through tectonic underplating during the westward translation of the Alboran Domain. It resulted in the formation of both foredeep and wedge-top basins younger and younger westward. The lack of these elements in the eastern part ...

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Section: Major Tectonic Events and Kinematic Reorganizations In The Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Tell-Rif orogenic system (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and the structural heritage of the southern Tethys margin

Leprêtre

Lamotte

Combier

et al. 2018

BSGF - Earth Sci. Bull.

102

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“…The Alps formed as a result of the convergence between the European and Adriatic lithosphere, including intervening microcontinents and oceans (Trümpy, 1973(Trümpy, , 1980(Trümpy, , 1988Stampfli and Marthaler, 1990;Stampfli and Marchant, 1997;Stampfli and others, 1998). Much of the convergence history, between 70 to 35 Ma, was dominated by subduction towards the south with continued underplating of rifted remnants of the Adria margin, intervening oceans and microcontinents, and finally the European margin (Escher and Beaumont, 1997;Beaumont and others, 1996), which led to nappe stacking.…”

Section: European-adriatic Collisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Exhumation history of the European Alps inferred from linear inversion of thermochronometric data

Fox

Herman

Willett

et al. 2016

American Journal of Science

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ABSTRACT. Thermochronometric data collected across the Alps over the last three decades allows for investigation of the evolution of this orogen, which is subject to changes in climate and geodynamics. Exhumation rates are inferred from the thermochronometric ages using a statistical inversion method based on the fact that the distance a sample traveled since closure is equal to the integral of the exhumation rate from the present day to the age of the sample. Exhumation rates are assumed to be spatially correlated but are free to vary through time. This results in the quantification of exhumation rates across the Alps, since 32 Ma, along with assessments of the quality of these inferences. We find that exhumation rates are initially fast in the internal arc of the Western Alps at rates up to 0.8 km/Myr at 30 Ma, decreasing at 20 Ma to 0.3 km/Myr to remain slow to the present. At the same time, around 20 Ma, rates across the External Crystalline Massifs of Western Alps increase to 0.6 km/Myr. We also find that the onset of high exhumation rates in the Tauern Window and the Lepontine Dome occurs at around 20 Ma, a time characterized by major reorganizations in the Alpine chain. A general increase in exhumation rates at around 5 Ma over the entire Alps is not confirmed. Instead we find that the Western Alps exhibit a 2 to 3 fold increase in exhumation rate over the last 2 Ma, during a recent event not seen further east, in spite of very similar topographic characteristics. We attribute this strong signal to detachment of the European slab in the Western Alps, combined with efficient glacial erosion.

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“…Li assic sym met ri cal rift ing was suc ceeded by Mid dle Ju ras sic sim ple shear ex tension and break-up of the Ligurian-Piemont Ocean, which pro -duced also ther mal up lift of the broad, up per plate Briançonnais rift shoul der. Fi nally, the sep a ra tion of the Briançonnais rib bon con ti nent from the Eu ro pean mar gin and break-up of the North Penninic (Valais) Ocean oc curred prob ably in the Early Cre ta ceous (Frisch, 1979;Florineth and Froitzheim, 1994;Stampfli, 1994). Open ing of both the South and North Penninic oce anic branches was as cribed to the eastwards prop a ga tion of the Cen tral At lan tic and the North At lantic and Bay of Biscay rift sys tems, re spec tively (Frisch, 1981;Lemoine and Trümpy, 1987;Stampfli, 1994Stampfli, , 1996.…”

Section: Rifting Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fi nally, the sep a ra tion of the Briançonnais rib bon con ti nent from the Eu ro pean mar gin and break-up of the North Penninic (Valais) Ocean oc curred prob ably in the Early Cre ta ceous (Frisch, 1979;Florineth and Froitzheim, 1994;Stampfli, 1994). Open ing of both the South and North Penninic oce anic branches was as cribed to the eastwards prop a ga tion of the Cen tral At lan tic and the North At lantic and Bay of Biscay rift sys tems, re spec tively (Frisch, 1981;Lemoine and Trümpy, 1987;Stampfli, 1994Stampfli, , 1996. The Cre taceous North Penninic rift sys tem (Valais Ocean) partly re-rifted the Ju ras sic South Penninic Ocean (Liati et al, 2005).…”

Section: Rifting Phasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Jurassic syn-rift and Cretaceous syn-orogenic, coarse-grained deposits related to opening and closure of the Vahic (South Penninic) Ocean in the Western Carpathians – an overview

Plašienka

2012

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Al though no un doubted oce anic crustal rock com plexes of Penninic af fin ity par tic i pate in the pres ent sur face struc ture of the West ern Carpathians, in di rect lines of ev i dence sug gest pro lon ga tion of the South Penninic-Vahic oce anic tract into the an cient Carpathians. The sed i men tary re cord of both the syn-rift and syn-orogenic clastic de pos its re veal their or i gin be tween the outer Tatric (Austroalpine) and the in ner Oravic (Mid dle Penninic) mar gins. The rift ing re gime is ex em pli fied by the nor mal fault-re lated scarp brec cias of the Ju ras sic Borinka Unit in the Malé Karpaty Mts., which are char ac ter ized by lo cal, grad u ally de nuded source ar eas. Two other re gions pro vide exam ples of a contractional re gime, both re lated to short en ing and clo sure of the Vahic oce anic do main. The Belice Unit in the Považský Inovec Mts. in cludes Up per Ju ras sic-Lower Cre ta ceous eupelagic, mostly si li ceous de pos its and a thick en ing-up wards Senonian sequence of turbiditic sand stones, con glom er ates and cha otic brec cias. It is in ferred that this suc ces sion rep re sents the sed i men tary cover of oce anic crust ap proach ing a trench, its in cor po ra tion in the accretionary com plex and fi nally underthrusting be low the outer Tatric mar gin. In the Oravic units of the Pieniny Klippen Belt, deep-ma rine con glom er ate/brec cia bod ies with olistoliths in di cate col li sion-related thrust stack ing that started from the Maastrichtian (Gregorianka Brec cia of the Sub-Pieniny Unit) and ter mi nated with the Lower Eocene Milpoš Brec cia in the Šariš Unit. In ad di tion, a ten ta tive re cy cling scheme of "ex otic" clastic ma te rial from mid-Cre ta ceous conglom er ates of the Klape Unit to var i ous Klippen Belt units is out lined. This ma te rial is con sid ered to be un re lated to the Vahic oce anic realm and its clo sure, and likely rep re sents ero sional prod ucts of more dis tant orogenic zones. Dušan Plašienka, De part ment of Ge ol ogy and Palae on tol ogy, Fac ulty of Nat u ral Sci ences, Comenius Uni ver sity,

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Geodynamic evolution of the Tethyan margins of the Western Alps

Cited by 61 publications

References 0 publications

The Tell-Rif orogenic system (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and the structural heritage of the southern Tethys margin

The Tell-Rif orogenic system (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and the structural heritage of the southern Tethys margin

The Exhumation history of the European Alps inferred from linear inversion of thermochronometric data

Jurassic syn-rift and Cretaceous syn-orogenic, coarse-grained deposits related to opening and closure of the Vahic (South Penninic) Ocean in the Western Carpathians – an overview

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