The transition from Variscan collision to continental break-up in the Alps: insights from the comparison between natural data and numerical model predictions

Spalla, Maria Iole; Zanoni, Davide; Marotta, Anna; Rebay, Gisella; Roda, Manuel; Zucali, Michele; Gosso, G.

doi:10.1144/sp405.11

Cited by 59 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 180 publications

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“…This requires an extra heat supply, such as asthenospheric upwelling that is compatible with slab and/or orogenic root-delamination after a continental collision, which promotes late orogenic extension Marotta et al, 2009;Spalla et al, 2014). Therefore, the two rock types have 23…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The intrusion of the Sondalo gabbroic complex occurred initially at the mid-crustal level (0.5-0.6 GPa) and was progressively exhumed (<0.45 GPa), which generated partial melting of the host rock in the metamorphic aureole (Petri et al, 2016). The , 1989;Lardeaux and Spalla, 1991;Diella et al, 1992;Spalla et al, 1995;Handy et al, 1999;Schuster et al, 2001;Schuster and Stüwe, 2008;Marotta et al, 2009;Spalla et al, 2014;Marotta et al, 2018;Petri et al, 2017). Older Paleozoic ages (ca.…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Alps, the end of the Variscan orogenic event is characterised by a high-temperature, low-pressure metamorphic evolution, which is associated with the emplacement of anatectic granitoids Spalla et al, 2014;Schuster et al, 2001, and refs therein).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Permian-Triassic high thermal regime in the Alpine area is peculiar because a widespread HT metamorphism affected the Austroalpine and Southalpine continental crust. The resulting high-temperature metamorphism and the associated acidic and mafic igneous activity is long-lasting (from lower Permian to Norian, Spalla et al, 2014) and accompanied by extensional tectonics (Brodie et al, 1989;Lardeaux and Spalla, 1991;Diella et al, 1992;Handy et al, 1999;Schuster et al, 2001). Such a high T/P ratio has been interpreted as being the consequence of lithospheric thinning at the beginning of the Mesozoic continental rifting (Lardeaux and Spalla, 1991;Diella et al, 1992;3 A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Dal Piaz, 1993;Schuster et al, 2001;Marotta and Spalla, 2007;Schuster and Stüwe, 2008;Spalla et al, 2014;Marotta et al, 2018), and the heterogeneous distribution of igneous and metamorphic rocks of this age suggests that the rifting was asymmetric.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The resulting high-temperature metamorphism and the associated acidic and mafic igneous activity is long-lasting (from lower Permian to Norian, Spalla et al, 2014) and accompanied by extensional tectonics (Brodie et al, 1989;Lardeaux and Spalla, 1991;Diella et al, 1992;Handy et al, 1999;Schuster et al, 2001). Such a high T/P ratio has been interpreted as being the consequence of lithospheric thinning at the beginning of the Mesozoic continental rifting (Lardeaux and Spalla, 1991;Diella et al, 1992;3 A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Dal Piaz, 1993;Schuster et al, 2001;Marotta and Spalla, 2007;Schuster and Stüwe, 2008;Spalla et al, 2014;Marotta et al, 2018), and the heterogeneous distribution of igneous and metamorphic rocks of this age suggests that the rifting was asymmetric. This interpretation has been supported by the gradual transition from Permian-Triassic metamorphic and igneous ages in the continental crust, to the Mesozoic ages of the ophiolitic remnants (Marotta et al, 2009), and by the long-lasting extensional event that is characterised by regional scale normal faulting during the Permian-Jurassic Periods (e.g., Bertotti et al, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pre-Alpine contrasting tectono-metamorphic evolutions within the Southern Steep Belt, Central Alps

Roda¹,

Zucali²,

Li³

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Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Pre-Alpine contrasting tectono-metamorphic evolutions within the Southern Steep Belt, Central Alps

Roda¹,

Zucali²,

Li³

et al. 2018

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The Grand St Bernard‐Briançonnais Nappe System and the Paleozoic Inheritance of the Western Alps Unraveled by Zircon U‐Pb Dating

et al. 2017

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The continental crust involved in the Alpine orogeny was largely shaped by Paleozoic tectono‐metamorphic and igneous events during oblique collision between Gondwana and Laurussia. In order to shed light on the pre‐Alpine basement puzzle disrupted and reamalgamated during the Tethyan rifting and the Alpine orogeny, we provide sensitive high‐resolution ion microprobe U‐Pb zircon and geochemical whole rock data from selected basement units of the Grand St Bernard‐Briançonnais nappe system in the Western Alps and from the Penninic and Lower Austroalpine units in the Central Alps. Zircon U‐Pb ages, ranging from 459.0 ± 2.3 Ma to 279.1 ± 1.1 Ma, provide evidence of a complex evolution along the northern margin of Gondwana including Ordovician transtension, Devonian subduction, and Carboniferous‐to‐Permian tectonic reorganization. Original zircon U‐Pb ages of 371 ± 0.9 Ma and 369.3 ± 1.5 Ma, from calc‐alkaline granitoids of the Grand Nomenon and Gneiss del Monte Canale units, provide the first compelling evidence of Late Devonian orogenic magmatism in the Alps. We propose that rocks belonging to these units were originally part of the Moldanubian domain and were displaced toward the SW by Late Carboniferous strike‐slip faulting. The resulting assemblage of basement units was disrupted by Permian tectonics and by Mesozoic opening of the Alpine Tethys. Remnants of the Moldanubian domain became either part of the European paleomargin (Grand Nomenon unit) or part of the Adriatic paleomargin (Gneiss del Monte Canale unit), to be finally accreted into the Alpine orogenic wedge during the Cenozoic.

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What drives Alpine Tethys opening? Clues from the review of geological data and model predictions

et al. 2018

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Permo‐Triassic remnants (300–220 Ma) of high‐temperature metamorphism associated with large gabbro bodies occur in the Alps and indicate a high thermal regime compatible with lithospheric thinning. During the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, an extensional tectonics leads to the break‐up of Pangea continental lithosphere and the opening of Alpine Tethys Ocean (170–160 Ma), as testified by the ophiolites outcropping in the Central–Western Alps and Apennines. We revise geological data from the Permian to Jurassic of the Alps and Northern Apennines, focusing on continental and oceanic basement rocks, and predictions of existing numerical models of post‐collisional extension of continental lithosphere and successive rifting and oceanization. The aim is to test whether the transition from the Permo‐Triassic extensional tectonics to the Jurassic opening of Alpine Tethys occurred. We enforce the interpretation that a forced extension of 2 cm/year of the post‐collisional lithosphere results in a thermal state compatible with the Permo‐Triassic high‐temperature event suggested by pressure and temperature conditions of metamorphic rocks and widespread igneous activity. Extensional or transtensional tectonics is also in agreement with the generalized subsidence indicated by the deposition of sedimentary successions with deepening upward facies occurred in the Alps from the Permian to Jurassic. Furthermore, a rifting developed on a thermally perturbed lithosphere agrees with a hyperextended configuration of the Alpine Tethys rifting and with the duration of the extension necessary to the oceanization. The review supports the interpretation of Alpine Tethys opening developed on a lithosphere characterized by a thermo‐mechanical configuration inherited by the post‐Variscan extension which affected Pangea during the Permian and Triassic. Therefore, a long‐lasting period of active extension can be envisaged for the breaking of Pangea supercontinent, starting from the unrooting of the Variscan belts, followed by the Permo‐Triassic thermal high, and ending with the crustal break‐up and the formation of the Alpine Tethys Ocean.

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The transition from Variscan collision to continental break-up in the Alps: insights from the comparison between natural data and numerical model predictions

Cited by 59 publications

References 180 publications

Pre-Alpine contrasting tectono-metamorphic evolutions within the Southern Steep Belt, Central Alps

Pre-Alpine contrasting tectono-metamorphic evolutions within the Southern Steep Belt, Central Alps

The Grand St Bernard‐Briançonnais Nappe System and the Paleozoic Inheritance of the Western Alps Unraveled by Zircon U‐Pb Dating

What drives Alpine Tethys opening? Clues from the review of geological data and model predictions

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