Unravelling the thermo-tectonic evolution of the Alps: a contribution from fission track analysis and mica dating

Hurford, Anthony J.; Flisch, Markus; Jäger, E.

doi:10.1144/gsl.sp.1989.045.01.21

Cited by 70 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…D3 deformation during cooling is supported by the south-dipping (north-vergent) thrusts which cross-cut the intrusion when solidified (Rosenberg et al, 1994(Rosenberg et al, , 1995. Rapid cooling corresponding to the D3 uplift is also reported from the Suretta and Tambo nappes from 30 Ma until about 20 Ma (Hurford et al, 1989;Marquer et al, 1994). This ductile-brittle D3 deformation was generated by differential uplift of the southern part of the nappe and could be associated with the OligoMiocene vertical movements along the Insubric line which started shortly after the Bergell intrusion (Hurford, 1986;Heitzmann, 1987;Schmid et al, 1989).…”

Section: Subduction Of the European Margin And Collision (Back-thrustmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Subduction and obduction processes in the Swiss Alps

et al. 1998

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The significance of the Briançonnais domain in the Alpine orogen is reviewed in the light of data concerning its collision with the active Adriatic margin and the passive Helvetic margin. The Briançonnais which formerly belonged to the Iberian plate, was located on the northern margin of the Alpine Tethys (Liguro-Piémont ocean) since its opening in the early-Middle Jurassic. Together with the Iberian plate the Briançonnais terrane was separated from the European plate in the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, following the northern Atlantic, Bay of Biscay, Valais ocean opening. This was accompanied by the onset of subduction along the northern margin of Adria and the closure of the Alpine Tethys. Stratigraphic and metamorphic data regarding this subduction and the geohistory of the Briançonnais allows the scenario of subduction-obduction processes during the Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary in the eastern and western Alps to be specified. HP-LT metamorphism record a long-lasting history of oceanic subduction-accretion, followed in the Middle Eocene by the incorporation of the Briançonnais as an exotic terrane into the accretionary prism. Middle to Late Eocene cooling ages of the Briançonnais basement and the presence of pelagic, anorogenic sedimentation lasting until the Middle Eocene on the Briançonnais preclude any sort of collision before that time between this domain and the active Adria margin or the Helvetic margin. This is confirmed by plate reconstructions constrained by magnetic anomalies in the Atlantic domain. Only a small percentage of the former Briançonnais domain was obducted, most of the crust and lithospheric roots were subducted. This applies also to domains formerly belonging to the southern Alpine Tethys margin (Austroalpine-inner Carpathian domain). It is proposed that there was a single Palaeogene subduction zone responsible for the Alpine orogen formation (from northern Spain to the East Carpathians), with the exception of a short-lived Late Cretaceous partial closure of the Valais ocean. Subduction in the western Tethyan domain originated during the closure of the Meliata ocean during the Jurassic incorporating the Austroalpine-Carpathian domain as terranes during the Cretaceous. The subduction zone propagated into the northern margin of Adria and then to the northern margin of the Iberian plate, where it gave birth to the Pyrenean-Provençal orogenic belt. This implies the absence of a separated Cretaceous subduction zone within the Austro-Carpathian Penninic ocean. Collision of Iberia with Europe forced the subduction to jump to the SE margin of Iberia in the Eocene, creating the Apenninic orogenic wedge and inverting the vergence of subduction from south-to north-directed.

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Section: Subduction Of the European Margin And Collision (Back-thrustmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Moreover, D2 thinning could also explain part of the exhumation of the eastern part of the high-grade Lepontine thermal dome (Bradbury and Nolen-Hoeksema, 1985;Hurford, 1986;Hurford et al, 1989;Merle, 1994).…”

Section: Subduction Of the European Margin And Syn-collision Extensiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Subduction and obduction processes in the Swiss Alps

et al. 1998

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“…subsequent slow exhumation rates, with an average linear cooling rate of ~8°/m.y. until 100 °c, are estimated based on fission track data in adjacent units (Hurford et al 1989(Hurford et al , 1991; see discussion in Amato et al 1999). the activation energy 'Q', the pre-exponential diffusion factor 'D 0 ' for rEE matrix diffusion and the partition coefficient 'K d ' were fitted to the profiles.…”

Section: Specific Model Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of a maximum Lu diffusion rate in a natural eclogite garnet

et al. 2008

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Lutetium zoning in garnet within eclogites from the Zermatt-saas Fee zone, Western Alps, reveal sharp, exponentially decreasing central peaks. they can be used to constrain maximum Lu volume diffusion in garnets. A prograde garnet growth temperature interval of ~450-600 °c has been estimated based on pseudosection calculations and garnet-clinopyroxene thermometry. the maximum pre-exponential diffusion coefficient which fits the measured central peak is in the order of D 0 = 5.7*10 -6 m 2 /s, taking an estimated activation energy of 270 kJ/mol based on diffusion experiments for other rare earth elements in garnet. this corresponds to a maximum diffusion rate of D (~600 °c) = 4.0 Introduction the closure temperature, t c , has been defined by Dodson (1973) to be "the temperature at the time corresponding to its apparent age". It is dependant on the diffusion rate, the cooling rate, grain size, and grain shape. Following Dodson (1973) for spherical minerals one obtains:(1) (Q = activation energy; r = universal gas constant, A = numerical geometry factor, D 0 = diffusion coefficient at infinitely high temperatures, r = radius, dt/dt = cooling rate). In terms of geochronology, the mineral specific t c determines, among other factors, whether its age represents the timing of mineral crystallization or whether it corresponds to an age where a particular isotope geochronometer was closed.Garnet geochronology is particularly useful for systems such as sm-Nd and Lu-Hf because this mineral has high 147 sm/ 144 Nd and 176 Lu/ 177 Hf ratios (e.g. Mezger et al. 1992;Duchêne et al. 1997). the stability relations of garnet are generally well understood, hence constraints can be placed on the age(s) of specific P-t conditions at which the mineral grew (e.g. Lapen et al. 2003;Whitehouse & Platt 2003) provided garnet has not been heated beyond its t c . Most t c studies so far concern sm-Nd garnet geochronology because diffusion experiments exist for sm and/or Nd in garnet (Harrison & Wood 1980;coghlan 1990;Ganguly et al. 1998; Van Orman et al. 2002;tirone et al. 2005). However, published estimates for sm-Nd t c ' span a large range in temperature from around 500 °c (e.g. Mezger et al. 1992) to around 800 °c (e.g. Jagoutz 1988). Not much is known about the t c of the Lu-Hf system, and, to our knowledge, no Lu and Hf diffusion data in garnet have been determined. In general, Lu-Hf ages have been found to give older ages when compared to sm-Nd ages. scherer et al. (2000) Geosci. 101 (2008) their high grade rocks this is likely due to a higher t c for the Lu-Hf, compared to the sm-Nd system. Lapen et al. (2003) interpreted a similar age difference in lower temperature rocks to reflect prograde zoning, based on the fact that Lu, in contrast to sm, will be strongly partitioned into garnet and hence, will be concentrated in the early grown core region. the knowledge whether prograde Lu-Hf zoning is preserved in a sample or not can be used to distinguish the two interpretations.1661-8726/08/030637-14 DOI 10.1007/s00015-008-...

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“…Fission-track thermochronology is a powerful tool for establishing regional variations in the cooling history of an orogen (Wagner & Reimer, 1972;Johnson, Harbury & Hurford, 1997;Foster & John, 1999). Combining regional cooling patterns with structural analysis can deliver important constraints to the exhumation history of an orogen (Hurford, Flisch & Jäger, 1989;Wheeler & Butler, 1994;Brandon, Roden-Tice & Garver, 1998). We will show that the regional pattern of apatite fission-track ages is remarkably symmetric at the orogen scale, with the oldest (Late Oligocene to Early Miocene) cooling ages occurring in the southern and northern margins and younger (Late Miocene to Quaternary) cooling ages in the centre of the belt.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonic denudation of a Late Cretaceous–Tertiary collisional belt: regionally symmetric cooling patterns and their relation to extensional faults in the Anatolide belt of western Turkey

et al. 2003

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-Thermochronological data reveal that the Late Cretaceous-Tertiary nappe pile of the Anatolide belt of western Turkey displays a two-stage cooling history. Three crustal segments differing in structure and cooling history have been identified. The Central Menderes metamorphic core complex represents an 'inner' axial segment of the Anatolide belt and exposes the lowest structural levels of the nappe pile, whereas the two 'outer' submassifs, the Gördes submassif to the north and the Ç ine submassif to the south, represent higher levels of the nappe pile. A regionally significant phase of cooling in the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene affected the outer two submassifs and the upper structural levels of the Central Menderes metamorphic core complex. In the northern part of the Gördes submassif, cooling was related to top-to-the-NNE movement on the Simav detachment, as the apatite fission-track ages show a northward-younging trend in the direction of movement on this detachment. In the Ç ine submassif, relatively rapid cooling in Late Oligocene and Early Miocene times may have been related to top-to-the-S extensional reactivation of the basal thrust of the overlying Lycian nappes. The second phase of cooling in the Anatolide belt is related to Pliocene to Recent extension resulting in the formation of the Central Menderes metamorphic core complex in the inner part of the Anatolide belt. Core-complex development caused the formation of supra-detachment graben, which document the ongoing separation of the Central Menderes metamorphic core complex from the outer submassifs.

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Unravelling the thermo-tectonic evolution of the Alps: a contribution from fission track analysis and mica dating

Cited by 70 publications

References 55 publications

Subduction and obduction processes in the Swiss Alps

Subduction and obduction processes in the Swiss Alps

Estimation of a maximum Lu diffusion rate in a natural eclogite garnet

Tectonic denudation of a Late Cretaceous–Tertiary collisional belt: regionally symmetric cooling patterns and their relation to extensional faults in the Anatolide belt of western Turkey

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