The Western Alps, from Rift to Passive Margin to Orogenic Belt

by Graciansky; Roberts; Tricart

• ISBN13: 9780444537249
• ISBN10: 0444537244
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-24
• Publisher: Elsevier Science

Summary

The objective of the book is to provide an updated synthesis of the evolution of the Alpine fold belt hitherto not available in English. The overall concept is to build on classical Alpine geological studies made since the start of the 19 th century by integrating this work with modern results obtained systematically on mid ocean ridges and passive margins worldwide over the past 50 years using new marine geological and geophysical technologies. The book thus provides an integrated overview of the evolution of the Alps from rift to passive margin to the present fold belt over a time span of 300my.* an integrated multidisciplinary synthesis of the evolution of the Alps from rift to passive margin to foldbelt.* 175 figures, structural maps and cross sections.* an index of localities referred to in the fext and figures.* a brief summary of the history and development of ideas concerning the evolution of fold belts and passive margins since the 19th century.* provides basis for further enquire and research* provides wider context relevant to marine and oil industry geoscientists.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xv
List of figures	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
Geosynclines, Passive Margins, Foreland Basins and Folded Belts: An Introduction	p. 3
Prologue	p. 3
Orogenesis, Rock Deformation and Development of the Thrust Concept	p. 4
Mountain Belts and the Geosynclinal Theory (1859-1965)	p. 7
Geophysical and Geological Exploration in the Ocean: First Steps and Results	p. 9
Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics: Principles	p. 11
Sedimentation in Oceanic Basins and Problems in Palaeodepth Reconstruction	p. 23
The Wilson Cycle: Mountain Belts, Passive Margins and Foreland Basin-Folded Belts	p. 24
The Alps: Present Day Structure	p. 29
The Alps: Main Subdivisions	p. 30
The Central and Western Alps: Major Structural Trends	p. 34
Alpine Metamorphism	p. 42
The Arc of the Western Alps Compared to the Central Alps	p. 44
Deep Structure of the Alps from Geophysical Studies	p. 45
On the Origin of the Alps: The Vanished Oceans	p. 55
Nappe Stratigraphy and the Existence of the Pre-Alpine Tethyan Oceanic Domain	p. 56
Origins of the Tethys	p. 58
The Development of the Tethys in the Cretaceous	p. 65
Evolution of the Liguro-Piemontais Tethys: Tethyan and Alpine Phases	p. 70
Alpine Palaeogeographic Domains in the Context of the Liguro-Piemontais Ocean and Continental Margin	p. 73
The Alpine Phase, Late Cretaceous and Tertiary	p. 74
Hercynian Inheritance, Tethyan Rifting and Alpine Nappes	p. 77
The Alpine foldbelt incorporates part of the Hercynian foldbelt	p. 78
Relations Between Hercynian, Tethyan and Alpine Structural Units	p. 81
Conclusions	p. 94
The Tethys Phase	p. 97
The Age of the Onset of Tethyan Rifting in Western Europe	p. 99
The pre-rift and syn-rift phases of the Jurassic Tethys	p. 100
The Triassic transgressive-regressive cycle of Western Europe: a turning point in the redevelopment of Tethys	p. 101
Comparison of the Triassic major transgressive-regressive cycle from the Brianconnais to the Rhone valley	p. 108
Relationship of the Middle Triassic and Carnian extensional events to rifting of the Ligurian Tethys	p. 111
Triassic palaeogeography and the line of opening of the Ligurian Tethys in the Jurassic	p. 112
End of the Triassic (Late Norian and Rhaetian) and onset of rifting in the Ligurian Tethys	p. 112
The Pre-Ligurian Tethys Rift Phase on the European Margin	p. 115
Structures formed by rifting	p. 117
Structural framework of the European margin of Tethys in the Alps	p. 131
Evidence of extension and pulsed rifting during the Late Triassic and Jurassic	p. 137
Modes of subsidence during rifting	p. 142
Summary: The future European continental margin in the Western and Central Alps during the rift phase	p. 144
Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Development of the European Margin Spreading of the Liguro-Piemontais Ocean	p. 147
The age of the onset of the post-rift phase and spreading of the Liguro-piemontais Ocean	p. 148
Organization of the European margin of the Tethys in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous	p. 148
Interpretation of the Valais zone: an oceanic basin of Early Cretaceous age or a failed rift superimposed on the Tethyan margin?	p. 150
The behaviour of the Saint Bernard-Monte Rosa ('SBR') block during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rift phase	p. 162
Rifting of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous age in the Western Alps	p. 163
Summary and Conclusions: Deformation of the European Margin During Spreading of the Tethys	p. 166
The Late Cretaceous Phase and the Onset of the Alpine Shortening	p. 169
Evolution of the European margin of the Tethys in the Late Cretaceous: early Alpine deformation	p. 169
The Pelagic 'Globigerinid-bearing muds' of the Western and Central Alps and associated clastic sediments: demonstration of extensional tectonics	p. 175
Evolution of the deformation field in the Central and Western Alps during the Late Cretaceous	p. 179
Comparison with the Pyrenees and Provence domains	p. 179
Kinematics and uplift during the Late Cretaceous	p. 182
The Tethyan Margin in Corsica	p. 183
Hercynian and Alpine Corsica	p. 183
The Initial Position of Corsica During the Mesozoic	p. 185
The Transition from the Corsica-Provence Platform to the Liguro-Piemontais Ocean	p. 186
Summary: Characteristics of the Tethyan Margin in Corsica	p. 188
The Apulia-African Margin of the Liguro-piemontais Ocean: The Transition from Continent to Ocean	p. 189
Southern Alps Transect: Northern Italy to Southern Switzerland	p. 190
The Grisons (=Graubünden) transect in eastern Switzerland	p. 196
Summary and Conclusion	p. 203
Liguro-piemontais Ophiolites and the Alpine Palaeo-Ocean	p. 205
Ophiolites	p. 206
Oceanic Sediments	p. 235
Summary and Conclusions	p. 239
Recapitulation and Comparisons: Oceans and Continental Margins in the Alps, an Overview	p. 243
A short palaeogeographic reminder	p. 244
Rifting: comparisons and reflections	p. 245
Continental rupture and exhumation of the upper mantle	p. 254
The notion of the breakup unconformity: discussion	p. 255
Oceanic accretion in the Liguro-piemontais Ocean	p. 258
Branches of the Tethys in the future Alpine domain	p. 259
Segmentation of the oceanic lithosphere and adjoining continental margins	p. 263
From the Tethys to the Alpine Fold Belt	p. 267
Birth of the Western and Central Alps: Structural Inversion and the Onset of Orogenesis	p. 269
The concept of structural inversion	p. 270
Increasing intensity of Alpine deformation from W to E in the Western Alps	p. 271
Multiphase inversion in the Sub-alpine domain	p. 273
Reactivation of extensional faults during inversion	p. 275
The role and attitude of decollement surfaces during inversion	p. 282
Conclusion: the role of the earlier fault fabric of the passive margin during inversion	p. 286
The Birth of the Western and Central Alps: Subduction, Obduction, Collision	p. 289
Subduction, obduction	p. 290
The collision	p. 293
Chronological constraints	p. 302
Modes of orogenesis in the Central Alps along the Matterhorn (Cervin) transect	p. 306
Some singularities of Western Alps structure	p. 311
The Alps - Neotectonics	p. 317
Seismicity	p. 318
Direct measurement of present-day, active deformation of rocks	p. 323
Vertical movements	p. 323
Horizontal movements	p. 327
Study of 'late' faults in the Field	p. 329
Conclusion	p. 332
Summary, Discussion and Conclusion	p. 337
The major events that characterize Tethyan history	p. 339
Inheritance: Hercynian, Tethyan and Alpine Structure	p. 340
From Tethyan extension to Alpine compression	p. 343
Development of the Ligurian Tethys and Transgressive-Regressive cycles at the European scale	p. 347
Conclusion: Neotectonics and Alpine Peaks: a common history	p. 354
References	p. 361
Geographical Index	p. 377
Subject Index	p. 391
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