Erosion-driven uplift of the modern Central Alps

We present a compilation of data of modern tectono-geomorphic processes in the Central European Alps which suggest that observed rock uplift is a response to climate-driven denudation. This interpretation is predominantly based on the recent quantification of basin-averaged Late Holocene denudation rates that are so similar to the pattern and rates of rock uplift rates as determined by geodetic leveling. Furthermore, a GPS data-based synthesis of Adriatic microplate kinematics suggests that the Central Alps are currently not in a state of active convergence. Finally, we illustrate that the Central Alps have acted as a closed system for Holocene redistribution of sediment in which the peri-Alpine lakes have operated as a sink for the erosional products of the inner Central Alps.While various hypotheses have been put forward to explain Central Alpine rock uplift (e.g. lithospheric forcing by convergence, mantle processes, or ice melting) we show with an elastic model of lithospheric deformation, that the correlation between erosion and rock uplift rates reflects a positive feedback between denudation and the associated isostatic response to unloading. Thus, erosion does not passively respond to advection of crustal material as might be the case in actively converging orogens. Rather, we suggest that the geomorphic response of the Alpine topography to glacial and fluvial erosion and the resulting disequilibrium for modern channelized and associated hillslope processes explains much of the pattern of modern denudation and hence rock uplift. Therefore, in a non-convergent orogen such as the Central European Alps, the observed vertical rock uplift is primarily a consequence of passive unloading due to erosion.     

The Holocene history of highland pine forests in a submediterranean mountain: the case of Gredos mountain range (Iberian Central range,Spain)

The significance of Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra forests in Gredos mountain range in the Iberian botanical literature has been traditionally a matter of controversy. Considered for many botanists to be anthropogenic forests, a high amount of syntaxonomic approaches, cartographies of potential vegetation and dynamic models have been created based on this guesswork.Nevertheless, this work contributes new data that contradicts this previous hypothesis. For the first time, these data prove the existence of a bioclimatic belt where pine trees dominated during the last 6500 years, clarifying its altitudinal range, surface extension, and its stability. The study is based on the analysis of fossil macrorests and megarests, dated using radiocarbon. The results obtained cohere with the suggestions of other authors that assume the native character of P. nigra and P. sylvestris in this area, based on data of diverse origin (palynological, historical, toponymical, dendrochronological or geobotanical).The paper then continues to discuss the geobotanical interpretation of the results and the regional lines of management, as well as the potential causes that could have induced the marked decline of pine forests in the last millennia.     

Reversible rock-slope deformations caused by cyclic water-table fluctuations in mountain slopes of the Central Alps, Switzerland

Within the framework of the Gotthard Base Tunnel Project in the Central Alps, Switzerland, geodetic monitoring networks were installed above the tunnel trajectory in alpine valleys. Natural ground-surface deformation recorded in the years prior to the tunneling excavation was seen to contain an unexpectedly large cyclical component of horizontal strain across the valleys, which was seasonal and appeared to be due to elastic processes. The strain is strongly correlated with snow melt and rainstorm precipitation, suggesting the implied rock-mass deformation is driven by changes in water-table elevation within adjacent mountain slopes. The horizontal strains are of the order of 1?C2?·?10^?C5, which is close to the design limits that can be accommodated by hydropower arch dams in the study area. This study investigates these processes in detail and describes a new mathematical model (REROD), which is able to accurately reproduce and predict such natural rock-slope displacements. The model implements a transfer-function approach to predict the valley-crossing strains from rainfall and winter snow height data recorded at nearby meteorological stations. It has been used to estimate and remove the natural strain signal from the net recorded deformation so as to resolve the component due to tunneling.     

Lake-tilting, a method for estimation of glacio-isostatic uplift

A non-uniform glacio-isostatic uplift can result in differential uplift for different parts of a lake. If the lake outlet is situated in the area of the greatest rate of uplift, then remote parts of the lake will be continuously transgressed. Ancient lake levels can be estimated by dating transgressed peat at different depths in such lakes. Four lakes in southern Sweden have been investigated using this method and the course of the glacio-isostatic uplift has been determined empirically. The investigation shows that the difference in uplift between the outlet and the sampling site can be expressed as an arctan function relating the difference in uplift over time to: half of the difference of the total uplift between the outlet and the sampling site, the time for the maximal rate of the uplift and a declining factor.     

Area balancing as a test of models for the deep structure of mountain belts,with specific reference to the Alps

Basic concepts of structural restoration are applied to crustal cross-sections through mountain belts to explore large-scale tectonic models and deep structure. However, restored sections should account for variations in pre-orogenic crustal thicknesses. Crustal balancing approaches are reviewed and applied to two Alpine sections, coinciding with deep seismic experiments: NRP-20 East (Central Alps) and ECORS-CROP (Western Alps). Existing studies assume large (>300 km) orogenic contraction and only moderately thinned pre-orogenic crust. The resulting restored sections contain more crust than is imaged beneath the present-day Alps, the missing crust generally assumed to be subducted. Two kinematic modifications reduce the requirement for subduction: thinning and buoyancy-driven return flow of ultra-high-pressure metamorphic rocks during orogenesis; and pre-orogenic hyperextension. Using large stretching factors for the pre-orogenic crust negates crustal subduction on both Alpine transects. If the lower crust was approximately rigid, restorations of the Central Alps require strongly depth-heterogeneous stretching of upper and lower crust during Mesozoic rifting. Relaxing this requirement allows uniform lithospheric stretching, a corollary consistent with published subsidence estimates. Restorations make implicit statements on the form of pre-orogenic basins and the structure of continental margins incorporated into mountain belts that can in turn provide tests of tectonic models.     

鄂尔多斯盆地渭北隆起烃源岩成熟度分布特征与热演化史恢复

渭北隆起发育多套烃源岩,是寻找油气的重要战略区。对渭北隆起不同层位烃源岩的热演化程度变化规律及热演化历史缺乏深入研究。本文利用大量反射率测试资料及裂变径迹分析资料,确定了研究区不同层位热演化程度及变化规律,在恢复剥蚀厚度及埋藏史的基础上,恢复了渭北隆起的构造热—演化史及生烃史。研究结果表明：渭北隆起上三叠统延长组处于生油阶段、石炭—二叠系、奥陶系处于生气阶段,不同层位热演化程度总体上具有北高南低、西高东低的特点。渭北隆起不同层位镜质体反射率与深度关系为似线型,镜质体反射率随深度增加而增加。渭北隆起自早白垩世末以来经历了大规模抬升冷却,具有南早北晚的特点,40 Ma以来,研究区整体快速抬升冷却。热演化史研究表明渭北隆起不同层位最高热演化程度是在早白垩世达到的,从寒武纪到侏罗纪,地温梯度总体较低;中生代晚期早白垩世,受构造热事件影响,古地温梯度最高可达46.0 ℃/km;晚白垩世以来,由于地温梯度降低及地层大规模抬升剥蚀,地层温度明显降低。渭北隆起奥陶系、石炭—二叠系烃源岩天然气生气高峰期、上三叠统延长组烃源岩生油高峰期均在早白垩世,生油、生气高峰期受中生代晚期高地温梯度、构造热事件的控制。新生代以来渭北隆起大规模抬升剥蚀,地层快速抬升冷却,地层温度明显降低,烃源岩生烃过程停止。     

Mid-Cretaceous uplift and erosion on the northern margin of the Ligurian Tethys deduced from thermal history reconstruction

The paleogeography during Early Cretaceous of the northern margin of the Ligurian Tethys is poorly constrained because of deformation and erosion during Pyrenean and Alpine orogenic phases. The present-day limit between Lower Cretaceous sediments in the South–East basin, located at the northwestern margin of the Ligurian Tethys, and basement rocks is the consequence of a protracted erosion history. Lower Cretaceous sediments observed today in the basin, even close to the present-day outcropping border, are characteristic of pelagic environments. A larger extent of a Lower Cretaceous cover on the basement must then be considered. This study focuses on the western part of this margin (the Causses basin), in the South of the Massif Central (France), using several thermochronometers and geothermometers to decipher the former extent of the sedimentary cover. Apatite fission track thermochronology on basement rocks surrounding the Causses basin suggests that these rocks cooled from temperatures higher than 110°C during the mid-Cretaceous. Average fluid inclusion homogenisation temperatures between 94°C and 108°C are recorded in calcite veins from outcropping Toarcian and Aalenian shales. In the shales, Tmax values, temperature obtained by Rock–Eval pyrolysis of organic matter, are in agreement with these elevated temperatures. Different explanations for these relatively high temperatures, which cannot be explained by the present-day sedimentary serie in the basin, have been tested using a 1D thermal modelling procedure (Genex). For a 95±10-mW/m² paleoflux, thick sedimentary deposits (2.5±0.3 km) including 1.3±0.3 km of Lower Cretaceous sediments cover the South of the Massif Central; these formations have been subsequently eroded from mid-Cretaceous time onwards. This study confirms that the South of the Massif Central was a site of marine sedimentation during the Early Cretaceous where a thick sedimentary sequence was once deposited.     

Cooling and uplift patterns in the Lepontine Alps South Central Switzerland and an age of vertical movement on the Insubric fault line

96 new fission track (FT) apatite and zircon, K/Ar and Rb/Sr biotite and muscovite ages are presented for 19 samples (mainly acid gneisses) from a 40 km traverse through the Lepontine Alps in the Maggia Valley, South Central Switzerland. Plotting measured mineral ages against assumed system closure temperatures yields cooling rates for each sample. The entire profile shows a fairly uniform Late Neogene-Recent mean uplift rate of 0.5 mm/a, confirmed by a gradient of FT apatite age with elevation. Cooling from higher temperatures occurred earlier in the south, where uplift rates of 2.2 mm/a in the Steep Belt (root zone) indicate >9 km Early Miocene uplift of the northern Pennine block. This uplift started before 23 Ma and is interpreted as resulting from a major phase of backthrusting along the Insubric Line, and as dating the formation of the mylonite belt. Estimated cooling rates constrain the timing of Lepontine Mid-Tertiary metamorphism: 3 schematic models are proposed which also consider published Rb/Sr, K/Ar mica and hornblende and U/Pb monazite ages. Slow cooling, differential initial heating and subsequent cooling of different parts of the Central Alps and post-38 Ma cooling with syntectonic metamorphism at 27 Ma are postulated as alternative interpretations of isotopic data and geologic evidence. From extrapolation between K/Ar and Rb/Sr mica ages and apatite FT ages, 240±50° C is proposed as the closure temperature for the retention of fission tracks in zircon.     

塔里木盆地中央隆起带断裂系统分析

本文以地震剖面解释为基础,深入分析塔里木盆地中央隆起带主要断裂带的构造样式和变形特征,确定不同时期断裂系统的分布规律,并试图建立中央隆起带断裂系统发育与周缘造山带演化之间的联系,进而阐明其发育的动力学背景。论文提出了塔里木盆地中央隆起带断裂构造变形样式分类体系;在巴楚隆起的南部边缘,识别出两套区域性的盖层滑脱构造系统,其中浅层色力布亚-玛扎塔格滑脱冲断层逆冲到巴楚南部边缘之上,并构成了现今塔西南前陆冲断系的锋缘断裂;发现了分布在塘古巴斯坳陷的中东部和塔中隆起东部的、规模巨大的、向北西方向凸出的弧形逆冲断裂系统。该弧形逆冲断裂系统的东南部以车尔臣断裂为界,主要形成于晚奥陶世末期,锋缘断裂以盖层滑脱逆冲为特征,与早奥陶世末期发育的、呈NW向展布的塔中Ⅰ号断裂带、塔中10号断裂带、塔中2号断裂带和塔中22号断裂带等构成的基底卷入式逆冲断裂形成明显的交切关系;论文将周缘造山带的重大构造运动事件与塔里木盆地内部不同时期发育的断裂系统相对比,在塔里木盆地内划分出分别与西昆仑造山带、阿尔金造山带和南天山造山带相关的三套断裂系统。     

A method for mapping seismic intensities applied to Sweden

Based on a combination of instrumental and macroseismic data, a method for calculating maximum seismic intensities is developed and applied to Sweden for the period 1951–1976. The method is particularly useful for areas with a low seismicity and a sparse population. Tectonophysical and engineering aspects on the resulting map are discussed.     

A dislocation model applied to slump structures, Ainsa Basin, South Central Pyrenees

Features associated with gravity-induced slumping in deep-water Eocene sediments of the Ainsa basin are described and four aspects are selected as being especially significant. These are: extensional strain, contractional strain, strain overprinting and clastic dykes. Slump strain is interpreted as a consequence of the initiation, translation and termination phases of slump development and is explained in terms of a dislocation model. The initial phase of development involves the propagation of a failure through undisturbed sediment and this imparts a characteristic strain above the décollement surface. Translation of the failed body involves sequential velocity changes which also deform the moving sediment. During the termination phase a type of dislocation, here named an anti-dislocation, migrates along the basal failure when a slump regains cohesion with the substrate. Clastic dykes are interpreted as dewatering structures initiating at basal faults which have associated high pore fluid pressure. Dewatering of slumped décollement sheets may be a significant phase in the termination of movement of failed sediment bodies.     

Contrasting thermomechanical evolutions in the Southalpine metamorphic basement of the Orobic Alps (Central Alps, Italy)

In the Southern Alps a progressive metamorphic zonation, with an increase in the geothermal gradient from NE to SW, has been widely proposed. However, recent investigations have shown that the greenschist metamorphic imprint of the low-grade zone corresponds to a metamorphic retrogression following amphibolite facies conditions. On the other hand, in the medium-grade zone, a later low-pressure, high-temperature (LPHT) metamorphic event has also been proposed. In an attempt to resolve these different interpretations, new petrological and partly new structural data have been obtained for two sectors of the Orobic Alps, traditionally attributed to different metamorphic zones. Thermobarometric determinations, supported by microstructural analysis, indicate the following different pressure-retrograde paths in each sector: (1) in the Val Vedello basement (VVB) rocks, a first metamorphic imprint characterized by P = 7–9 kbar and T = 570–610°C was followed by a greenschist retrogression ( P ≤ 4 kbar and T ≤ 500° C); (2) in the Lario basement (LB) rocks, the first detectable metamorphic stage, characterized by mineral assemblages indicating P = 7–9 kbar and T = 550–630° C, was followed by a LPHT event, synkinematic with F2 extensional deformation. A greenschist retrogression marks the final uplift of these rocks.
Reinterpretation of the available geochronological data indicates a diachronism for the two thermomechanical evolutions. In the light of these data, we interpret the retrograde P–T–t path of the VVB rocks as a pre-Permian post-thickening uplift and the retrograde P–T–t evolution of the LB rocks as a Permo-Mesozoic uplift related to the extensional tectonic regime of the Tethyan rifting.     

Holocene history and environmental reconstruction of a Hercynian mire and surrounding mountain landscape based on multiple proxies

We discovered the first peat section covering the entire Holocene in the Hrubý Jeseník Mountains, representing an island of unique alpine vegetation whose history may display transitional features between the Hercynian and Carpathian regions. We analysed pollen, plant macrofossils (more abundant in bottom layers), testate amoebae (more abundant in upper layers), peat stratigraphy and chemistry. We found that the landscape development indeed differed from other Hercynian mountains located westward. This is represented by Pinus cembra and Larix during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, the early expansion of spruce around 10,450 cal yr BP, and survival of Larix during the climatic optimum. The early Holocene climatic fluctuations are traced in our profile by species compositions of both the mire and surrounding forests. The mire started to develop as a calcium-rich percolation fen with some species recently considered to be postglacial relicts (Meesia triquetra, Betula nana), shifted into ombrotrophy around 7450 cal yr BP by autogenic succession and changed into a pauperised, nutrient-enriched spruce woodland due to modern forestry activities. We therefore concluded that its recent vegetation is not a product of natural processes. From a methodological viewpoint we demonstrated how using multiple biotic proxies and extensive training sets in transfer functions may overcome taphonomic problems.     

A computational approach to Quaternary lake-level reconstruction applied in the central Rocky Mountains,Wyoming, USA

Sediment-based reconstructions of late-Quaternary lake levels provide direct evidence of hydrologic responses to climate change, but many studies only provide approximate lake-elevation curves. Here, we demonstrate a new method for producing quantitative time series of lake elevation based on the facies and elevations of multiple cores collected from a lake's margin. The approach determines the facies represented in each core using diagnostic data, such as sand content, and then compares the results across cores to determine the elevation of the littoral zone over time. By applying the approach computationally, decisions are made systematically and iteratively using different facies classification schemes to evaluate the associated uncertainty. After evaluating our assumptions using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), we quantify past lake-elevation changes, precipitation minus evapotranspiration (Δ_P−ET), and uncertainty in both at Lake of the Woods and Little Windy Hill Pond, Wyoming. The well-correlated (r = 0.802 ± 0.002) reconstructions indicate that water levels at both lakes fell at > 11,300, 8000–5500, and 4700–1600 cal yr BP when Δ_P − ET decreased to − 50 to − 250 mm/yr. Differences between the reconstructions are typically small (10 ± 24 mm/yr since 7000 cal yr BP), and the similarity indicates that our reconstruction method can produce statistically comparable paleohydrologic datasets across networks of sites.     

The rotation of garnet porphyroblasts around a single fold, Lukmanier Pass, Central Alps

The orientation of the straight internal foliation S_i within large ( 5 mm) garnet porphyroblasts has been measured relative to the orientation of the external foliation S_e around a single antiform of 0.5 m wavelength, which folds the dominant regional foliation. The internal foliation is not constant in orientation, but varies consistently both with position around the fold and with the porphyroblast ellipticity. The dip of S_i (hinge dip taken as zero) is consistently less than the dip of S_e; it increases with increasing dip of S_e and with increasing ellipticity of the porphyroblasts. S_i effectively defines a fold with an opening angle greater than that in the external foliation. The opening angle of this fold in S_i decreases with increasing porphyroblast ellipticity. The observed variation in the orientation of S_i can be explained qualitatively by a flattened flexural flow model for fold development, as could be expected for folding of a pre-existing, strongly anisotropic foliation. The measurements clearly demonstrate that rotation of porphyroblasts relative to geographical co-ordinates did occur during the development of this fold and that a model based on the classical theories of rotation of stiff inclusions in a weaker viscous matrix is most appropriate.     

The erosion history of the Central Alps: evidence from zircon fission track data of the foreland basin sediments

Fission track dating on detrital zircons of Alpine debris in the Swiss molasse basin provides information about the erosion history of the Central Alps and the thermal evolution of source terrains. During Oligocene times, only sedimentary cover nappes, and Austroalpine basement units were eroded. Incision into Austroalpine basement units is indicated by increasing importance of Cretaceous cooling ages in granite pebbles upsection. Erosion of Penninic basement units started between 25 and 20 Ma. Early Oligocene zircon FT ages show that Penninic basement units were exposed at ∼20 Ma. Deeper Penninic units of the Lepontine Dome became exposed first at ∼14 Ma, contemporaneously with the opening of the Tauern window in the Eastern Alps. A middle Miocene cooling rate of 40 °C Myr⁻¹ is deduced for the Lower Penninic units of the Lepontine Dome.     

Tectonic vs. gravitational morphostructures in the central Eastern Alps (Italy): Constraints on the recent evolution of the mountain range

Deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSDs) influence landscape development in tectonically active mountain ranges. Nevertheless, the relationships among tectonics, DSGSDs, and topography are poorly known. In this paper, the distribution of DSGSDs and their relationships with tectonic structures and active processes, surface processes, and topography were investigated at different scales. Over 100 DSGSDs were mapped in a 5000 km² sector of the central Eastern Alps between the Valtellina, Engadine and Venosta valleys. Detailed lineament mapping was carried out by photo-interpretation in a smaller area (about 750 km²) including the upper Valtellina and Val Venosta. Fault populations were also analysed in the field and their mechanisms unravelled, allowing to identify different structural stages, the youngest being consistent with the regional pattern of the ongoing crustal deformation. Finally, four DSGSD examples have been investigated in detail by geological and 2D geomechanical modelling.DSGSDs affect more than 10% of the study area, and mainly cluster in areas where anisotropic fractured rock mass and high local relief occur. Their onset and development is subjected to a strong passive control by mesoscopic and major tectonic features, including regional nappe boundaries as well as NW–SE, N–S and NE–SW trending recent brittle structures. The kinematic consistency between these structures and the pattern of seismicity suggests that active tectonics may force DSGSDs, although field evidence and numerical models indicate slope debuttressing related to deglaciation as a primary triggering mechanism.     

Role of climate changes for wind gap formation in a young,actively growing mountain range

Wind gaps in actively growing mountain ranges are unique geomorphological features testifying to the competition between tectonics and fluvial incision. Although it is clear that these landforms reflect the defeat of rivers during sustained rock uplift, the role of climate changes in their formation has never been explored. Here, we use a coupled tectonics–landscape evolution model to show that temporal changes in precipitation rate exert an important control on wind gap formation. In models with a constant precipitation rate, rivers flowing across a growing range are either defeated at an early stage or they abandon their valleys very late, if at all. If precipitation varies, wind gaps form mostly c. 100–200 ka after a transition to drier conditions because of sediment aggradation upstream of the range. Our results suggest that the Pliocene–Quaternary aridification of Central Asia contributed to wind gap formation in active mountain ranges in the foreland of northeastern Tibet.