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.     

Summary of paleomagnetic data from the Central West Carpathians of Poland and Slovakia: Evidence for the late cretaceous-early tertiary transpression

The paper reviews paleomagnetic data from the Central West Carpathians (CWC) of Poland and Slovakia. The CWC constitute an orogen deformed by pre-Tertiary and Tertiary events, situated on the internal side of the Pieniny Klippen Belt and the Tertiary Outer West Carpathian accretionary wedge. The CWC are regarded as the eastern prolongation of the Austroalpine series. There are paleomagnetic evidences for a counterclockwise rotation of the CWC after Oligocene. Having subtracted the effect of this rotation, Middle Cretaceous paleomagnetic poles from the CWC are brought into agreement with preGosau paleopoles from the Upper Austroalpine units of the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA). It is inferred that a common clockwise rotation of the CWC and NCA had taken place between 90-60 Ma (Middle — Late Cretaceous) during the oblique convergence of the Austroalpine/Central Carpathian realm with the Penninic continental basement.     

High-altitude erratics in the Bernese Alps (Switzerland)

Little is known about the Early Pleistocene landscape and glacial history of the Swiss Alps, largely because of the scarcity of sediments dating from that period. Here we investigate high-altitude, presumably Early Pleistocene relics of unconsolidated, near-surface sediments that occur at the Stockeseen site (close to the Stockhorn) and at Wagenmoos (close to Sibe H?ngste) in the Bernese Alps. We complemented our study by analysing cave gravels from 13 sites. Whereas the underlying bedrocks are part of the purely sedimentary Penninic Prealps and the Helvetic zone, the investigated sediments and cave gravels contain characteristic erratic crystalline clasts (HP-LT-metagabbro, medium-grade metamorphic quartzite, jadeitite, glaucophane-schist, low-grade metamorphic gabbro and peridotite). The erratics originate from Penninic and Austroalpine nappes which are exposed only south of the Bernese High Alps, today??s water divide. In combination with partly distinct glacial features of the indicator erratics, this suggests that transfluences existed from the Valais (Rh?ne valley) to the Bernese Alps. Our findings suggest two transfluence routes, one over a precursor of the Gemmipass to the palaeo-Kander valley, providing crystalline erratics towards Sibe H?ngste, and one over precursors of the Sanetschpass and Saanenm?serpass into the palaeo-Simmen valley and towards the Stockhorn. The Wagenmoos erratics must have been deposited before the re-routing of the palaeo-Aare river (from northward to westward) and its subsequent deepening, which indicates an Early Pleistocene timing of the respective transfluence. This is in agreement with published burial ages of ~1.87?Ma?±?0.21 for cave gravels with crystalline components in the cave system Réseau Siebenhengste?CHohgant (beneath the Wagenmoos site).     

Formation, subduction, and exhumation of Penninic oceanic crust in the Eastern Alps: time constraints from Ar/Ar geochronology

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology places time constraints on several stages of the evolution of the Penninic realm in the Eastern Alps. A 186±2 Ma age for seafloor hydrothermal metamorphic biotite from the Reckner Ophiolite Complex of the Pennine–Austroalpine transition suggests that Penninic ocean spreading occurred in the Eastern Alps as early as the Toarcian (late Early Jurassic). A 57±3 Ma amphibole from the Penninic subduction–accretion Rechnitz Complex dates high-pressure metamorphism and records a snapshot in the evolution of the Penninic accretionary wedge. High-pressure amphibole, phengite, and phengite+paragonite mixtures from the Penninic Eclogite Zone of the Tauern Window document exhumation through ≤15 kbar and >500 °C at 42 Ma to 10 kbar and 400 °C at 39 Ma. The Tauern Eclogite Zone pressure–temperature path shows isothermal decompression at mantle depths and rapid cooling in the crust, suggesting rapid exhumation. Assuming exhumation rates slower or equal to high-pressure–ultrahigh-pressure terrains in the Western Alps, Tauern Eclogite Zone peak pressures were reached not long before our high-pressure amphibole age, probably at ≤45 Ma, in accordance with dates from the Western Alps. A late-stage thermal overprint, common to the entire Penninic thrust system, occurred within the Tauern Eclogite Zone rocks at 35 Ma. The high-pressure peak and switch from burial to exhumation of the Tauern Eclogite Zone is likely to date slab breakoff in the Alpine orogen. This is in contrast to the long-lasting and foreland-propagating Franciscan-style subduction–accretion processes that are recorded in the Rechnitz Complex.     

The sedimentary record of the exhumation of a granitic intrusion into a collisional setting: the lower Gonfolite Group,Southern Alps,Italy

The clastic wedge of the Gonfolite Lombarda Group (GLW) accumulated during Oligocene–Miocene times in the Southern Alps foreland basin, formed on the southern, inner side of the Alpine belt. It represents the depositional counterpart of the exhumation and erosion of the Central Alps metamorphic–magmatic units.Among the Central Alps units, the Tertiary Bergell Intrusion (TBI) is one of the principal sources of pebbles occurring within the GLW. Geochronologic data, both from intrusive pebbles and present-day outcrops of intrusive rocks, document the rapid uplift history of the GLW source area.The lower Gonfolite clastic wedge (Como Conglomerate and Val Grande Sandstone Formations, Oligocene–Early Miocene) has been investigated through the study of sandstone and conglomerate petrology for detecting the effects in the sedimentary record of this collision-related event.The main results are: (i) sandstone petrology of the Como Conglomerate records an evolution from feldspatholithic to feldspathic sandstones; (ii) the related Q/F–F/L ratios suggest an evolution from a mixed plutonic–metamorphic to a mainly plutonic source; (iii) consistently, conglomerate petrology records a progressive increase of plutonic pebbles (from nearly 0–50% of the total), a corresponding decrease of metamorphic clasts (from nearly 80 to nearly 50%) and the disappearance of cover rock fragments. Considering the high relief/short transport setting of the GLW clastic routing system, these values probably resemble the real proportions of such rocks in the Gonfolite catchment area.During the Aquitanian, the return to a metamorphic-rich source is recorded both by sandstones and conglomerates at the top of the Como Conglomerate and in the Val Grande Sandstone. This last signal is interpreted as the result of the reorganisation of the Gonfolite source area, possibly related to the northward shift of the main Alpine divide.     

The Arosa zone in Eastern Switzerland: oceanic, sedimentary burial, accretional and orogenic very low- to low grade patterns in a tectono-metamorphic mélange

In the area of Arosa?CDavos?CKlosters (Eastern Switzerland) the different tectonic elements of the Arosa zone mélange e.g. the Austroalpine fragments, the sedimentary cover of South Penninic ophiolite fragments, as well as the matrix (oceanic sediments and flysch rocks) show distinctively different metamorphic histories and also different climaxes (??peaks??) of Alpine metamorphism. This is shown by a wealth of Kübler-Index, vitrinite and bituminite reflectance measurements, and K-white mica b cell dimension data. At least six main metamorphic events can be recognized in the area of Arosa?CDavos?CKlosters: (1) A pre-orogenic event, typical for the Upper Austroalpine and for instance found in the sediments at the base of the Silvretta nappe but also in some tectonic fragments of the Arosa zone (Arosa zone mélange). (2) An epizonal oceanic metamorphism observed in the close vicinity of oceanic basement rocks units of the Arosa zone (South Penninic) is another pre-orogenic process. (3) A metamorphic overprint of the adjacent Lower Austroalpine nappes and structural fragments of the Lower Austroalpine in the Arosa zone. This metamorphic overprint is attributed to the orogenic metamorphic processes during the Late Cretaceous. (4) A thermal climax observed in the South Penninic sediments of the Arosa zone can be bracketed by the Austroalpine Late Cretaceous event (3) and the middle Tertiary event (5) in the Middle Penninic units and predates Oligocene extension of the ??Turba phase??. (6) North of Klosters, in the northern part of our study area, the entire tectonic pile from the North Penninic flysches to the Upper Austroalpine is strongly influenced by a late Tertiary high-grade diagenetic to low-anchizone event. In the Arosa zone mélange an individual orogenic metamorphic event is evidenced and gives a chance to resolve diagenetic?Cmetamorphic relations versus deformation. Six heating episodes in sedimentary rocks and seven deformation cycles can be distinguished. This is well explained by the propagation of the Alpine deformation front onto the foreland units. Flysches at the hanging wall of the mélange zone in the north of the study area (Walsertal zone) show data typical for low-grade diagenetic thermal conditions and are therefore sandwiched between higher metamorphic rock units and separated from theses units by a disconformity. The Arosa zone s.s., as defined in this paper, is characterised by metamorphic inversions in the hanging wall and at the footwall thrust, thus shows differences to the Walsertal zone in the north and to the Platta nappe in the south.     

Structure and kinematics of the Jungfrau syncline, Faflertal (Valais, Alps), and its regional significance

The formation and structural evolution of the Jungfrau syncline is described, based on excellent outcrops occurring in the Lötschental, in the Central Alps of Switzerland. The quality of the outcrops allows us to demonstrate that the External Massifs of the Swiss Alps have developed due to internal folding. The Jungfrau syncline, which separates the autochtonous Gastern dome from the Aar massif basement gneiss folds, is composed of slivers of basement rocks with their Mesozoic sedimentary cover. In the Inner Faflertal, a side valley of the Lötschental, the 200 m thick syncline comprises four units, the Gastern massif with a reduced Mesozoic sedimentary cover in a normal stratigraphic succession, two units of overturned basement rocks with their Mesozoic sedimentary cover, and the overturned lower limb of the Tschingelhorn gneiss fold of the Aar massif with lenses of its sedimentary cover. Stratigraphy shows that the lower units, related to the Gastern massif, are condensed and that the upper units, deposited farther away from a Gastern paleo-high, form a more complete sequence, linked to the Doldenhorn Meso-Cenozoic basin fill. The integration of these local observations with published regional data leads to the following model. On the northern margin of the Doldenhorn basin, at the northern fringe of the Alpine Tethys, the pre-Triassic crystalline basement and its Mesozoic sedimentary cover were folded by ductile deformation at temperatures above 300 °C and in the presence of high fluid pressures, as the Helvetic and Penninic nappes were overthrusted towards the northwest during the main Alpine deformation phase. The viscosity contrast between the basement gneisses and the sediments caused the formation of large basement anticlines and tight sedimentary synclines (mullion-type structures). The edges of basement blocks bounded by pre-cursor SE-dipping normal faults at the northwestern border of the Doldenhorn basin were deformed by simple shear, creating overturned slices of crystalline rocks with their sedimentary cover in what now forms the Jungfrau syncline. The localisation of ductile deformation in the vicinity of pre-existing SE-dipping faults is thought to have been helped by the circulation of fluids along the faults; these fluids would have been released from the Mesozoic sediments by metamorphic dehydration reactions accompanied by creep and dynamic recrystallisation of quartz at temperatures above 300 °C. Quantification of the deformation suggests a strain ellipsoid with a ratio (1+ e₁ / 1+ e₃) of approximately 1000. The Jungfrau syncline was deformed by more brittle NW-directed shear creating well-developed shear band cleavages at a late stage, after cooling by uplift and erosion. It is suggested that the external massifs of the Alps are basement gneiss folds created at temperatures of 300 °C by detachment through ductile deformation of the upper crust of the European plate as it was underthrusted below the Adriatic plate.     

Exhumation of the Central Alps: evidence from 40Ar/39Ar laserprobe dating of detrital white micas from the Swiss Molasse Basin

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar single-grain laserprobe dating of detrital white micas from early Oligocene to middle Miocene (31–14 Ma) sedimentary rocks of the central Swiss Molasse basin reveals three distinct clusters of cooling ages for the hinterland. Two Palaeozoic age clusters reflect cooling after the Variscan orogeny with only limited reheating during the Alpine orogeny. The third Tertiary age cluster reflecting late Alpine cooling is restricted to sediments younger than 20 Myr old. Micas with cooling ages < 30 Myr are interpreted to originate from the footwall of the Simplon detachment fault, thus representing formerly exposed upper levels of the present-day Lepontine metamorphic dome. Erosion of these levels is reflected by an increase of low-grade metamorphic lithic grains in the sandstones. This interpretation puts constraints on the timing of exhumation as well as on the evolution of the drainage pattern of the Central Alps.     

Gondwana fragments in the Eastern Alps: A travel story from U/Pb zircon data

We compare detrital U/Pb zircon age spectra of Carboniferous and Permian / Lower Triassic sedimentary rocks from different structural positions within the Austroalpine nappe pile with published ages of magmatic and metamorphic events in the Eastern Alps and the West Carpathians. Similarities between sink and possible sources are used to derive provenance of sediments and distinct frequency peaks in sink and source age pattern are used for paleogeographic plate tectonic reconstructions. From this, travel paths of Austroalpine and West Carpathian basement units are traced from the Late Neoproterozoic to the Jurassic. We place the ancestry of basement units on the northeastern Gondwana margin, next to Anatolia and the Iranian Luth-Tabas blocks. Late Cambrian rifting by retreat of the Cadomian Arc failed and continental slivers re-attached to Gondwana during a late Cambrian / early Ordovician orogenic event. In the Upper Ordovician crustal fragments of the Galatian superterrane rifted off Gondwana through retreat of the Rheic subduction. An Eo-Variscan orogenic event at ~390 Ma in the Austroalpine developed on the northern rim of Galatia, simultaneously with a passive margin evolution to the south of it. The climax of Variscan orogeny occurred already during a Meso-Variscan phase at ~350 Ma by double-sided subduction beneath Galatia fragments. The Neo-Variscan event at ~330 Ma was mild in eastern Austroalpine units. This orogenic phase was hot enough to deliver detrital white mica into adjacent basins but too cold to create significant volumes of magmatic or metamorphic zircon. Finally, the different zircon age spectra in today's adjacent Carboniferous to Lower Triassic sediments disprove original neighbourhood of basins. We propose lateral displacement of major Austroalpine and West-Carpathian units along transform faults transecting Apulia. The intracontinental transform system was released by opening of the Penninic Ocean and simultaneous closure of the Meliata Hallstatt Ocean as part of the Tethys.     

Geochronological constraints on the evolution of the Periadriatic Fault System (Alps)

Fault rocks from various segments of the Periadriatic fault system (PAF; Alps) have been directly dated using texturally controlled Rb-Sr microsampling dating applied to mylonites, and both stepwise-heating and laser-ablation ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating applied to pseudotachylytes. The new fault ages place better constraints on tectonic models proposed for the PAF, particularly in its central sector. Along the North Giudicarie fault, Oligocene (E)SE-directed thrusting (29-32 Ma) is currently best explained as accommodation across a cogenetic restraining bend within the Oligocene dextral Tonale-Pustertal fault system. In this case, the limited jump in metamorphic grade observed across the North Giudicarie fault restricts the dextral displacement along the kinematically linked Tonale fault to ~30 km. Dextral displacement between the Tonale and Pustertal faults cannot be transferred via the Peio fault because of both Late Cretaceous fault ages (74-67 Ma) and sinistral transtensive fault kinematics. In combination with other pseudotachylyte ages (62-58 Ma), widespread Late Cretaceous-Paleocene extension is established within the Austroalpine unit, coeval with sedimentation of Gosau Group sediments. Early Miocene pseudotachylyte ages (22-16 Ma) from the Tonale, Pustertal, Jaufen and Passeier faults argue for a period of enhanced fault activity contemporaneous with lateral extrusion of the Eastern Alps. This event coincides with exhumation of the Penninic units and contemporaneous sedimentation within fault-bound basins.     

A 400-km-long piggyback basin (Upper Aptian–Lower Cenomanian) in the Eastern Alps

The Late Aptian to Early Cenomanian Tannheim–Losenstein basin constitutes an early, deep-marine piggyback trough which formed on the Cretaceous orogenic wedge of the Eastern Alps. The narrow basin extended over more than 400 km from the western part of the Northern Calcareous Alps into the Western Carpathians (Slovakia), as suggested by similarities in stratigraphy – e.g. the common coarsening upward succession of marls, sandstones, and conglomerates – and by similarities in timing of deformation and the uniform composition, e.g. similar heavy mineral assemblages. The coarsening-upward succession resulted from the progradation of a coarse-grained slope apron into a hemipelagic basin. The composition of detrital material constitutes evidence for a uniform source area to the north, along the entire length of the basin, comprising continental basement, Mesozoic sediments and remnants of ophiolites. The basin formation marked the onset of compression along the northern Austroalpine plate boundary.     

Late stage differential exhumation of crustal blocks in the central Eastern Alps: evidence from fission track and (U–Th)/He thermochronology

Thermal history modelling based on zircon‐ and apatite fission track and apatite (U–Th)/He data constrain and refine the near‐surface exhumation of the south‐eastern Tauern Window (Penninic units) and neighbouring Austroalpine basement units in the Eastern Alps. Fast exhumation on both sides of the Penninic/Austroalpine boundary coincides with a period of lateral extrusion and tectonic denudation of the Penninic units in Miocene time (22–12 Ma). The jump to older ages occurs within the Austroalpine unit along the Polinik fault, which therefore defines the boundary between the tectonically denuded units and the hangingwall at that time. According to the different (U–Th)/He ages between the Penninic Hochalm‐ and Sonnblick Domes we demonstrate a differential cooling history of these two domes in the latest Miocene and early Pliocene.     

Preface: Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Lithographic Limestone and Plattenkalk

Magmatic rocks from the pre-Mesozoic basements of the Sambuco and Maggia nappes have been dated by U–Pb zircon ages with the LA-ICPMS technique. Several magmatic events have been identified in the Sambuco nappe. The mafic banded calc-alkaline suite of Scheggia is dated at 540 Ma, an age comparable to that of mafic rocks in the Austroalpine Silvretta nappe. The Sasso Nero peraluminous augengneiss has an age of 480–470 Ma, like many other “older orthogneisses” in Alpine basement units. It hosts a large proportion of inherited zircons, which were dated around 630 Ma, a Panafrican age indicating the Gondwanan affiliation of the Sambuco basement. The calc-alkaline Matorello pluton yielded ages around 300 Ma, similar to numerous Late Carboniferous intrusions in other basement units of the Lower Penninic (Monte Leone, Antigorio, Verampio) and Helvetic domains (Gotthard and other External Crystalline Massifs). Associated lamprophyric dykes are slightly younger (300–290 Ma), like similar dykes sampled in gneiss blocks included in the sedimentary cover of the underlying Antigorio nappe (290–285 Ma). The Cocco granodiorite and Rüscada leucogranite, both intruding the basement of the neighbouring Maggia nappe, yielded ages of ca. 300–310 Ma, identical within errors to the age of the Matorello pluton. They are significantly older than former age determinations. This age coincidence, coupled with remarkable petrologic similarities between the Cocco and Matorello granodiorites, strongly suggests paleogeographic proximity of the Sambuco and Maggia nappes in Late Carboniferous times. In recent publications these two nappes have been interpreted as belonging to distinct Mesozoic paleogeographic domains: “European” for Sambuco and “Briançonnais” for Maggia, separated by the “Valais” oceanic basin. In this case, the similarity of the Matorello and Cocco intrusions would demonstrate the absence of any significant transcurrent movement between these two continental domains. Alternatively, according to a more traditional view, Sambuco and Maggia might belong to a single large Alpine tectonic unit.     

华北克拉通北缘化德群中碎屑锆石的LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄及其构造意义

化德群出露地区位于华北克拉通北缘中部,紧邻中亚造山带南缘,呈近东西向展布。在它的西边是早-中元古代的白云鄂博裂谷和渣尔泰—狼山裂谷,东南面是由长城系、蓟县系和青白口系组成的早-新元古代的燕辽裂陷槽,南边分布着1.9~1.8Ga麻粒岩相变质的丰镇群（孔兹岩系）,北边出露有代表中亚造山带的古生代岩石。化德群由一套浅变质和未变质的沉积岩组成,无火山岩夹层。地层序列包含多个沉积旋回,每个旋回自下而上为含砾砂岩、砂岩、碳酸盐岩和泥质岩。岩石组合反映了从河流—滨海—浅海相的沉积环境。化德群的地层序列可以和白云鄂博群及渣尔泰群相对比。本文对化德群四个变质砂岩样品中的碎屑锆石进行了LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄测定,年龄主要集中在1800±50Ma和1850±50Ma,另外还有~2500Ma和~2000Ma的次要峰值。化德群底部变质含砾云母长石石英砂岩中碎屑锆石的最小谐和年龄是1758±7Ma,限定了化德群沉积时代的下限。碎屑锆石的CL图像显示,1800±50Ma和1850±50Ma的锆石主要是变质成因,少量岩浆成因,说明化德群的源区主要是古元古代的变质岩,少量岩浆岩。~2500Ma和~2000Ma的碎屑锆石代表了更为古老的源区。碎屑锆石的U-Pb年龄限制了化德群的沉积时代为古元古代晚期—中元古代,年龄峰值对应华北克拉通的重要构造热事件,而无与中亚造山带地质事件相关的年龄信息。沉积组合特征表明化德群属于稳定的浅水—半深水沉积盆地。化德盆地、渣尔泰—狼山盆地和白云鄂博盆地共同构成华北克拉通北缘的被动陆缘裂谷系,该裂谷系的形成可能与燕辽及熊耳裂陷槽的打开是同时期的。因此,华北克拉通的北界应该置于化德群出露区域以北。基于锆石特征的详细分析及对比,我们认为化德群以南的孔兹岩系可能是化德群的主要源区。     

兴蒙造山带中部晚古生代构造格局:来自晚泥盆-早石炭世色日巴彦敖包组碎屑锆石和火山岩岩浆锆石年代学的制约

内蒙古苏尼特左旗地区位于兴蒙造山带中段,是研究古生代俯冲-增生造山作用和地壳生长的关键地区。在苏尼特左旗南部,晚泥盆-早石炭世色日巴彦敖包组角度不整合在早古生代增生楔之上,已有研究对于其沉积环境、盆地属性及区域构造意义一直存在较大分歧。本文对色日巴彦敖包组敖木根呼都格剖面和阿拉塔特剖面碎屑岩和火山岩夹层开展锆石UPb测年及Hf同位素分析,并进行了沉积相分析进一步查明了地层层序、时代及物源特征,并对沉积环境和盆地属性进行了探讨。研究表明,敖木根呼都格剖面色日巴彦敖包组底部含砾粗砂岩最小谐和碎屑锆石年龄为391±5Ma,中下部凝灰质砂岩最小谐和碎屑锆石年龄为338.2±4.3Ma,凝灰岩锆石年龄为336±2Ma、333±3.5Ma,结合古生物化石,表明底部形成于晚泥盆世,中上部地层形成于早石炭世晚期。阿拉塔特剖面中上部安山质火山碎屑岩最小谐和碎屑锆石年龄加权平均值为320.4±6.2Ma,表明其形成于晚石炭世。碎屑锆石年龄谱及Hf同位素组成表明底部及中部砂岩碎屑物主要来自近源的早古生代白音宝力道和二连东乌旗地区弧岩浆岩,少量来自北侧南蒙古弧。结合沉积相分析,推测苏尼特左旗南部色日巴彦敖包组下部为一套形成于弧陆碰撞后被动陆缘滨浅海相沉积建造,中上部为形成于弧前盆地的一套杂砂岩夹火山岩建造。以上资料表明,该区从早石炭世开始转为活动陆缘背景,暗示古亚洲洋中东段在晚古生代仍未封闭。     

Provenance of the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Gosau Group around and beneath the Vienna Basin (Austria and Slovakia)

Chemistry of detrital garnets, chrome spinels and tourmalines of 30 selected samples in combination with the general heavy mineral distribution from 523 sandstone samples of the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Gosau Group of the eastern part of the Eastern Alps and the western West Carpathians result in an advanced picture of sedimentary provenance and palaeogeographic evolution of that area. Garnets from Coniacian to Campanian sediments are partly derived from a metamorphic sole remnant of Neotethys ophiolites to the south. Tectonically high ophiolitic nappes, later on completely eroded, supplied mainly the paleogeographically southern Grünbach and Glinzendorf Gosau basins with ultramafic detritus, represented by chrome spinels of a mixed harzburgite/lherzolite composition, whereas no direct indications for a northern ophiolitic source, the Penninic accretionary wedge to the north of the Gosau basins, could be found. In the younger part of the Gosau basins fill, from the Maastrichtian to the Eocene, only almandine-rich garnets could be observed suggesting a southern provenance from low-grade metamorphic metapelites of exhuming Austroalpine metamorphic complexes. Ophiolite detritus is reduced in the Maastrichtian and disappears in the Paleogene.     

Paleomagnetic evidence for large en-bloc rotations in the Eastern Alps during Neogene orogeny

We present new paleomagnetic data from the Northern Calcareous Alps and the Central Alps of Austria. All new data are overprint magnetizations and can be subdivided into two groups: In rocks older than earliest Rupelian, two remagnetizations reflecting both clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation were detected. In rocks of late Rupelian and younger ages, only a counter-clockwise rotated remagnetization was found. Our results together with results from previous paleomagnetic studies from the Eastern and Southern Alps suggest two main phases of vertical axis rotation. The first, clockwise rotation affecting the Northern Calcareous Alps was active between earliest to Late Rupelian. We propose a model where the Northern Calcareous Alps are segmented into individual blocks. Within a dextral shear corridor these blocks rotated clockwise due to the counter-clockwise rotation of the Southern Alps and Central Alps. The second, counter-clockwise rotation occurred in the Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene, affecting Eastern and Southern Alps. In this stage of orogeny, the internal massifs of the Western Alps were already accreted to the upper plate and therefore included in counter-clockwise rotation. This rotation is contemporaneous with counter-clockwise rotation in the Apennines and opening of the Balearic basin, and a genetic relationship is suggested. A second step of counter-clockwise rotation, reconstructed from published data, is observed in the sedimentary basins at the southeastern margin of the Eastern Alps, where counter-clockwise rotated Miocene and Pliocene sedimentary rocks are present. This rotation is seen in connection to a young counter-clockwise rotation of the Adriatic plate.     

Geochemical evidence for the nature of the crust beneath the eastern North Penninic basin of the Mesozoic Tethys ocean

The North Penninic basin was a subbasin in the northern part of the Mesozoic Tethys ocean. Its significance within the framework of this ocean is controversial because it is not clear whether it was underlain by thinned continental or oceanic crust. Remnants of the eastern North Penninic basin are preserved in the Alps of eastern Switzerland (Grisons) as low metamorphic "Bündnerschiefer" sediments and associated basaltic rocks which formed approximately 140–170 Ma ago (Misox Bündnerschiefer zone, Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous). Nb/U, Zr/Nb, and Y/Nb ratios, as well as Nd–Sr isotopic and REE data of most of the metabasalts point to a depleted MORB-type mantle origin. They have been contaminated by magmatic assimilation of Bündnerschiefer sediments and by exchange with seawater, but do not prove the existence of a subcontinental lithospheric mantle or continental crust beneath the North Penninic basin. This suggests that the studied part of the North Penninic realm was underlain by oceanic crust. Only the metabasalts from two melange zones (Vals and Grava melanges) show a more important contamination by crustal material. Since this type of contamination cannot be observed in the other tectonic units, we suggest that its occurrence is related to melange formation during the subduction of the North Penninic basin in the Tertiary. The North Penninic basin was probably, despite the occurrence of oceanic crust, smaller than the South Penninic ocean where the presence of oceanic crust is well established. Modern analogues for the North Penninic basin could be the transitional zone of the Red Sea or the pull-apart basins of the southernmost Gulf of California where local patches of oceanic crust with effusive volcanism have been described.     

Evolution of Alpine eclogites in the Eastern Alps: Implications for Alpine geodynamics

In the Eastern Alps Alpine eclogites are generally associated with rocks of continental lithosphere, while eclogites that are associated with oceanic assemblages are restricted to minor exposures. Such eclogites are exposed both in the Penninic unit of the Tauern Window and in the Austroalpine nappe complex. (1) In the central southern part of the Tauern Window (Eclogite Zone) eclogites and associated high pressure metasediments of a distal continental margin are intercalated between Penninic basement units. A mylonitic eclogitic foliation and stretching lineation are contemporaneous to the high pressure metamorphism and are related to the subduction of distal Penninic continental margin sequences. Continuous subduction of cool lithosphere resulted in blueschist facies overprint of the whole Penninic nappe pile. (2) Within the Middle-AustroAlpine Koralm/Saualm region most eclogites are eclogitic mylonites documenting plastic deformation of omphacite and garnet. The meso- and macroscale structures indicate an overall extensional regime possibly related to a large-scale SE-directed ductile low-angle normal shear zone. The eclogites are associated with migmatite-like structures and are intruded by pegmatites. This indicates decreasing pressure, but isothermal or even increasing temperature conditions during exhumation.These relationships argue for the subduction of Penninic continental lithosphere in the foot-wall of the Austroalpine unit at the time of exhumation of the Koralm/Saualm eclogites. Formation of the Austroalpine eclogites is explained by subduction of continental lithosphere, and subsequent, rapid exhumation in an upper plate tectonic position within an extensional regime.     

Unravelling the pre-Variscan evolution of the Habach terrane (Tauern Window, Austria) by U-Pb SHRIMP zircon data

The U-Pb SHRIMP age determinations of zircons from the Habach terrane (Tauern Window, Austria) reveal a complex evolution of this basement unit, which is exposed in the Penninic domain of the Alpine orogen. The oldest components are found in zircons of a metamorphosed granitoid clast, of a migmatitic leucosome, and of a meta-rhyolitic (Variscan) tuff which bear cores of Archean age. The U-Pb ages of discordant zircon cores of the same rocks range between 540 and 520 Ma. It is assumed that the latter zircons were originally also of Archean origin and suffered severe lead loss, whilst being incorporated into Early-Cambrian volcanic arc magmas. The provenance region of the Archean (2.64-2.06 Ga) zircons is assumed to be a terrane of Gondwana affinity: i.e., the West African craton (Hoggar Shield, Reguibat Shield). The Caledonian metamorphism left a pervasive structural imprint in amphibolite facies on rocks of the Habach terrane; it is postdated by discordant zircons of a migmatitic leucosome at <440 Ma (presumably ca. 420 Ma). Alpine and Variscan upper greenschist- to amphibolite-facies conditions caused partial lead loss in zircons of a muscovite gneiss ('white schist') only, where extensive fluid flow and brittle deformation due to its position near a nappe-sole thrust enhanced the grains' susceptibility to isotopic disturbance. The Habach terrane - an active continental margin with ensialic back-arc development - showed subduction-induced magmatic activity approx. between 550 and 507 Ma. Back-arc diorites and arc basalts were intruded by ultramafic sills and subsequently by small patches of mantle-dominated unaltered and (in the vicinity of a major tungsten deposit) altered granitoids. Fore-arc (shales) and back-arc (greywackes, cherts) basin sediments as well as arc and back-arc magmatites were not only nappe-stacked by the Caledonian compressional regime closing the presumably narrow oceanic back-arc basin and squeezing mafic to ultramafic cumulates out of high-level magma chambers (496-482 Ma). It also induced uplift and erosion of deeply rooted crystalline complexes and triggered the development of a successor basin filled with predominantly clastic greywacke-arkosic sediments. The study demonstrates that the basement rocks exposed in the Habach terrane might be the 'missing link' between similar units of the more westerly positioned External domain (i.e., Aar, Aiguilles Rouges, Mont Blanc) and the Austroalpine domain to the east (Oetztal, Silvretta).