Andalusite-bearing veins at Vedrette di Ries (eastern Alps, Italy): fluid phase composition based on fluid inclusions

Abstract Andalusite-bearing veins formed during contact metamorphism in the aureole of the Vedrette di Ries tonalite. In the veins, quartz crystals that are completely armoured by andalusite or that occur in strain shadow areas contain three generations of fluid inclusions: low-salinity H₂O-CO₂-CH₄ mixtures with CH₄/(CO₂+ CH₄) ± 0.35 (type A); low-salinity aqueous fluids (type B); H₂O-free, CO₂-CH₄ fluids with the same carbonic speciation as A (type C). Carbonic types A and C typically have a dark appearance, which is attributed to graphite coatings on inclusion walls. Microstructural analysis of the host quartz and calculated densities indicate that type A inclusions were likely trapped during vein formation. These inclusions underwent strain-assisted re-equilibration during cooling that resulted in density increases without change of composition. After the rocks had cooled below about 350 ° C, type C inclusions appear to have formed from one of the immiscible fractions after unmixing of the H₂O-CO₂-CH₄ fluid mixtures. Aqueous type B inclusions, apparently trapped between 225 and 350 ° C, could represent an independent fluid, or could be the H₂O-rich fraction of unmixed type A fluids. Taking account of the uncertainties, the composition and density of the complex type A inclusion fluids are in good agreement with the properties of primary fluids calculated from the petrological data. The fluid inclusion data support the model of vein formation by hydrofracturing as a result of dehydration of graphitic metapelites. These new results also demonstrate the importance of considering strain in the interpretation of metamorphic fluid inclusions.     

Growth of myrmekite coronas by contact metamorphism of granitic mylonites in the aureole of Cima di Vila, Eastern Alps, Italy

In the contact aureole of the Oligocene granodiorite of Cima di Vila, granitic pegmatites of Variscan age were strongly deformed during eo‐Alpine regional metamorphism, with local development of ultramylonites. In the ultramylonite matrix, consisting of quartz, plagioclase, muscovite and biotite, microstructures show grain growth of quartz within quartz ribbons, and development of decussate arrangements of mica. These features indicate that dynamic recrystallization related to mylonite development was followed by extensive static growth during contact metamorphism. K‐feldspar porphyroclasts up to 1.5 cm are mantled by myrmekite that forms a continuous corona with thickness of about 1 mm. In both XZ and YZ sections, myrmekite tubules are undeformed, and symmetrically distributed in the corona, and oligoclase‐andesine hosts have random crystallographic orientation. Myrmekite development has been modelled from the P–T–t evolution of the ultramylonites, assuming that the development of the ultramylonites occurred during eo‐Alpine metamorphism at c. 450 °C, 7.5 kbar, followed by contact metamorphism at c. 530 °C, 2.75 kbar. Phase diagram pseudosections calculated from the measured bulk composition of granitic pegmatite protolith indicate that the equilibrium assemblage changes from Qtz–Phe–Ab ± Zo ± Cpx ± Kfs during the ultramylonite stage to Qtz–Pl(An_30–40)–Ms–Kfs–Bt(Ann₅₅) during the contact metamorphic stage. The thermodynamic prediction of increasing plagioclase mode and anorthite content, change of white mica composition and growth of biotite, occurring during the end of the heating path, are in agreement with the observed microstructures and analysed phase compositions of ultramylonites. Along with microstructural evidence, this supports the model that K‐feldspar replacement by myrmekite took place under static conditions, and was coeval with the static growth accompanying contact metamorphism. Myrmekite associated with muscovite can develop under prograde (up‐temperature) conditions in granites involved in polymetamorphism.     

Hercynite as the product of staurolite decomposition in the contact aureole of Vedrette di Ries,eastern Alps,Italy

Metapelitic hornfelses in the contact aureole of the Vedrette di Ries pluton exhibit the terminal decomposition of Zn-poor Fe-staurolite in a muscovite-quartz-free domain. The reaction takes place only within coarsegrained sillimanite that has replaced andalusite porphyroblasts during prograde metamorphism. The product is a gahnite-poor hercynitic spinel, which occurs as very small grains closely associated in space with resorbed staurolite. Microstructural observations indicate that bereynite growth postdates the pseudomorphs of sillimanite after andalusite. The textural evidence for a genetic relationship between hercynite and staurolite is confirmed by the identical Fe/Mg/Zn ratios of the two minerals, which causes the collinearity of hercynite, staurolite and Al₂SiO₅ in FeO–MgO–ZnO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O composition space (FMZASH), and indicates hercynite formed by the reaction: Fe-staurolite = 3.85hercynite + 5.1sillimanite + 2.55quartz + 2H₂O Staurolite inclusions within andalusite did not break down to form hercynite, indicating a kinetic control, as well as little overstepping of the equilibrium conditions, of the reaction forming hercynite. Assuming overstepping did not occur, modelling of the reaction with existing thermodynamic data in the simplified FASH system suggests that the terminal breakdown of staurolite to form hercynite occurred at 2.5–3.75kbar and 585–655°C.     

Fast Variscan anticlockwise P-T-t path in the Eastern Alps: evidence from metasedimentary rocks and metamorphic veins of the Silvretta thrust sheet

Abstract

In the South-Western part of the Silvretta thrust sheet (Pischa area), metasedimentary rocks and metaso-matie veins show evidence of a Variscan anticlockwise P-T-t path, which differs from previously proposed P-T-t paths in the pre-Mesozoic basements of the Alps. The prograde path corresponds to a HT-LP metamorphism illustrated by sillimanite blastesis after andalusite. Maximum temperature (ca. 550 °C) is constrained by the stability of staurolite and muscovite. After temperature climax, pressure increased quasi-isothermally to P max of ca. 0.5–0.6 GPa. P max is limited by phase relations and fluid inclusion data. The prograde path is characterized by the development of an S2 schistosity and mineral lineation L2 oriented E-W, and by the formation of a first generation of quartz-andalusite veins (type 2 quartz veins) parallel to the S2. The decompression path ends in the stability field of andalusite and is characterized by extensional structures such as symmetric and asymmetric foliation boudinage showing a stretching direction still oriented E-W. The extensional structures also result in the formation of quartz-andalusite-muscovite aggregates. Shear bands affecting both metapelites and type 1 and 2 quartz veins indicate a top to the W-SW sense of shear. The last generation of quartz-andalusite veins (type 3) strikes N-S and vertically cross cuts the foliation. Phase relations suggest that the Silvretta thrust sheet underwent an anticlockwise P-T path, probably a result of magmatism and/or nappe emplacement. The prograde part of this P-T loop developed between 320 and 300 Ma, and cooling already occurred at ca. 300 Ma. Therefore, the Variscan cycle was fast in this part of the Alps.     

Timing of metamorphism in the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps: Rb-Sr ages and fabric formation

The Peripheral Schieferhülle of the Tauern Window of the Eastern Alps represents post-Hercynian Penninic cover sequences and preserves a record of metamorphism in the Alpine orogeny, without the inherited remnants of Hercynian events that are retained in basement rocks. The temperature-time-deformation history of rocks at the lower levels of these cover sequences have been investigated by geochronological and petrographic study of units whose P-T evolution and structural setting are already well understood. The Eclogite Zone of the central Tauern formed from protoliths with Penninic cover affinities, and suffered early Alpine eclogite facies metamorphism before tectonic interposition between basement and cover. It then shared a common metamorphic history with these units, experiencing blueschist facies and subsequent greenschist facies conditions in the Alpine orogeny. The greenschist facies phase, associated with penetrative deformation in the cover and the influx of aqueous fluids, reset Sr isotopes in metasediments throughout the eclogite zone and cover schists, recording deformation and peak metamorphism at 28-30 Ma. The Peripheral Schieferhülle of the south-east Tauern Window yields Rb-Sr white mica ages which can be tied to the structural evolution of the metamorphic pile. Early prograde fabrics pre-date 31 Ma, and were reworked by the formation of the large north-east vergent Sonnblick fold structure at 28 Ma. Peak metamorphism post-dated this deformation, but by contrast to the equivalent levels in the central Tauern, peak metamorphic conditions did not lead to widespread homogenization of the Sr isotopes. Localized deformation continued into the cooling path until at least 23 Ma, partially or wholly resetting Sr white mica ages in some samples. These isotopic ages may be integrated with structural data in regional tectonic models, and may constrain changes in the style of crustal deformation and plate interaction. However, such interpretations must accommodate the demonstrable variation in thermal histories over small distances.     

A new late glacial to early Holocene palaeobotanical and archaeological record in the Eastern Pre‐Alps: the Palughetto basin (Cansiglio Plateau,Italy)

A late glacial to early Holocene lacustrine and peat succession, rich in conifer remains and including some palaeolithic flint artefacts, has been investigated in the Palughetto intermorainic basin (Venetian Pre‐Alps). The geomorphological and stratigraphical relationships, ¹⁴C dates and pollen analyses allow a reconstruction of the environmental history of the basin and provide significant insights into the reforestation and peopling of the Pre‐Alps. The onset of peat accumulation is dated to 14.4–14.1 kyr cal. BP, coinciding with reforestation at middle altitudes that immediately post‐dates the immigration of Larix decidua and Picea abies subsp. europaea. Plant macrofossils point to the expansion of spruce about 14.3 kyr cal. BP, so far one of the earliest directly dated in the late glacial period of southern Europe. The previous hypothesis of an early Holocene spruce immigration in the Southern Alps from Slovenia needs reconsideration. Organic sedimentation stopped at the end of the Younger Dryas and was followed by the evolution of hydromorphic soils containing lithic artefacts, anthropic structures and wood charcoal. The typological features of the flint implements refer human occupation of the site to the end of the recent Epigravettian. Charcoals yielded dates either consistent with, or younger than, the archaeological chronology, in the early and middle Holocene. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Duration of Eo-Alpine metamorphic events obtained from multicomponent diffusion modeling of garnet: a case study from the Eastern Alps

Rocks from the Micaschist–Marble Complex of the Wölz Tauern, which are part of the middle Austroalpine unit, contain large (up to 2 cm) garnet crystals that show clear evidence of multistage growth. Isotopic dating indicates that a Variscan (～270 Ma) garnet core was overgrown by new garnet formed during Eo-Alpine metamorphism at Cretaceous times. P-T paths for the Eo-Alpine metamorphism were obtained using the method of pseudosections (Powell and Holland in Metam Geol 16:309–343, 1998) and are consistent with earlier results from independent thermobarometry. Due to the large size of the garnets, growth zoning was preserved during amphibolite facies metamorphism at both Variscan and Alpine times. Full multicomponent diffusion modeling of compositional zoning at the interface of the Alpine and Pre-Alpine garnets in conjunction with the retrieved P-T paths allow average subduction/exhumation as well as heating/cooling rates to be retrieved. The modeling suggests that a minimum subduction/exhumation rate of ～4 cm/a and heating/cooling rates on the order of 100–260°C/Ma for a 60°C subduction angle are required to preserve the observed compositional zoning overall while modifying the zoning at the interface between two garnets to the extent observed. Such rapid rates of burial/exhumation are consistent with the results of direct GPS measurements of convergence rates at several orogenic belts as well as with inferred rates from modeling in the Alps and other areas. In combination, this indicates that such rapid rates are commonplace during metamorphism in collisional orogens and places important constraints on the rheological behavior of crustal blocks in such orogens.     

Morphological analysis of the drainage system in the Eastern Alps

We study the morphology of the major rivers draining the Eastern Alps to test whether the active tectonics of this part of the orogen is reflected in the shape of channel profiles of the river network. In our approach we compare channel profiles measured from digital elevation models with numerically modelled channel profiles using a stream power approach. It is shown that regions of high stream power coincide largely with regions of highest topography and largest uplift rates, while the forelands and the Pannonian Basin are characterised by a significantly lower stream power. From stream power modelling we conclude that there is young uplift at the very east of the Eastern Alps, in the Bohemian Massif and in the Pohorje Range. The impact of the Pleistocene glaciations is explored by comparing properties of rivers that drain in proximal and distal positions relative to the ice sheet during the last glacial maximum. Our analysis shows that most knick points, wind gaps and other non-equilibrium features of catchments covered by ice during the last glaciations (Salzach, Enns) can be correlated with glacial processes. In contrast the ice free catchments of the Mur and Drava are characterized by channels in morphological equilibrium at the first approximation and are showing only weak evidence of the strong tectonic activity within these catchments. Finally, the channel profiles of the Adige and the divide between the upper Rhine and Danube catchments differ significantly from the other catchments. We relate this to the fact that the Adige and the Rhine respond to different base levels from the remainder of the Eastern Alps: The Adige may preserve a record from the Messininan base level change and the Rhine is subject to the base level lowering in the Rhine Graben.     

奥地利东阿尔卑斯山地区杂砂岩带中赋存于碳酸盐岩中的晶质菱镁矿床

奥地利东阿尔卑斯山地区Austroalpine杂砂岩带中的石炭纪Veitsch逆冲推覆体是"Veitsch型"晶质菱镁矿化的典型地区。几十年来,对其成因的解释一直是人们争论的焦点。为了解决这一长久以来的问题,本文对Veitsch推覆体的地质学、矿物学和地球化学制约条件进行了论述。菱镁矿仅仅存在于Veitsch推覆体之中,而其它推覆体中的碳酸盐岩岩层中则无菱镁矿。赋存于Veitsch推覆体中的碳酸盐岩石中的菱镁矿以不规则的岩株状、透镜状和层状产出。块状和厚层状的菱镁矿总是被白云岩包裹。在Veitsch推覆体中,沉积作用开始于晚维宪期的后造山的类磨拉石海相建造,并晚于内部基底带的变形和变质作用("Bretonic期")形成,该基底带位于现代的东阿尔卑斯山地区。沉积序列研究表明,演化从浅海大陆架开始,有时还穿插有高盐度的泻湖和透镜状生物礁,发展到海退的海岸线伴随有发育强烈的三角洲沉积的分支海湾和河流。由于成矿作用有好几个期次,所以对地球化学数据的解释相当复杂。 在Hohentauern／Sunk矿床中,石膏和硬石膏层在菱镁矿质沉积主岩中互层,其δ34S值分别为 17.6±0.2‰和 17.2±0.2‰,表现出石炭纪海水的特征。白云岩和菱镁矿的REE浓度要高于石灰质主岩。在Hohentauern／Sunk矿床中,球形白云岩中的白云岩球体和白云质基质     

The P-T-d development at the basement-cover boundary in the north-eastern Tauern Window (Eastern Alps): Alpine continental collision

Abstract At the basement-cover boundary of the north-eastern Tauern Window (Eastern Alps), the following Alpine P-T-d development has been reconstructed on the basis of macro- and micro-structures as well as preferred crystallographic orientations, mineral parageneses and compositions.
During increasing P-T conditions in the greenschist facies a first period of deformation produced imbrication of the basement gneisses and cover sediments, and then monoclinal folds up to the kilometre scale. Tectonic transport was continuously top-to-the-ENE. A second period of deformation began at about peak P-T conditions of 9 kbar and c. 540–560°C in the south, and about 7–9 kbar and 490–500° C in the north; this continued locally to lower temperature. During the second period, transport was continuously top-to-the-SE. Crystallographic orientations of white mica and plagioclase give particularly useful information on the kinematic framework. In addition, data on the ductile behaviour of dolomite and plagioclase can be inferred. At c. 7–9 kbar, dolomite recrystallization starts at 450–480° C, and the beginning of plagioclase recrystallization coincides with the oligoclase boundary.
In general, the Alpine geodynamic history of the basement-cover boundary may be related to continental collision processes between a northerly plate (European or Briançonnais) and a southerly (Adriatic) one. The first deformation period possibly reflects subduction of the gneiss-sediment boundary toward the WSW, to a depth of 31–32 km. The second period may be a result of obduction toward the NW, followed by late-stage uplift. Most of the basement domes of the eastern Tauern Window appear as a result of the final stage of the first deformation, formed prior to the peak of metamorphism, possibly partly influenced by the final collision between the northern and the southern continents.     

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.     

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.     

Fluid channelling during ductile shearing: transformation of granodiorite into aluminous schist in the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps

Abstract Ductile shearing in the core of the Tauern Window, Austria, transformed metagranodiorite into Si-undersaturated garnet-chlorite-staurolite schist at a depth of c. 35–40 km during the Alpine orogeny. Four distinct zones have been recognized extending from the wallrock into the centre of the shear zone: Zone I—unaltered metagranodiorite with subordinate amphibolite; Zone II—biotite-white mica-garnet schist; Zone III—biotite-phengite schist; Zone IV—quartz-absent, garnet-chlorite-staurolite schist with garnets up to 10 cm across. Whole-rock analyses show a dramatic decrease in SiO₂ from >65 wt% in Zone I to <35 wt% in Zone IV; Ca, Na, and Sr also decrease across the shear zone, whereas Al, Ti, Fe, Mg, P, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Rb all increase towards Zone IV. Mass-balance calculations indicate that shearing was accompanied by up to 60% volume loss near the centre of the shear zone. Comparison of the Tauern Window samples with other shear zones in granitic hosts indicates that silica loss accompanied by gains in Mg, Fe, and Ti is typical for volume-loss shear zones, but is distinctly different from the element behaviour exhibited in shear zones that are thought to represent approximately isovolumetric behaviour. In the samples studied here, volume loss appears to have resulted from channellized fluid flow during shearing, producing time-integrated fluid fluxes of ± 10⁸ cm³ cm⁻² in Zone IV. This large volume of fluid may have originated, in part, from dehydration of flysch carried beneath the metagranodiorites during Eocene movement on the North Penninic subduction zone. Development of an inverted thermal gradient during subduction would have allowed the fluid to scavenge large amounts of silica from the shear zone during ascent and heating.     

Excess Ar-free phengite in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks from the Lago di Cignana area, Western Alps

Ar/Ar analyses of phengites and paragonites from the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks (zoisite–clinozoisite schist, garnet–phengite schist and piemontite schist) in the Lago di Cignana area, Western Alps were carried out with a laser probe step-heating method using single crystals and a spot dating method on thin sections. Eight phengite and two paragonite crystals give the plateau ages of 37–42 Ma with 96–100% of ³⁹Ar released. Each rock type also contains mica crystals showing discordant age spectra with age fractions (20–35 Ma) significantly younger than the plateau ages. Phengite inclusions in garnet give ages of 43.2 ± 1.1 Ma and 44.4 ± 1.5 Ma, which are significantly older than the spot age (36.4 ± 1.4 Ma) from the matrix phengites, and the plateau ages from the step-heating analyses. Inclusion ages (43 and 44 Ma) are consistent with a zircon SHRIMP age (44 ± 1 Ma) in this area. These results suggest that the oceanic materials that underwent a simple subduction related UHPM, form excess ⁴⁰Ar-free phengite and that the peak metamorphism is ca. 44 Ma or little older. We suggest that matrix phengites experienced a retrogression reaction changing their chemistry contemporaneously with deformation related to the exhumation of rocks releasing significant radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar from the crystals. This has lead to the apparent ages of the matrix phengites that are significantly younger than the inclusion age.     

Crustal-scale extension in a convergent orogen : the Sterzing-Steinach mylomte zone in the Eastern Alps

Abstract

The western margin of the Tauera Window (Eastern Alps) is defined by a low angle westward dipping fault zone of potently We disp lacement. Ductile deformation of the fault rocks results in a carpet of mylonites up to 400 metres thick. Evidence from shear criteria and the excision of part of the Cretaceous-Tertiary metamorphic edifice both indicate normal displacements, and relative movement of Austroalpine nappe complex towards the west. The Sterzing-Steinach mylonite zone overprints the Alpine nappe edifice. Movements occurred on the cooling path of the Tauern metamorphism, and may be as recent as Middle Miocene.

The Kinematics and geometry of the mylonite zone constrain two likely t ectonic explanations that are both compatible with secondary thining of a thick orogenic wedge. (1) Ute the Austroalpine nappe pile due to tectonic unroofing of the Tauern window. (2) Continental escape by east-west stretching of the Alpine orogenic wedge in response to continental collision.     

Chronology of the Last Glacial Maximum in the Salzach palaeoglacier area (Eastern Alps)

A chronostratigraphy based on luminescence data was established at a key loess profile (Duttendorf) in the northern alpine foreland of Austria. The data help to constrain the timing and duration of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the area of one of the largest east Alpine piedmont glaciers, the Salzach palaeoglacier. Climate deterioration and maximum advance of this glacier were coeval with the beginning of the main loess accumulation phase in the glacier forefield at ～29–30 ka. A late LGM‐outwash gravel layer deposited on top of the loess profile marks the end of the LGM glacier activity at ～20 ka. The geomorphological setting around the loess profile provides evidence of a major glacier oscillation during the course of the LGM, a phenomenon qualitatively known from other alpine palaeoglaciers but never interpreted in terms of palaeoclimate. A LGM glacier oscillation similar to that of the Salzach palaeoglacier was reported recently from the south Alpine Tagliamento palaeoglacier, suggesting a common forcing. The onset of loess deposition at Duttendorf and the tentatively contemporal advance of the Salzach palaeoglacier reflect, as do other data, the drastic cooling in Europe as a result of Heinrich event 3. The first glacier maximum is not well constrained in the study area but a correlation with the better dated Tagliamento amphitheatre suggests a possible response to Heinrich 2. The second re‐advance occurred synchronously (within dating uncertainties) in both palaeoglaciers forefields (at ～21 ka) but the forcing mechanism remains unknown. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Kinematics and geochronology of Early Cretaceous thrusting in the northwestern paleozoic of Graz (Eastern Alps)

Abstract

The multiply deformed Upper Austro-Alpine nappe pile of the Graz area is built up of low-grade metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks which are discordantly overlain by sediments of Santonian (Late Cretaceous) age (“Gosau” formation). Slices of Permo-Mesozoic rocks are absent. Analyses of structures, microfabrics, strain and shear directions were used to decipher the kinematic history; geochronological investigations to date the age of thrusting. K/Ar and Rb/Sr ages of synkinematically grown mica suggest an eo-Alpine (Early Cretaceous) age for the major deformation D1. D1 is characterized by non-coaxial rock flow which caused SW- to W directed nappe imbrication. Incremental strain measurements indicate the progressive superposition of D2 over Dl. In the higher nappe (Rannach Nappe) nappe imbrication continued during D2 changing the direction of nappe transport from SW to NW. Enhanced flattening strain in the deeper nappe (Schöckel Nappe) led to recumbent folds in all scales during D2. This study emphasized two interpretations : (1) The Alpine deformation in the Upper Austro-Alpine nappe pile of the Paleozoic of Graz started in the Earliest Cretaceous (about 125 Ma.). (2) The emplacement of nappes followed a curved translation path in the studied area.     

Experimental study of the seismic properties of the Eastern Alps (Italy) along the Aurina–Tures–Badia Valleys transect

In order to better constrain the interpretation and the nature of the seismic reflectors, experimental measurements at high confining pressure (up to 300 MPa) and room temperature of the compressional wave velocity (Vp) on 10 samples representative of the most common lithologies along the Aurina (Ahrntal), Tures (Tauferer Tal), and Badia (Abtei Tal) Valleys profile (Eastern Alps, Italy) have been performed. For each sample, the speed of ultrasonic waves was measured in three mutually perpendicular directions, parallel and normal to the rock foliation and lineation.The main results are:(a) Good agreement between the calculated vs. measured modal compositions of the considered rocks, indicating that they were presumably equilibrated at the estimated P–T conditions; therefore, the seismic properties are representative of the crustal level indicated by the thermobarometry.(b) Measured and calculated average Vp are in good agreement, and are typical of mid-crustal level (6.0–6.5 km/s). Only the amphibolites show Vp typical of the lower crust (7.2 km/s).(c) The seismic anisotropy of metapelites is very high (12–27%), both with orthorhombic and transverse isotropy symmetry; amphibolites are transversely isotropic with an anisotropy of 8%; orthogneisses and granitoids are isotropic or weakly anisotropic.(d) The contacts between amphibolites and all other rock types may generate good reflections, provided they are not steeply inclined. Although the metamorphic foliation remains steeply inclined, discordant buried sub-horizontal igneous contacts may be detected.     

From source terrains of the Eastern Alps to the Molasse Basin: Detrital record of non-steady-state exhumation

Fission-track cooling ages of detrital apatite (AFT) in the East Alpine Molasse Basin display age groups corresponding to geodynamic events in the orogen since Jurassic times. These age groups are typical of certain thermotectonic units, which formed a patchwork in the Swiss and Eastern Alps. By a combination of petrographic and thermochronologic data, progressive erosion of source terrains is monitored in different catchments since the Oligocene. The AFT cooling ages show a decrease in lag time until when rapidly cooled debris derived from tectonically exhumed core complexes became exposed. After termination of tectonic exhumation, lag times of debris derived from the core complexes increased. Neither on the scale of the entire Eastern Alps, or on the scale of individual catchments, steady-state exhumation is observed, due to the highly dynamic changes of exhumation rates since Late Eocene collision.     

Three-dimensional model and late stage warping of the Plattengneis Shear Zone in the Eastern Alps

The Plattengneis shear zone is a 250–600 m thick, flat lying, Cretaceous, eclogite facies, mylonitic shear zone, with north-over-south transport direction, that is exposed over almost 1000 km² in the Koralpe region along the eastern margin of the Alps. Although the shear zone is one of the largest in the Alps, its role in the Eoalpine metamorphic evolution and the subsequent exhumation of the region, remain enigmatic and its large-scale geometry is not well understood. The outcrop pattern suggests that the shear zone is made up of a single sheet that is folded into a series of open syn- and antiforms with wavelengths of about 10 km. Eclogite bodies occur above, within and below the shear zone and there is no metamorphic grade change across the shear zone. In the south, the fold axes strike east–west and plunge shallowly to the east. In the north, the fold axes are oriented in north–south direction and form a dome shaped structure of the shear zone. Total shortening during this late stage warping event was of the order of 5%. Indirect evidence constrains this folding event to have occurred between 80 and 50 Ma and the fold geometry implies that the final exhumation in the Koralpe occurred somewhat later than further north. Interestingly, the shear zone appears to strike out of the topography in the south and dip into the topography in the north, so that north of the shear zone only hanging-wall rocks are exposed and south of it only foot-wall rocks. Possibilities for the geometric relationship of the Plattengneis shear zone with the surrounding south dipping detachments are discussed.