Lower Palaeozoic volcanism of the Eastern Alps and its geodynamic implications

A geodynamic model for the lower Palaeozoic evolution of the Eastern Alps (upper Ordovician to middle Devonian; Gurktal Nappe, Styrian Greywacke Zone, Palaeozoic of Graz) is discussed, based on new field work and numerous geochemical analyses of volcanic rocks. It is suggested that in the upper Ordovician there existed on the one hand a passive continental margin or continental rift flooded by the sea, where mildly-alkaline basalts erupted (Magdalensberg-Series/Carinthia; Kaser-Series/Gurktaler Alpen). On the other hand, a convergent plate boundary in the form of an active continental margin or island arc or in the form of an orogen formed by continent-continent collision which can be recognized by the eruption of calc-alkaline volcanic rocks, probably also existed in the upper Ordovician (Blasseneck »Porphyroid«/Styrian Greywacke Zone; NockSeries/Gurktaler Alpen). In the lower Silurian a reorganization of the plate boundaries took place, resulting in the disintegration of the upper Ordovician collision zone along deep-reaching faults. Further extensional movements during the Silurian and Devonian led to the disintegration of a broad shelf platform and to the eruption of alkaline within-plate basalts. The extensional movements were responsible for the thinning of the continental crust and a general subsidence, which probably lasted until Lower Carboniferous time.

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Zusammenfassung Für das Alt-Paläozoikum der Ostalpen (oberes Ordoviz bis Mittel-Devon; Gurktaler Decke, Steirische Grauwak-kenzone, Grazer Paläozoikum) wird ein geodynamisches Modell diskutiert, das sich auf neue Kartierergebmsse und zahlreiche geochemische Analysen von Vulkaniten stützt. Es wird angenommen, daß im oberen Ordovizium einerseits ein passiver Kontinentalrand oder ein vom Meer überflutetes kontinentales Dehnungsfeld bestand, in welchem schwachalkalische Intraplattenbasalte gefördert wurden (Magdalensberg-Serie/Kärnten; Kaser-Serie/Gurktaler Alpen). Andererseits existierte im oberen Ordovizium wahrscheinlich auch eine konvergierende Plattengrenze in Form eines aktiven Kontinentalrandes oder Inselbogens oder m Form eines durch Kontinent-Kontinent-Kollision entstandenen Orogens, welche sich durch die Förderung kalkalkalischer Vulkanite bemerkbar machte (Blasseneck-»Porphyroid«/Steirische Grauwackenzone; Nock-Serie/Gurktaler Alpen). Im unteren Silur kam es zu einer Reorganisation der Plattengrenzen, in deren Folge die oberordovizische Kollisionszone an tiefreichenden Störungen zerbrach. Weitere Dehnungsbewegungen führten im Silur und Devon zur Zerbrechung einer breiten Schelfplattform und zur Förderung von alkalischen Intraplatten-Basalten. Die Dehnungsbewegungen waren für eine Ausdünnung der kontinentalen Kruste und eine damit verbundene generelle Absenkung der Sedimentations-Becken verantwortlich, die wahrscheinlich bis zum Unterkarbon anhielt.

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Résumé L'auteur présente un modèle géodynamique relatif au Paléozoïque inférieur des Alpes orientales (Ordovicien supérieur à Dévonien moyen; nappe de Gurktal, Zone des Grauwackes de la Styrie, Paléozoïque de Graz). Ce modèle se base sur de nouvelles investigations de terrain et sur un grand nombre d'analyses géochimiques de roches volcaniques. Il propose l'existence pendant l'Ordovien supérieur:- d'une part d'une marge continentale passive ou d'une zone de distension continentale submergée accompagnée d'émission de basaltes intraplaques faiblement alcalins (série du Magdalensberg/Carinthie; Série du Kaser/Gurktaler Alpen);- d'autre part d'une limite de plaques convergentes qui revêt la forme d'une marge continentale active, ou d'un arc insulaire, ou d'un orogène formé par une collision continent-continent, comme en témoigne l'éruption de roches volcaniques calco-alcalines à l'Ordovicien supérieur (»Porphyroïd« du Blasseneck/Zone des Grauwackes de la Styrie; Série du Nock/Gurktaler Alpen). Pendant le Silurien inférieur, les limites de plaques sont réorganisées, entraînant la désintégration de la zone de collision ordovicienne le long de fractures profondes. De nouveaux mouvements distensifs au cours du Silurien et du Dévonien mènent à la désintégration d'une vaste plateforme continentale et à l'éruption de basaltes alcalins intraplaques. Les mouvements distensifs sont responsables d'un amincissement de la crôute continentale et d'une subsidence généralisée qui ont probablement duré jusqu'au Carbonifère inférieur.

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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.     

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.     

Metamorphism and metallogeny in the Eastern Alps

The two Alpine orogenic phases of the Eastern Alps, in the Cretaceous and in the Tertiary, were both accompanied by the formation of mineral deposits. However, subduction-related magmatic belts as well as the typical “Andean” ore deposits are missing. Therefore, the role of metamorphism in East Alpine metallogeny was tentatively explored for more than 60 y, although for a long time without tangible results. Microthermometric, geochemical and isotopic investigations of fluid inclusions from selected Alpine mineral deposits presented allow a preliminary confirmation of the involvement of metamorphic fluids in their origin. Deposits which were formed immediately after the first, Cretaceous orogeny, were produced at high pressures by fluids of very high salinity and high density, and with an isotopic composition of the water falling into the metamorphic field. These fluids are best understood as products of metamorphic de-volatilization of rocks of the subducted South Pennine domain. In contrast to this, the deposits formed after the second, Tertiary orogeny, originated at relatively low pressures from fluids with an appreciable content of CO₂ and of low to moderate salinities. Isotopic compositions of this carbon indicate a deep crustal or even mantle source for CO₂, while the water is isotopically more heterogeneous and may have mixed sources, both surficial and metamorphic. Tectonic control of these mineralizations is late-orogenic trans-tensional faulting, which exposed hot metamorphic rocks to fluid convection along brittle structures. These deposits conform best to the model of metamorphogenic metallogenesis by retrograde leaching, although ponded metamorphic fluids and mantle volatiles may also have been involved. Received: 4 August 1998 / Accepted: 5 January 1999     

Preservation of Permo–Triassic low-pressure assemblages in the Cretaceous high-pressure metamorphic Saualpe crystalline basement (Eastern Alps, Austria)

Metapelites and intercalated metapegmatites of the Saualpe crystalline basement, which forms part of the Austroalpine nappe complex in the Eastern Alps, display a polyphase tectonometamorphic history. Here, we focus on the evolution that these rocks underwent prior to Cretaceous (eo‐Alpine) high‐pressure metamorphism and related penetrative deformation. Geothermobarometry on coarse‐grained porphyroclastic parageneses (garnet–biotite–muscovite–plagioclase–sillimanite–quartz), which occur as relics in kyanite–garnet, two‐mica gneiss, yielded 600 °C/0.4 GPa. Results from a corundum‐bearing lithology suggest that higher temperatures may have been reached in very restricted areas. The matrix of these rocks displays intense recrystallization during a pressure‐dominated metamorphic overprint. Microstructures and mineral chemistry indicate that this low‐pressure metamorphism was the first significant metamorphic imprint in these rocks. Mineral relics in all metapelitic rock types reflect low‐pressure conditions for this interkinematic crystallization phase. The distribution, macroscopic and microscopic observations and the mineralogical composition of intercalated metapegmatites point to regionally elevated temperature conditions during their emplacement. Therefore, pegmatite formation is correlated with mineral formation in metapelites. Sm–Nd‐dating of magmatic garnet from the pegmatite gneiss yielded 249 ± 3 Ma, which is interpreted to represent the age of pegmatite‐emplacement and low‐pressure metamorphism in the metapelites. Since the pegmatites are overprinted by mylonitisation and high‐pressure metamorphism, this Permo–Triassic age also sets an upper age‐limit to the eclogite facies metamorphic event, which affected considerable parts of the Saualpe crystalline basement.     

Identification and micro‐stratigraphy of hyperpycnites and turbidites in Cretaceous Lewis Shale,Wyoming

Sandy hyperpycnal flows and their deposits, hyperpycnites, have been documented in modern environments and, more recently, in Cretaceous and Tertiary strata; they may be more common in the rock record, and within petroleum reservoirs, than has been previously thought. Muddy hyperpycnites also occur within the rock record, but these are more difficult to document because of their finer‐grained nature and lack of common sedimentary structures. This paper documents the presence of submarine slope mudstone and siltstone hyperpycnites (and muddy turbidites) in the delta‐fed, Upper Cretaceous Lewis Shale of Wyoming; based on field measurements, analyses of rock slabs and thin sections, and laser grain‐size distributions. Four lithofacies comprise laminated and thin‐bedded mudstones that are associated with levéed channel sandstones: (L1) grey, laminated, graded mudstone with thin siltstone and sandstone interbeds; (L2) dark grey to tan, laminated mudstone with very thin siltstone and sandstone stringers; (L3) light grey, laminated siltstones; and (L4) laminated mudstones and siltstones with thin sandstone interbeds. Two styles of mudstone grain‐size grading have been documented. The first type is an upward‐fining interval that typically ranges in thickness from 2·5 to 5 cm. The second type is a couplet of a lower, upward‐coarsening interval and an upper, upward‐fining interval (sometimes separated by a micro‐erosion surface) which, combined, are about 3·8 cm thick. Both individual laminae and groups of laminae spaced millimetres apart exhibit these two grain‐size trends. Although sedimentary structures indicative of traction‐plus‐fallout sedimentary processes associated with sandier hyperpycnites are generally absent in these muddy sediments, the size grading patterns are similar to those postulated in the literature for sandy hyperpycnites. Thus, the combined upward‐coarsening, then upward‐fining couplets are interpreted to be the result of a progressive increase in river discharge during waxing and peak flood stage (upward increase in grain‐size), followed by waning flow after the flood begins to abate (upward decrease in grain‐size). The micro‐erosion surface that sometimes divides the two parts of the size‐graded couplet resulted from waxing flows of sufficiently high velocity to erode the sediment previously deposited by the same flow. Individual laminae sets which only exhibit upward‐fining trends could be either the result of waning flow deposition from either dilute turbidity currents or from hyperpycnal flows. The occurrence of these sets with the size‐graded couplets suggests that they are associated with hyperpycnal processes.     

Cretaceous flysch and pelagic sequences of the Eastern Alps: correlations, heavy minerals, and palaeogeographic implications

Flysch and pelagic sedimentation of the Penninic and Austroalpine tectonic units of the Eastern Alps are results of the closure of the Tethyan-Vardar and the Ligurian-Piemontais Oceans as well as of the progressive deformation of the Austroalpine continental margin. The Austroalpine sequences are characterized by Lower Cretaceous pelagic limestones or minor carbonate flysch and various siliciclastic mid- and Upper Cretaceous flysch formations. Chrome spinel is the most characteristic heavy mineral delivered by the southern Vardar suture, the northern obduction belt at the South Penninic-Austroalpine margin and its continuation into the Klippen belt sensu lato of the Carpathians. The South Penninic sequences, e.g. the Arosa zone, the Ybbsitz Klippen zone and some flysch nappes also contain chrome spinel, whereas the sediments of the North Penninic Rhenodanubian flysch zone are characterized by stable minerals and garnet.     

Earthquake‐induced turbidites triggered by sea level oscillations in the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene of Italy

Earthquakes are widely recognized as triggers for turbidites, submarine debris flows and slumps. In tectonically active areas, surprisingly small changes in stress can trigger seismic events, implying that past sea level changes may be important in controlling the timing of seismicity and the occurrence of turbidites. We apply this idea in an analysis of turbidites from the upper Cretaceous–Paleocene Scaglia Rossa Formation of the Umbria‐Marches region of Italy. These turbidites are composed of resedimented foraminiferal tests derived from fluidizing deep‐water (∼1500 m), pelagic sediments; seismic triggering is the most likely triggering mechanism given this setting and composition. The timing of these turbidites (and associated synsedimentary slumps), constrained by biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy, reveals an unusual, non‐random temporal pattern that appears to correlate well with proposed eustatic fluctuations. This correlation between turbidites and eustatic fluctuations leads us to suggest that stress and pore fluid pressure changes associated with changing sea level may trigger periods of increased seismicity in the geological past.     

Oceanic mafic rocks in the Eastern Alps

The Eastern Alps in Austria have been interpreted as a pile of thrust sheets resulting from the collision of two continental masses. The only remains of the ocean-floor which may once have separated these continents could be the highly deformed greenschists, metasediments and serpentinites found in the lower thrust sheets. To test this hypothesis, a total of sixty mafic rocks from the Großglockner, Mooserboden, Fusch, Hochtor, Matrei Zone and Strobl localities have been analysed for the stable trace elements, Ti, Zr, Y, Nb and Cr, and the less stable elements K, Rb, and Sr. Visual and statistical comparison of the stable elements with known magma types reveals that five of the sample groups classify clearly as tholeiitic ocean-floor basalts, while one group, the Fusch locality, classifies as within-plate (probably ocean island) basalts. It is suggested that the tectonic units containing such rocks comprise a mélange of disrupted oceanic crust, upper mantle and seamounts, pelagic sediments and continental margin sediments. The rocks may have formed in a large ocean basin, rather than a marginal basin behind an island arc.     

东特提斯喜马拉雅下白垩统碎屑锆石U-Pb年代学及其古地理

东特提斯喜马拉雅在中生代位于东冈瓦纳大陆的结合部位,其古地理对于了解东冈瓦纳大陆裂解至关重要.对东特提斯喜马拉雅塔嘎地区沉积地层进行了详细的碎屑锆石U-Pb年代学研究.结果表明,东特提斯喜马拉雅塔嘎地区采样剖面沉积下限为126.6±2.7 Ma.碎屑锆石年龄谱显示东特提斯喜马拉雅塔嘎地区采样地层主要包含～520 Ma、...     

Stratigraphy and sedimentation rates of Upper Cretaceous deep-water systems of the Rhenodanubian Group (Eastern Alps, Germany)

In the Bavarian Alps (Germany), west of the Isar River, the abyssal deposits of the Lower Barremian to Upper Campanian Rhenodanubian Group consist of siliciclastic and calcareous turbidites alternating with hemipelagic non-calcareous mudstones. The up to 1500-m-thick succession, deposited in the Penninic Basin to the south of the European Plate, is characterized by a low mean sedimentation rate (c. 25 mm kyr⁻¹) over 60 million years. Palaeocurrents and turbidite facies distribution patterns suggest that sedimentation occurred on a weakly inclined abyssal plain. The highest sedimentation rates (up to 240 mm kyr⁻¹) were associated with the calcareous mud turbidites of the newly defined Röthenbach Subgroup, which includes the Piesenkopf, Kalkgraben and Hällritz formations (Middle Coniacian to Middle Campanian). These calcareous turbidites prograded from the west, and interfinger towards the east with red hemipelagic claystone. A high sea level presumably favoured pelagic carbonate production and accumulation on the shelves and on internal platforms in the western part of the basin, whereas siliciclastic shelves with steep slope angles have bordered the eastern part of the basin, where a dearth of turbidite sedimentation and increased Cretaceous oceanic red beds deposition occurred. In contrast to the eustatically-induced Middle Coniacian to Lower Campanian Cretaceous oceanic red beds (calcareous nannoplankton zones CC14 to CC18), red hemipelagites of Early Cenomanian age (upper part of calcareous nannoplankton zone CC9) and early Late Campanian age (upper part of zone CC21 and zone CC22) are interpreted as the result of regional tectonic activity.     

Palynological evidence for Lower Ordovician rocks (Tremadoc and Àrenig) in the Northern Greywacke Zone (Eastern Alps)

Until recently, only fossils of Caradoc to Carboniferous age have been reported from the Northern Greywacke Zone/Eastern Alps. New medium-preserved and diversified acritarch assemblages from the Lower Wildschönau Formation indicate a Lower Ordovician (Tremadoc and Arenig) age. These fossil spectra define a well-constrained time interval for a lower section of the Northern Greywacke Zone for the first time.     

浙江石浦下白垩统灰岩微相分析与锆石U Pb年代学研究

通过对浙江象山石浦灰岩剖面系统的岩相学研究,总结出4种基本灰岩微相类型,即生物碎屑泥晶灰岩、泥晶鲕粒灰岩或鲕粒泥晶灰岩、叠层石泥灰岩、薄层—条带状泥灰岩,其形成于潮坪、鲕粒滩和浅海等三种沉积环境。结合整个剖面岩性变化规律,划分出4个沉积旋回,反映了3次主要海侵过程。并利用LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb同位素定年技术,首次获得了该剖面下部凝灰岩夹层中锆石U-Pb年龄为114±2 Ma,确定了该剖面形成时代为早白垩世。这一成果对于深化我国东南沿海早白垩世构造—沉积环境的研究具有重要意义。     

Cretaceous metamorphism in the Austroalpine Matsch Unit (Eastern Alps): The interrelation between deformation and chemical equilibration processes

In the polymetamorphic Austroalpine Matsch Unit (European Eastern Alps) Cretaceous upper greenschist facies metamorphism overprinted Variscan and Permian magmatic and metamorphic assemblages. Mineral compositional and (micro-)structural data of metapelites and metapegmatites document different mechanisms of interrelated deformation and (re-)equilibration during Cretaceous overprinting: i) Microfractures in relic garnet represented pathways for material transport, and thus established material exchange between intragranular domains and the matrix. Major element equilibration by fast diffusion along microfractures contrasts with limited volume diffusion in adjacent host garnet. ii) Syn-tectonic breakdown of staurolite initially to paragonite, then chloritoid allows correlating reaction progress with the formation of different fracture sets. iii) Syn-tectonic mineral growth with shape-preferred orientation in foliation domains contrasts with radial growth in microlithons and strain shadows of the mylonitic foliation. iv) Syn-tectonic unmixing of pre-existing oligoclase (an_14–16) produced fine-grained aggregates of two supposedly coexisting plagioclase-phases (an_3–6 and an_20–25) in strain shadows of the oligoclase-clasts. v) Pre-existing deformation-induced heterogeneities in the spatial distribution of phases and their preferred orientation influence the kinetics of phase equilibration. Understanding the mechanisms of the mutual interrelation between deformation and phase equilibration is a prerequisite for deducing PT-constraints from strained metamorphic rocks. New garnet—whole rock Sm-Nd data from metapegmatites indicate their emplacement at 263–280 Ma and provide an important age constraint on the interrelated deformation and re-equilibration processes.     

Origin and evolution processes of hybrid event beds in the Lower Cretaceous of the Lingshan Island,Eastern China

On the basis of detailed sedimentological investigation, three types of hybrid event beds (HEBs) together with debrites and turbidites were distinguished in the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary sequence on the Lingshan Island in the Yellow Sea, China. HEB 1, with a total thickness of 63–80 cm and internal bipartite structures, is characterised by a basal massive sandstone sharply overlain by a muddy sandstone interval. It is interpreted to have been formed by particle rearrangement at the base of cohesive debris flows. HEB 2, with a total thickness of 10–71 cm and an internal tripartite structure, is characterised by a normal grading sandstone base, followed by muddy siltstone middle unit and capped with siltstones; the top unit of HEB 2 may in places be partly or completely eroded. The boundary between the lowest unit and the middle unit is gradual, whereas that between the middle unit and the top unit is sharp. HEB 2 may be developed by up-dip muddy substrate erosion. HEB 3, with a total thickness up to 10 cm and an internal bipartite structure, is characterised by a basal massive sandstone sharply overlain by a muddy siltstone interval. The upper unit was probably deposited by cohesive debris flow with some plant fragments and rare mud clasts. HEB 3 may be formed by the deceleration of low-density turbidity currents. The distribution of HEBs together with debrites and turbidites implies a continuous evolution process of sediment gravity flows: debris flow → hybrid flow caused by particle rearrangement → high-density turbidity current → hybrid flow caused by muddy substrate erosion → low-density turbidity current → hybrid flow caused by deceleration.     

Rb/Sr geochronology in the Eastern Alps

New Rb/Sr data on mineral and whole rock samples from in and around the south-east corner of the Tauern Window are presented. Pennine orthogeneisses yield an Rb/Sr whole rock age of 279±9 m.y., while orthogneiss samples from the Altkristallin Sheet near Innerkrems, Carinthia, yield an age of 381±30 m.y. by the same technique. The apparent mineral age break across the margins of the Tauern Window is investigated in an area of good structural and petrofabric control. The post-Palaeozoic history of the Eastern Alps is then discussed in the context of the available Rb/Sr data. It is argued that the bulk of the Katschberg Phyllites are of pre-Mesozoic age; that the major overthrusting movements of the Austroalpine Units were completed by 60–65 m.y.; and that the Peri-Adriatic intrusives can be little older than middle Tertiary.     

TRANSALP—deep crustal Vibroseis and explosive seismic profiling in the Eastern Alps

The TRANSALP consortium, comprising institutions from Italy, Austria and Germany, carried out deep seismic reflection measurements in the Eastern Alps between Munich and Venice in 1998, 1999 and 2001. In order to complement each other in resolution and depth range, the Vibroseis technique was combined with simultaneous explosive source measurements. Additionally, passive cross-line recording provided three-dimensional control and alternative north–south sections. Profits were obtained by the combination of the three methods in sectors or depths where one method alone was less successful.The TRANSALP sections clearly image a thin-skinned wedge of tectonic nappes at the northern Alpine front zone, unexpected graben or half-graben structures within the European basement, and, thick-skinned back-thrusting in the southern frontal zone beneath the Dolomite Mountains. A bi-vergent structure at crustal scale is directed from the Alpine axis to the external parts. The Tauern Window obviously forms the hanging wall ramp anticline above a southward dipping, deep reaching reflection pattern interpreted as a tectonic ramp along which the Penninic units of the Tauern Window have been up-thrusted.The upper crystalline crust appears generally transparent. The lower crust in the European domain is characterized by a 6–7 km thick laminated structure. On the Adriatic side the lower crust displays a much thicker or twofold reflective pattern. The crustal root at about 55 km depth is shifted around 50 km to the south with respect to the main Alpine crest.     

Ophiolitic melange and flyschoidal sediments of the Tithonian–Lower Cretaceous in Albania

Ophiolitic melange and flyschoidal sediments of the Tithonian-Lower Cretaceous age are widespread in the Eastern Albanides. They lie transgressively or normally on top of the ophiolitic sequence through radiolarian cherts of the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian age, or on top of the carbonate sequence of the periphery of the ophiolites through Middle Liassic-Dogger-Malm pelagic limestones with manganese nodules and radiolarian cherts. They are overlain by conglomerates or neritic limestones of the Lower Cretaceous age. Ophiolitic melange consists of ophiolitic conglobreccias, often of homogenous composition: serpentinite melange with a ‘sedimentary’serpentinite matrix, or basaltic ‘sedimentary’tuffagglomerate. Less commonly they have a heterogeneous composition with small amounts of fine-grained matrix and marls with calpionellids. In other examples, the ophiolitic melange contains heterogeneous exotic blocks including all the members of the ophiolite suite: serpentinite, ophicalcite, gabbro, plagiogranite, diabase, basalts, dacites, amphibolite, sulphide and chromite ores as well as blocks of radiolarites, limestones etc. in the argillic matrix. They are overlain by conglomerate-sandstone-marly flyschoidal deposits with abundant ophiolitic detritus and calpionellids. These deposits are linked with Tithonian-Lower Cretaceous tectogenesis, which led to the fragmentary uplift of ophiolites and partly of their sedimentary periphery, and to the formation of the faulted topography. The presence of the ophiolitic melange and flyschoidal sediments both over the ophiolites and the associated sedimentary rocks of their periphery indicate that the latter were not the basement of an ophiolite nappe during the Late Jurassic time.     

Balancing lateral orogenic float of the Eastern Alps

Oligocene to Miocene post-collisional shortening between the Adriatic and European plates was compensated by frontal thrusting onto the Molasse foreland basin and by contemporaneous lateral wedging of the Austroalpine upper plate. Balancing of the upper plate shortening by horizontal retrodeformation of lateral escaping and extruding wedges of the Austroalpine lid enables an evaluation of the total post-collisional deformation of the hangingwall plate. Quantification of the north–south shortening and east–west extension of the upper plate is derived from displacement data of major faults that dissect the Austroalpine wedges. Indentation of the South Alpine unit corresponds to 64 km north–south shortening and a minimum of 120 km of east–west extension. Lateral wedging affected the Eastern Alps east of the Giudicarie fault. West of the Giudicarie fault, north–south shortening was compensated by 50 to 80 km of backthrusting in the Lombardian thrust system of the Southern Alps. The main structures that bound the escaping wedges to the north are the Inntal fault system (ca. 50 km sinistral offset), the Königsee–Lammertal–Traunsee (KLT) fault (10 km) and the Salzach–Ennstal–Mariazell–Puchberg (SEMP) fault system (60 km). These faults, as well as a number of minor faults with displacements less than 10 km, root in the basal detachment of the Alps. The thin-skinned nature of lateral escape-related structures north of the SEMP line is documented by industry reflection seismic lines crossing the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) and the frontal thrust of the Eastern Alps. Complex triangle zones with passive roof backthrusts of Middle Miocene Molasse sediments formed in front of the laterally escaping wedges of the northern Eastern Alps. The aim of this paper is a semiquantitative reconstruction of the upper plate of the Eastern Alps. Most of the data is published elsewhere.