Fabric development in a fragment of tethyan oceanic lithosphere from the piemonte ophiolite nappe of the western Alps, Valtournanche, Italy

South of the Matterhorn the Valtournanche cuts through Alpine serpentinites, metagabbros, meta-pillowbasalts and metasediments—dismembered remnants of the Jurassic Tethyan oceanic crust, reassembled in the Piemonte ophiolite nappe. This study deals with a serpentinized ultramafic to mafic layered complex stemming from a spreading ridge environment. Cumulus fabrics of various kinds can be read through antigorite pseudomorphs, still allowing the detailed reconstruction of deep oceanic crust. Relics of igneous and metamorphic olivine prove crustal conditions during deformation. Fracturing of cumulus olivine was succeeded by plastic flow that activated low-temperature slip systems. Concomitant recrystallization produced metaperidotite only along shear zones, which are ascribed to subduction of the oceanic crust. At the turning point from subduction to obduction a static metamorphic event resulted in recovery and grain growth of recrystallized olivine. Afterwards serpentinization of the complex took place still under static conditions. Deformation of the serpentinite led to a sequence of four phases, involving non-penetrative cleavage formation, stretching and folding. This deformation is structurally related to obduction of the complex although partly accompanied by subduction zone metamorphism. Final movements of the ophiolites were due to cataclastic thrusting forming subnappe boundaries.