The Alpine metamorphism in the Simplon area,Switzerland and Italy

The metamorphic rocks of Mesozoic age, found sandwiched between the Pennine nappes of Simplon area, were subjected to a detailed structural-petrological investigation with a view to clarify the nature of the Alpine metamorphism.Preliminary structural works demonstrated the existence of two B-axes — B₁ and B₂ — both being younger than the regional folding and thrusting movements. Of these two, B₁ is restricted to the northernmost belt of the present area and has been imprinted uniformly on the older crystalline rocks of the Aar-Gotthard massif as well as on their Mesozoic sedimentary cover. The B₁-axis, with its usually steeply plunging habit, can be traced southwards upto the northernmost fringe of the Pennine Mesozoic metamorphites. The subhorizontal to weakly plunging B₂-lineation overprints B₁ in the northernmost sector of the region under consideration. Further southwards, it gains rapidly in prominence and becomes the sole linear fabric element. For the most part, B₂ coincides roughly with the axes of the regional large scale folds B₀; but at places the two may deviate from each other appreciably. The overall behaviour of the B-axes is to be seen in the structural map, in which only the statistical maximum of numerous measurements from each locality has been plotted.Zones of progressive regional metamorphism could be roughly delineated over the whole region. The metamorphic grade rises from low greenschist facies in the NW to middle almandine amphibolite facies to the SE. Although the delineation of the metamorphic facies boundaries is only tentative and it is to be expected that future work would refine them, it is firmly believed that the outline of the pattern would not be necessarily modified thereby. By correlating the individual zones of metamorphic facies of underground exposures of Simplon tunnel with the corresponding ones on the facies map, it was possible to determine approximately the lie of the facies boundary surfaces. They transgress cleanly the regional large scale structures in three dimensions in space, proving thereby that the metamorphism took place after the regional folding and thrusting movements died off. Ancillary evidences on this point were derived through a systematic study of oriented thin sections and intensive petrofabric analysis. It was established that the metamorphic recrystallisation and the post-thrusting penetrative movements leading to the origin of the secondary planar and linear fabric elements went on hand in hand, with the former process ultimately outlasting the latter. In fact, the recrystallisation continued long afterwards under a completely static condition and almost all the porphyroblasts were found to have grown at this stage. The regional metamorphism of this area is therefore independent of the penetrative movements due to Alpine orogenesis and owes its origin to the late plutonic actions.Comparison with other areas shows that the Simplon area could be regarded simply as a prototype of the usual case of regional metamorphism. It is concluded that the regional metamorphism in its ideal form is a complex overprinting of an area of previous dislocation metamorphism by a subsequent phase of plutonic metamorphism. Although deformation does not appear to have played an essential rÔle in bringing about appreciable amount of recrystallisation in regional metamorphic rocks, it ought to be regarded as a conditio sine qua non for the same. Indeed, dislocation metamorphism seems to have paved the path to be trodden over later by plutonic metamorphism — the result being crystalline schists, the products of the so called regional metamorphism. The time-honoured term regional metamorphism has got today the sole advantage of being universally understood.