Seismic evidence of a crustal overthrust in the Western Alps

Seismic data provided by the ALP75 experiment in the northwestern part of the Alpine Arc has been re-evaluated using ray-tracing techniques in a laterally inhomogeneous medium, thus improving a previous interpretation. The structure of the crust definitely appears to be different in the Northern Subalpine Chains where it is layered with an ESE mean dip of 30° and in the inner part of the Alpine Are where no clear stratification can be derived from the available data.In the Northern Subalpine Chains the boundary between the upper and lower crust is found to be extremely uneven whereas the Moho discontinuity underneath as well as a boundary in the lower crust shows no evidence of unevenness. This pattern can be ascribed to the rheological properties of the crust which has a birttle behaviour at shallow depths and a more plastic behaviour underneath. A velocity reversal is found under the inner part of the Alpine Arc at a depth of 11 to 23 km.An attempt is made to synthesize deep seismic sounding data which have been accumulated since 1956 in southeastern France. The crust is stratified to the north of a line Cévennes-Aiguilles Rouges and amorphous to the south. This line, which is the former boundary between the European plate and the Provence subplate, is thought to have acted as a weak zone during the Alpine orogeny. A crustal overthrust could have occurred in this region which would have been furthered by the higher plasticity of the low-velocity zone. Finally we speculate on the physical significance of intracrustal velocity reversals and suggest they are associated with active tectonic areas where dislocation densities are high.A Lithospheric Seismic Profile along the Axis of the Alps; Paper No. V.