Abstract: | The direction of thrusting contemporaneous with high pressure-low temperature (HP/LT) metamorphism of the ophiolite Schistes Lustrés nappes in Cap Corse, Alpine Corsica has changed from being towards the northwest to towards the southwest during Upper Cretaceous obduction.Similar anticlockwise changes in thrusting have been observed in other regions of Alpine Corsica, Calabria and Southern Betic Cordilleras. A model is proposed for the Alpine evolution of this part of the Western Alps involving a sinistral component of transcurrent movement added to the northwest thrusting. These events have been followed by Eocene backthrusting of nappe of southern-Alpine origin in northwest Cap Corse towards the southeast with associated backfolding of the underlying Schistes Lustrés. |