Calcite fabrics around folds as indicators of deformation history

In the Morcles nappe (lowermost Helvetic nappe in western Switzerland) two phases of folding have been established. In this article the relationship between the calcite fabrics present in folded limestones and the folding history is analysed. Calcite fabrics around the first- and second-phase folds are related to the second phase of deformation. The following fabric patterns have been found. (1) The fabric geometry around a second-phase fold from the most internal part of the inverted limb of the nappe (locality Saillon) can be related to an overall simple shear deformation sequence, the sense of shear being related to the last advance of the Morcles nappe over the underlying autochthonous sedimentary cover of the Aiguilles Rouges massif. (2) In more external parts of the inverted limb (locality Petit Pré) the fabrics around a second-phase fold are interpreted as indicating a change in the deformation history from simple shear to a strain regime which can account for shortening along the first-phase cleavage by the formation of buckle folds. This change in the local strain regime could be related to a ‘locking’ of the frontal folds of the nappe during the last overthrust shear movements. (3) In the normal limb of the nappe the fabrics around a late second-phase kink fold (locality Neimia) are earlier than the folding event and appear to be rotated passively by the fold. (4) The fabrics around a first-phase fold (locality La Routia) are later than the folding event and overprint the fold.