Potassium-argon ages from the Ceneri Zone,Southern Swiss Alps

The Ceneri Zone is a unit of the crystalline basement of the Southern Alps. Its northern boundary is the Tonale Line segment of the Periadriatic Line, an important tectonic lineament separating the Oligocene and younger features of the Central Alps from the older metamorphic and structural trends of the Southern Alps. Unmetamorphosed Permian and younger sedimentary units lap onto the Southern Alpine basement from the south.Potassium-argon results from the Ceneri Zone define a Hercynian age pattern typical for the basement of continental Europe. This pattern extends to within at least 100 meters of the Tonale Line. Thus, amphibolite facies metamorphism in this region occurred around 325 m.y. ago. The geochronologic similarity of the Southern Alps to many other European regions must be taken into account in megatectonic theories.In detail, the Hercynian age pattern of the Ceneri Zone is complicated. Some hornblendes have apparent ages between the Hercynian and a Caledonian value (430 m.y.). They probably retained some radiogenic argon during the Hercynian upper amphibolite facies metamorphism. In addition, mica results between 200 and 300 m.y. have a strong geographic correlation. Apparently, the northwestern portion of the Ceneri Zone was reheated or mildly metamorphosed during the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic. A relationship between these ages and 170–180 m.y. ages from the neighboring Ivrea-Verbano Zone seems likely. No geologic evidence for any post-Hercynian event has been noted as yet in the Ceneri Zone.