Paleozoic evolution of the External Crystalline Massifs of the Western Alps

Guillot, Stéphane; Ménot, René-Pierre

doi:10.1016/j.crte.2008.11.010

Cited by 84 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Therefore, the southern Vosges basin probably represents a back-arc environment associated with the subduction of an Early Palaeozoic oceanic realm. It could be either the South-directed subduction of the Saxothuringian basin recognised to the North of the Vosges (Edel and Schulman 2009), or the North-directed subduction of the Palaeotethys Ocean proposed in the French Massif Central and in the Western Alps (Lardeaux et al 2001;Guillot and Ménot 2009). The present results can be compared to existing data for the Variscan massifs located to the South of the Vosges Mountains.…”

Section: Origin Of the Southern Vosges Basinsupporting

confidence: 50%

“…Paquette et al 1989;Bowes and Aftalion 1991;Kalt et al 1994) covered by Ordovician to Silurian-Devonian sediments (Franke 1984;Hann and Sawatzki 1998), but also HP rocks exhumed during the Devonian (e.g. Timmermann et al 2004;Guillot and Ménot 2009). These records indicate that Cambro-Ordovician basins started to be inverted in the Devonian (Fig.…”

Section: Origin Of the Southern Vosges Basinmentioning

confidence: 95%

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The significance of Late Devonian ophiolites in the Variscan orogen: a record from the Vosges Klippen Belt

Skrzypek

Tabaud

Edel

et al. 2011

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

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The present work examines the lithological, structural, geochemical and geochronological records from the Klippen Belt located in the southern Vosges Mountains (NE France). The Klippen Belt is represented by discontinuous exposures of serpentinized harzburgite, ophicalcite, gabbro, gneiss and polymictic conglomerate overlain by deep marine pelitic sediments. Structural data and Bouguer anomalies reveal that the Klippen Belt coincides with a significant discontinuity now occupied by a granitic ridge. Gabbro geochemistry indicates a MORtype affinity similar to recent slow-spreading ridges, but positive Ba, Sr, Th or U anomalies do not exclude the influence of fluids expelled from a subduction zone. A Sm-Nd isochron age of 372 ± 18 Ma is thought to reflect gabbro emplacement from a highly depleted mantle source (e Nd = ?11.3), and U-Pb zircon ages from a gneiss sample indicate that the basement found in the Klippen has a Neoproterozoic origin. Combined data indicate the formation of a deep basin during Late Devonian rifting. The Klippen lithologies could testify for the presence of an ocean-continent transition environment subsequently inverted during the Early Carboniferous. Basin inversion during the Middle Visean was probably controlled by rift-related structures, and resulted in folding of the sedimentary successions as well as exhumation along thrust zones of deep parts of the basin represented by the Klippen Belt. Based on correlations with the neighbouring Variscan massifs, it is proposed that the southern Vosges sequences represent a back-arc basin related to the North-directed subduction of the southern Palaeotethys Ocean. This geodynamic reconstruction is tentatively correlated with similar ophiolitic remnants in the northern part of the French Massif Central (Brévenne) and with the evolution of the southern Black Forest. The Late Devonian ophiolites are interpreted as relicts of small back-arc marginal basins developed during general closure of the Palaeozoic subduction systems.

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Section: Origin Of the Southern Vosges Basinsupporting

confidence: 50%

Section: Origin Of the Southern Vosges Basinmentioning

confidence: 95%

The significance of Late Devonian ophiolites in the Variscan orogen: a record from the Vosges Klippen Belt

Skrzypek

Tabaud

Edel

et al. 2011

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

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“…These early granitic intrusions were followed in the Early Ordovician by the emplacement of mafic Crystalline Massifs (Ménot & Paquette, 1993;Guillot & Ménot, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ordovician (480-460 Ma) mafic rocks, usually overprinted by low-P metamorphism, are disseminated within the External Crystalline Massifs (Ménot & Paquette, 1993;Rubatto et al, 2001;Guillot & Ménot, 2009) and, as in the Argentera, occur as relatively small bodies within the migmatitic basement.…”

Section: Relicts Of Hp Mafic Rocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleo-European crust of the Italian Western Alps: Geological history of the Argentera Massif and comparison with Mont Blanc-Aiguilles Rouges and Maures-Tanneron Massifs

Compagnoni¹,

Ferrando²,

Lombardo³

et al. 2010

J.Virt.Ex

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The "External Crystalline Massifs" of the Western Alps (Mont Blanc, Aiguilles Rouges, Grandes Rousses, Belledonne, Pelvoux, and Argentera) consist of a polymetamorphic Variscan basement, which was only marginally reworked during the Alpine tectonometamorphic cycle. These massifs experienced an early subduction event at peak metamorphic conditions of ~700°C and 1.5 GPa, followed by continental collision coupled with amphibolite-facies metamorphism, anatexis and exhumation to shallow crustal levels in the Carboniferous (see von Raumer et al., 1999 for a review).This contribution focuses on the magmatic and metamorphic history of the Argentera Massif, the southernmost and largest of the External Crystalline Massifs exposed in Italy. Its evolution from Ordovician to Early Permian is compared to that recorded in the Mont Blanc-Aiguilles Rouges Massif, the other External Crystalline Massif extensively exposed in the Italian Alps. Further 2 comparison is drawn between these large massifs and the Maures-Tanneron Massif of Provence, France, the area of Variscan Europe nearest to Argentera.

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“…According to the most recent data (Guillot and Ménot 2009), ophiolite obduction occurred all along the southern passive continental margin of the Rheic Ocean 400 Ma ago. These obducted ophiolites outline the northern edge of the newly defined Galatian terrane (von Raumer and Stampfli 2008) to which also the Austroalpine and the Southalpine basement portions probably belonged (Fig.…”

Section: S34mentioning

confidence: 99%

The crystalline basement of the Adria microplate in the eastern Alps: a review of the palaeostructural evolution from the Neoproterozoic to the Cenozoic

Spiess

Cesare

Mazzoli

et al. 2010

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei

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The frontal northern part of the continental Adriatic microplate is formed by a stack of Austroalpine nappes and by the Southalpine basement and cover units. Both basement portions are now side by side, separated by the Periadriatic (Insubric) fault system, but they became juxtaposed only during the Alpine orogeny. Permian HT-LP metamorphism is now recognised also within the Austroalpine basement of the eastern Alps, whilst it was known since long in the Southalpine basement. High thermal heat flow responsible for HT-LP metamorphism is related to the extensional tectonics and lithospheric thinning during the Permian and by concurrent magmatic underplating. During the Variscan orogeny, eclogite facies metamorphism is documented within the Ö tztal and the Silvretta basements (350 Ma), as well as within the Nonsberg-Ulten unit (336 Ma). The HP events in the Ö tztal and the Silvretta basements correlate temporarily with the closure of the Rheic Ocean between the Hanseatic and the Galatian terranes. Docking of the Galatian-Hanseatic composite terrane with Laurussia resulted in large-scale strike-slip tectonics and potentially in the formation of mega-folds (''Schlingen'') within the Austroalpine basement during the Visean. Palaeo-Tethys ridge subduction may be responsible for fast decompression and isobaric heating documented within the Ö tztal basement. The Palaeozoic sedimentary sequences of the Austroalpine and the Southalpine phyllitic complexes testify that from Silurian to Devonian, both basement portions were in a passive margin position. During the Cambrian-Ordovician, the Austroalpine basement occupied a position along the leading edge of Gondwana facing the Proto-Tethys Ocean. The compositional variation of the intruded granitic suites confirm an evolution from a magmatic arc towards a collisional-type geodynamic setting related to the closure of the previously opened back-arc basins.

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Paleozoic evolution of the External Crystalline Massifs of the Western Alps

Cited by 84 publications

References 39 publications

The significance of Late Devonian ophiolites in the Variscan orogen: a record from the Vosges Klippen Belt

The significance of Late Devonian ophiolites in the Variscan orogen: a record from the Vosges Klippen Belt

Paleo-European crust of the Italian Western Alps: Geological history of the Argentera Massif and comparison with Mont Blanc-Aiguilles Rouges and Maures-Tanneron Massifs

The crystalline basement of the Adria microplate in the eastern Alps: a review of the palaeostructural evolution from the Neoproterozoic to the Cenozoic

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