Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
In the external Western Alps, the collision started with the shortening of the proximal European (Dauphinois) margin. One peculiar feature is the crustal thickening that finally led to the exhumation of the basement External Crystalline Massifs (ECM) during the Neogene. In these massifs, various age of shortening, structural style and sequence of deformation have been proposed leading to different kinematics along the Alpine arc that in turn do not imply the same crustal/lithospheric strength. In this contribution, we present new structural and microstructural data along with Ar/Ar ages from field studies in the Oisans-Grandes Rousses massifs, between Grenoble and Briançon). From balanced cross-sections, we show that about half of the external zone crustal shortening is accommodated within the ECM with similar Ar/Ar ages in all massifs. Furthermore, the shear zones present very large thicknesses (several hundred meters) and do not reactivated either the inherited Liassic normal faults or the Variscan foliation. Finally, the main shortening structures are localized beneath inherited Liassic syn-rift basins. These results suggest that the crust was weak during its shortening. Such behavior is most likely due to the combination of several factors: the crust burial (below the overthrusting internal units) down to about 10km, the presence of weak inherited syn-rift basins, and the strain softening in shear zones that evolve in mica-rich phyllonites. These results are consistent with the studies in the Aar massif and should most likely apply to the Mont Blanc massif, whose relationships with its cover are still debated.
EGU General Assembly
Vienne, Austria

insu-00839426
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00839426
BIBCODE : 2013EGUGA..15.8837B

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : The Zagros Simply Folded Belt (ZSFB) is an active fold-and-thrust belt resulting from the still continuing continental collision between the Arabian plate and the Iranian plate, which probably started in the Oligocene. The present-day shortening (N25°) is well documented by focal mechanisms of earthquakes and global positioning system (GPS) surveys. We propose in this study a comparison of published palaeostress markers, including magnetic fabric, brittle deformation and calcite twinning data. In addition, we describe the magnetic fabric from Palaeocene carbonates (10 sites) and Mio-Pliocene clastic deposits (15 sites). The magnetic fabrics are intermediate, with magnetic foliation parallel to the bedding, and a magnetic lineation mostly at right angles to the shortening direction. This suggests that the magnetic fabric retains the record of an early layer-parallel shortening (LPS) that occurred prior to folding. The record of LPS allows the identification of originally oblique folds such as the Mand Fold, which have developed in front of the Kazerun Fault. The shape parameter of the magnetic fabric indicates a weak strain compatible with the development of detachment folds in the ZSFB. The palaeostress datasets, covering the Palaeocene to Pleistocene time interval, support several folding episodes accompanied by a counter-clockwise rotation of the stress field direction. The Palaeocene carbonates in the ZSFB record a N47 LPS during early to middle Miocene detachment folding in the High Zagros Belt (HZB). The Mio-Pliocene clastic deposits recorded a N38 LPS prior to and during detachment folding within the ZSFB at the end of the Miocene-Pliocene. Similarly, fault slip and calcite twin data from the ZSFB also support a counter-clockwise rotation from NE to N20 between the pre-folding stage and the late rejuvenation of folds. This counter-clockwise trend of palaeostress data agrees with fault slip data from the HZB. During the late stage of folding in the ZSFB, the Plio-Quaternary palaeostress trends are consistently parallel to the present-day shortening direction.
Tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of Zagros and Makran during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic

hal-00545036
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545036
DOI : 10.1144/SP330.6