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Palaeomagnetic evidence for late Miocene rotation of the Swiss Alps: results from the north Alpine foreland basin
Author(s) -
Oliver Kempf,
Fritz Schlunegger,
P. Strunck,
Albert Matter
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3121.1998.00164.x
Subject(s) - foreland basin , molasse , geology , clockwise , paleontology , structural basin , tectonics , magnetostratigraphy , neogene , paleomagnetism , late miocene , rotation (mathematics) , geometry , mathematics
Magnetostratigraphic studies in the Oligocene to Miocene north Alpine foreland basin of Switzerland suggest a post‐middle Miocene (< 13 Ma) clockwise rotation of the Swiss Alps. The angle of rotation is 16–17° with respect to the present‐day earth's magnetic field. This rotation can be observed in 12 sections analysed for palaeomagnetic directions which cover a lateral distance of ≈ 250 km (SW–NE extension). The rotation angle shows neither a significant change throughout the examined period of deposition, nor is it dependent on the tectonic position of the individual regions in the basin (autochthonous or allochthonous Molasse).