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Post‐nappe brittle extension in the inner Western Alps (Schistes Lustrés) following late ductile exhumation: a record of synextension block rotation?
Author(s) -
Agard P.,
Fournier M.,
Lacombe O.
Publication year - 2003
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.1365-3121.2003.00498.x
Subject(s) - clockwise , geology , nappe , extensional definition , rotation (mathematics) , extension (predicate logic) , tectonics , brittleness , seismology , deformation (meteorology) , fault (geology) , block (permutation group theory) , paleontology , geodesy , geometry , materials science , oceanography , mathematics , computer science , composite material , programming language
Fault data collected from the Schistes Lustrés domain point to the existence of successive steps of deformation and indicate that extension is not multidirectional. This study underlines the continuity between the patterns of late brittle/ductile exhumation tectonics and brittle deformation, and strenghtens the view that extensional movements dominate in shallow levels of the inner Western Alps since at least 35–30 Ma. The progressive clockwise rotation of the earliest directions of extension with time is compatible with the amount of anticlockwise rotation from c . 35 Ma determined by recent palaeomagnetic studies, whereas the last documented N–S extension may reflect a short‐lived stage of orogen‐parallel extension.