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Archimedes revisited: a structural test of eclogite emplacement models in the Austrian Alps
Author(s) -
Behrmann J.H.,
Ratschbacher L.
Publication year - 1989
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 - 10.1111/j.1365-3121.1989.tb00365.x
Subject(s) - eclogite , geology , underplating , deformation (meteorology) , crust , tectonics , denudation , petrology , seismology , geochemistry , subduction , oceanography
High‐pressure rocks of the eclogite zone (Tauern Window, Eastern Alps) formed at 20 kb/600°C. Uplift was fast without post‐burial heating. Extensive near‐field and far‐field deformation of the eclogite zone and its surroundings provide evidence for a tectonic uplift mechanism. Published emplacement models (buoyant rise, underplating and extension, wrench faulting) create distinct patterns of crustal deformation, and are therefore testable by structural analysis. We show that emplacement‐related deformation and its kinematics are consistent with underplating and extension. Extension is two‐phased. The first phase may be driven by changes in rate or direction of plate convergence. The second phase is due to large‐scale underplating of continental crust.