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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1989; v. 45; p. 339-352;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1989.045.01.19
© 1989 Geological Society of London

Models of the Development of the Alpine Chain

Plate-scale kinematics and compatibility of crustal shear zones in the Alps

R. Lacassin

Laboratoire de Tectonique, Mécanique de la Lithosphère; Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 4 pl. Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France

Crustal-scale thrusts of the western Alps are characterized by W to WNW directed movements of several hundreds of kilometres. In the internal zones, prominent lineations mark these slip directions. In the central Alps, coeval right-lateral strike slip (Insubric fault) and N-NNW vergent thrusting (Helvetic and more external thrusts) occurred during the upper Tertiary, on crustal-scale faults. It is proposed that WNW directed convergence between NW Apulia and Europe was accommodated mainly by the combination of movements on three first-order faults: in the central Alps, this oblique convergence is partitioned in two components (thrust and strike slip) at a deep fault bifurcation; in the western Alps, it accounts for the observed thrusts. This direction of convergence in the western and central Alps is markedly different from the coeval relative motion of Africa and Europe (N to NNW directed convergence). It implies either specific movements of Apulia with respect to Africa, or the lateral extrusion of NW Apulia during the indentation of the African promontory during the collision.





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