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Ordovician orogeny in the Alps: a reappraisal

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Abstract

An important part of the pre-Mesozoic basement of the Alps is the product of orogenic processes occurred in Ordovician times. Most of the geological constrains for this reconstruction have been obtained by the study of the Strona-Ceneri zone in the Southern Alps, where Alpine overprint was weak. The erosion of late Pan-African belts delivered large amounts of greywackes and pelites into subduction zones along Gondwana. The sediments were subducted and accreted to form wide complexes. As a result of the large sediment input, subduction retreated and the mantle-derived magmas intruded the base of the fertile “mud pile.” This initiated substantial anatexis to produce peraluminous magmas, which intruded and extruded syntectonically. Thereby, the predominantly steeply structured subduction–accretion complex provided ideal pathways for the uprising magmas, and down-thrusting host rocks to result in an isostatically stable crust. The SE Australian Lachlan fold belt is interpreted as an upper crustal analog of the Strona-Ceneri zone. Based on the combination of their geology, a crustal profile through an Alaskan type of orogen is drawn.

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Acknowledgments

I want to thank Ivan Mercolli, my teacher who became the most important colleague for these works. His profound knowledge and enthusiasm for granites and gneisses allowed us to plunge deep into the crust and far back in time. I also thank Jürgen von Raumer, Leander Franz, and Cees van Staal for critical reading and valuable discussions. Many thanks belong to the members of the Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of Bern where I enjoyed my studies. I am thankful for the travel grant of the Swiss Academy of Sciences for academic studies and field excursions in Down Under during April and May of 1995. In the person of Erwin Scheibner, I had my base contact in Sydney. From there, I could join geologists from the Australian Geological Survey on their field trips, namely Richard Glen, Elisabeth Morgan, and Alice Warren. Ulricke Troitzsch guided me to the Cooma granodiorite. They and many more geologists at the universities between Sydney and Melbourne took their time to meet and were so kind to provide me with excursion guides, maps and papers, and most valuable hints for the best outcrops in the Lachlan fold belt. I am glad for the unforgettable meetings with Albert Streckeisen, Paul Greater, Tjerk Peters, Fred Barker, Keith Crook, Bruce Chappell, and Allan White. Their advice and support was greatest motivation.

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    Roger Zurbriggen

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Zurbriggen, R. Ordovician orogeny in the Alps: a reappraisal. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 104, 335–350 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-014-1090-x

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