Fault reactivation and propagation in the northern Adamello pluton: The structure and kinematics of a kilometre-scale seismogenic source

Abstract

The northern Adamello batholith (European Southern Alps) is crosscut by E-W trending pseudotachylyte-bearing paleoseismic fault zones composed of multiple subparallel fault strands. The main faults are the Gole Strette Fault Zone (GSFZ), here discussed in detail, and the Gole Larghe Fault Zone (GLFZ). The western ending of the GSFZ intersects the propagation of the Gallinera Thrust, a regional structure of Late Cretaceous age, which was truncated and dismembered by the late Eocene - early Oligocene emplacement of the Adamello batholith. Fault slip analysis and paleostress reconstruction suggest that the GSFZ and the Gallinera Thrust were both active during dextral transpression related with Oligocene orogen-parallel shearing along the Periadriatic Fault System. The remnants of the Gallinera Thrust within the Adamello were reactivated as dextral-reverse faults and do not include pseudotachylytes. The pseudotachylyte-bearing GSFZ shows changing structural features from west to east: the fault dip angle decreases from 80° to 45°, the slip vector passes from strike-slip (pitch of 20°) to oblique (pitch of 35° to 45°), and the fault zone thickness increases (> 800 m at the intersection with the GLFZ). The GSFZ is an immature and strong fault as indicated by (i) the local geometry controlled by precursor joints; (ii) the along-strike segmentation; and (iii) the spread of seismogenic faults into wide fault zones.