Abstract
Late Cretaceous structures within the eastern Graz Paleozoic Nappe Complex define an extruding wedge with north-eastward directed thrusting in eastern portions and strike-slip shear along the margins. Stacking structures are overprinted by south-westward directed extension with low-grade metamorphic rocks in the hangingwall and high-grade basement rocks in the footwall. Pressure–temperature and structural data are obtained from successively opening quartz veins that record various stages of progressive deformation and metamorphism. Fluid inclusion data and related structures show that during extension isothermal decompression from ca. 550°C and 8 kbar down to ca. 450°C and 2 kbar was related to exhumation of rocks from deep crustal levels. The data point to a high geothermal gradient and explain condensed paleo-isotherms due to ductile normal faulting in the eastern areas of the Graz Paleozoic Nappe Complex. The investigated Late Cretaceous structural elements suggest that the Graz Paleozoic Nappe Complex decoupled from the surrounding basement units and operated as a large-scale extension–extrusion corridor that evolved prior to Miocene extrusion tectonics in the Eastern Alps.
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