Mesoscopic faults in the Bregaglia (Bergell) massif, Central Alps

Abstract

The strike, direction of dip and pitch of the striae along mesoscopic faults in the Oligocene granodiorite-tonalite of Val Masino-Val Bregaglia (Bergell) are analysed. Most fault planes are steeply dipping, and show strike-slip or oblique-slip motion. Dominant strikes are NNW or NNE. A relative chronology of fault sets is suggested based on the presence of different minerals (chlorite and epidote) on fault planes. The pattern of mesoscopic faults in the Val Masino-Val Bregaglia massif does not follow the earlier tectonic trends of the Pennidic nappe edifice, nor even the trend of the nearby section of the Insubric Line considered at both regional and mesoscopic scales. The mesoscopic analysis of the Val Masino-Val Bregaglia massif thus reveals a fault system largely oblique to the major Alpine lineaments. The observed fault pattern does not reveal traces of thrusting referable to late Alpine orogenic phases, and can be related to subsequent deformation, dominated by strike-slip movements; this pattern does not match the traditional schemes of extensional dip-slip faulting following orogenesis. It records a stage of tectonic evolution which follows nappe emplacement, yet it precedes vertical or extensional post-orogenic tectonics.