Reply to the comment of Fügenschuh et al. on the paper ‘Estimating displacement along the Brenner Fault and orogen-parallel extension in the Eastern Alps’ by Rosenberg and Garcia, Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) (2011) 100:1129–1145

Abstract

Fugenschuh et al. (2011) question several aspects of our paper (Rosenberg and Garcia 2011) on the estimate of extension along the Brenner Fault (BF). First, they emphasize the necessity of a two-phase extensional model to understand exhumation of the footwall of the BF; second, they claim that the vertical offsets and extensional displacement calculated by Rosenberg and Garcia (2011) only refer to the brittle phase of the BF; third, they follow the new interpretations of Tochterle et al. (2011), inferring that the continuation of the Brenner ductile mylonites is located along the north-western border of the Tauern Window (TW); fourth, they present a new estimate of extension and of exhumation by folding and erosion based on the quantification of tectonic omissions. We discuss and reply to these four issues below.