Corsica-Sardinia Block Research Articles

Gravity field and geothermal structure of the Corsica‐Sardinia Block

AbstractThis paper presents a finite‐differences 3D numerical model that simulates the gravity and thermal structure of the Corsica‐Sardinia Block (CSB), an apparently stable lithospheric domain characterized by cryptic tectonic activity. In the experiments, we change the density and heat production rate of the model crust within a range of geologically realistic values to fit the measured Bouguer gravity anomaly and surface heat flow pattern. The discrepancy between the observed geophysical structure and the outcomes of numerical modelling are discussed in relation to the composition of the CSB crust and finally recast in the geodynamic framework of the western Mediterranean region.

The “underfilled trinity model” of foreland basins revisited: reality or myth?

The “underfilled trinity” model of foreland-basin stratigraphy was proposed based on the observation that the initial sedimentary stages along the western and northern front of the western and central Alps were represented by shallow-water carbonates (Calcaires à Nummulites) overlain by hemipelagic marls (Marnes Bleues) and capped by siliciclastic turbidites (Grès d’Annot). Subsequently, this model has been widely accepted and applied in foreland basins worldwide. We here re-investigated the Eocene-Oligocene sedimentary succession of the Western Alps to check its validity. Major geological features of this region include: i) the existence of a Cretaceous-Eocene unconformity spanning more than 25 Myr in the studied sections; ii) a virtually synchronous age of the Calcaires à Nummulites, Marnes Bleues, and Grès d’Annot formations across the Western Alps; iii) a long-term deepening-upward trend, from inner to outer ramp, documented by the Calcaires à Nummulites, followed by the pelagic Marnes Bleues and by the Grès d’Annot turbidites; iv) the provenance of the Grès d’Annot Formation from the Maures-Estérel Massif and/or Corsica-Sardinia block in the south, rather than from the Alpine orogen in the east. By integrating field observations, sedimentological, biostratigraphic, and provenance analyses, we found the Eocene “underfilled foreland” model too simplistic and inadequate to explain the basin evolution in the western Alpine region. Based on the alternative scenario proposed herein, the Annot and Barrême basins formed in the late Eocene (40-35 Ma) in an extensional/transtensional setting during a period of major change in tectonic stress fields across western Europe on the upper plate of the Apennine subduction.

Syntectonic magmatism and reactivation of collisional structures during late-Variscan shearing (SW Sardinia, Italy)

The Arbus igneous complex (SW Sardinia, Italy) represents a good example of a short time lived post-collisional composite pluton emplaced at shallow crustal level in the external zone of the Variscan chain. The pluton almost consists of granodiorite and leucogranite rock-suites emplaced at 304 ± 1 Ma within a main NW trending thrust separating the metamorphic wedge from the fold and thrust belt foreland. The pluton emplaced into a dilatational step over connecting two NW–SE dextral shear zones which belongs to a regional network of post-collisional strike-slip structures marking the transition from collision to post-collisional extension. The microstructure observed for quartz and K-feldspar confirms the lack of significant post-emplacement deformation, indicating only limited high-temperature sub-solidus recrystallization. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptivity data and field-structural analysis have been carried out to reconstruct the geometry of the pluton and the trajectories of magmatic flow in relation to regional deformation structures. Overall, the magmatic and the magnetic fabrics are broadly discordant with the metamorphic foliation of the country rocks, defining an EW trending elliptical asymmetric sill rooted in the SW quadrant. The reconstructed architecture combined to petrologic observation indicates that accretion of the pluton involved injection of multiple dykes through a sub-vertical feeder zone, combined to lateral flow of the roof controlled by inherited collisional structure. The duration of magmatic activity and the cooling history of the contact metamorphic aureole have been evaluated through a suite of 2D thermal models. All these observations, together with the available geochronological constraints are suggestive of very rapid construction of the pluton. The proposed emplacement model is fully consistent with the regional phase of strike-slip tectonics and widespread magmatism accommodating the large rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block during the Carboniferous-Permian transition.

Late orogenic tectonics in the Ligurian Alps (Italy): constraints from syntectonic sedimentary deposits at the top of an exhumed plate interface

ABSTRACT This new map at 1:25,000 scale covers an area in the Western Alps (Italy), where the HP metamorphic basement is covered by a (predominantly clastic) late- and post-orogenic upper Eocene-lower Miocene cover. This provides unequivocal evidence that exhumation of the metamorphic units was accomplished by the lower Oligocene. The basement is made up of tectonic units with different metamorphic peaks that coupled during the exhumation path. Both basement and cover are affected by long-wavelength, asymmetric folds and thrust faults with top-to-E-NE vergence; this deformation phase has long been interpreted as linked to the rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block and contemporary opening of the Liguro-Balearic basin and beginning of the Apennine orogeny. We particularly investigated some of these structures that crop out in the mapped area to give further constraints on their distribution, type and kinematics and to frame them in a larger picture of left-hand strike-slip tectonics.

Coeval Miocene development of thrust belt-backarc and forearc extension during the subduction of a continental margin (Western-Central Mediterranean Sea)

The position of the middle-upper Miocene volcanic arc, encompassing the Maghrebides, the Sardinia Channel and the Sardinia-Corsica block, implies that the Algerian and Tyrrhenian basins developed, respectively, as backarc and forearc extensional zones in the Western-Central Mediterranean. The opening of the Western-Central Mediterranean Neogene extensional basin has been commonly interpreted as a two-step process: the opening of the Provençal-Algerian basin during the early-middle Miocene, followed, in the late Miocene, by the formation of the Tyrrhenian Basin. This article is an attempt to synthesize knowledge about the hinge zone between Algerian and Tyrrhenian basins by combining the analysis of seismic reflection profiles with dredge and borehole data in order to investigate how the transition between the eastern Algerian backarc and Tyrrhenian forearc geodynamic settings took place. We identified three sectors: the western Tyrrhenian characterized by a Tortonian forearc extension; the Sardinia Channel, which preserves the architecture of the lower Miocene Maghrebian thrust belt formed during the collision between Europe and Africa plates; and the easternmost Algerian basin-Sicily Channel where a backarc–thrust belt system developed during the Tortonian stage. During the extensional events, we hypothesize the re-activation of inherited structures during Tortonian rifting, (that is a negative tectonic inversion of pre-existing Eocene and early Miocene thrust faults). The contemporaneity of two different geodynamic environments, the forearc extension in the northern area and backarc–thrust belt system in the southern area, can be directly related with a lateral variation of the lower plate paleogeography of the Africa continental margin. This evidence contributes to the understanding of how the paleogeography of the lower plate can control, to a certain extent, the tectonic evolution of the upper plate in a subduction setting.

3D crustal structure of the Ligurian Basin revealed by surface wave tomography using ocean bottom seismometer data

Abstract. The Liguro-Provençal basin was formed as a back-arc basin of the retreating Calabrian–Apennines subduction zone during the Oligocene and Miocene. The resulting rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia block is associated with rifting, shaping the Ligurian Basin. It is still debated whether oceanic or atypical oceanic crust was formed or if the crust is continental and experienced extreme thinning during the opening of the basin. We perform ambient noise tomography, also taking into account teleseismic events, using an amphibious network of seismic stations, including 22 broadband ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs), to investigate the lithospheric structure of the Ligurian Basin. The instruments were installed in the Ligurian Basin for 8 months between June 2017 and February 2018 as part of the AlpArray seismic network. Because of additional noise sources in the ocean, OBS data are rarely used for ambient noise studies. However, we carefully pre-process the data, including corrections for instrument tilt and seafloor compliance and excluding higher modes of the ambient-noise Rayleigh waves. We calculate daily cross-correlation functions for the AlpArray OBS array and surrounding land stations. We also correlate short time windows that include teleseismic earthquakes, allowing us to derive surface wave group velocities for longer periods than using ambient noise only. We obtain group velocity maps by inverting Green's functions derived from the cross-correlation of ambient noise and teleseismic events, respectively. We then used the resulting 3D group velocity information to calculate 1D depth inversions for S-wave velocities. The group velocity and shear-wave velocity results compare well to existing large-scale studies that partly include the study area. In onshore France, we observe a high-velocity area beneath the Argentera Massif, roughly 10 km below sea level. We interpret this as the root of the Argentera Massif. Our results add spatial resolution to known seismic velocities in the Ligurian Basin, thereby augmenting existing seismic profiles. In agreement with existing seismic studies, our shear-wave velocity maps indicate a deepening of the Moho from 12 km at the south-western basin centre to 20–25 km at the Ligurian coast in the north-east and over 30 km at the Provençal coast. The maps also indicate that the south-western and north-eastern Ligurian Basin are structurally separate. The lack of high crustal vP/vS ratios beneath the south-western part of the Ligurian Basin preclude mantle serpentinisation there.

Basin inversion: reactivated rift structures in the central Ligurian Sea revealed using ocean bottom seismometers

Abstract. The northern margin of the Ligurian Basin shows notable seismicity at the Alpine front, including frequent magnitude 4 events. Seismicity decreases offshore towards the Basin centre and Corsica, revealing a diffuse distribution of low-magnitude earthquakes. We analyse data of the amphibious AlpArray seismic network with focus on the offshore component, the AlpArray ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) network, consisting of 24 broadband OBSs deployed for 8 months, to reveal the seismicity and depth distribution of micro-earthquakes beneath the Ligurian Sea. Two clusters occurred between ∼ 10 km to ∼ 16 km depth below the sea surface, within the lower crust and uppermost mantle. Thrust faulting focal mechanisms indicate compression and an inversion of the Ligurian Basin, which is an abandoned Oligocene–Miocene rift basin. The basin inversion is suggested to be related to the Africa–Europe plate convergence. The locations and focal mechanisms of seismicity suggest reactivation of pre-existing rift-related structures. Slightly different striking directions of presumed rift-related faults in the basin centre compared to faults further east and hence away from the rift basin may reflect the counter-clockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia block. High mantle S-wave velocities and a low Vp/Vs ratio support the hypothesis of strengthening of crust and uppermost mantle during the Oligocene–Miocene rifting-related extension and thinning of continental crust.

Neo-deterministic seismic hazard assessment of Corsica-Sardinia block

The Corsica-Sardinia lithospheric block is commonly considered as a region of very low seismicity and the scarce reported seismicity for the area has till now precluded the reliable assessment of its seismic hazard. The time-honored assumption has been recently questioned and the historical seismicity of Sardinia has been reevaluated. Even more, several seismogenic nodes capable of M5 + have been recognized in the Corsica-Sardinia block exploiting the morphostructural zonation technique, calibrated to earlier results obtained for the Iberian peninsula, which has structural lithospheric affinities with the Corsica-Sardinia block. All this allows now for the computation of reliable earthquake hazard maps at bedrock conditions exploiting the power of Neo Deterministic Seismic Hazard Assessment (NDSHA) evaluation. NDSHA relies upon the fundamental physics of wave generation and propagation in complex geologic structures and generates realistic time series from which several earthquake ground motion parameters can be readily extracted. NDSHA exploits in an optimized way all the available knowledge about lithospheric mechanical parameters, seismic history, seismogenic zones and nodes. In accordance with continuum mechanics, the tensor nature of earthquake ground motion is preserved computing realistic signals using structural models obtained by tomographic inversion and earthquake source information readily available in literature. The way to this approach has been open by studies focused on continental Italy and Sicily, where the agreement between hazard maps obtained using seismogenic zones, informed by earthquake catalog data, and the maps obtained using only seismogenic nodes are very good.

On the seismic potential of the Corsica–Sardinia block

The Corsica–Sardinia lithospheric block is traditionally viewed as a region of notoriously low seismicity. Earthquake catalogs report only three moderate earthquakes in the range of magnitudes 5.0–5.1. The scarcity of documented seismicity in the region does not allow for the reliable assessment of the seismic hazard. In this paper, we make an attempt to evaluate the seismic potential of the Corsica–Sardinia region employing the morphostructural zoning (MSZ) that allows for the identification of locations of potential earthquakes. The MSZ delineates the hierarchical system of morphostructural blocks, the network of lineaments bounding the blocks, and the loci of nodes formed around intersections of lineaments. Nodes are treated as earthquake controlling structures. We have used the existing criteria of seismicity defined earlier for seismogenic (M5+) nodes in Iberia and the Western Alps with the goal to identify seismogenic nodes capable of generating earthquakes M5+ in the Corsica–Sardinia block. We test the criteria of seismicity for these regions relying on modern models of the Mediterranean geodynamics that view the eastern margin of Iberia and Provence adjacent to the Western Alps as locations of the Corsica–Sardinia block before drifting. Due to a common tectonic evolution the structure of the Corsica–Sardinia block is roughly similar in the basic features to the structural setting of Iberia and southern France. Out of the 81 nodes delineated by MSZ (deliberately ignoring the available earthquake catalogue) we identify 24 nodes capable of earthquakes M5+ using the criteria of seismicity defined for Iberia. Nodes hosting three documented M5+ earthquakes are assigned to seismogenic ones and most of the nodes accommodating smaller events with magnitudes 4.0–4.9 are also classified as seismogenic by pattern recognition. Applying the criteria of seismicity defined for the Western Alps, we have properly identified only two nodes hosting the documented M5+ earthquakes and missed practically all the nodes with smaller events. The performed analysis reveals that the criteria of seismicity defined for Iberia are more pertinent for the identification of seismogenic nodes in Corsica–Sardinia, because they recognize as seismogenic the nodes marked by documented earthquakes. Our study suggests that the seismic potential of the Corsica–Sardinia block can be specified as low-to-moderate. The defined locations of seismogenic nodes provide key information for knowledgeable long-term seismic hazard assessment of the region.

A Reappraisal of the Seismicity of Sardinia, Italy

Abstract In popular opinion, Sardinia is the only nonseismic region of Italy. Most researchers are likely to agree, up to a point. Geology-wise, the Sardinia–Corsica block is among the stablest areas of the Mediterranean. History-wise, up to 2011, only one Mw 5.1 event located offshore Sardinia was listed by Italian seismic catalogs (13 November 1948). Seismic networks record only a few, low energy (Mw<5) events, mostly located offshore and with little or no effects on land. Seismic hazard in Sardinia is very low. “Low,” yes, but not “totally lacking.” We present the results of a recent reappraisal of Sardinian seismicity. We gathered information on three major earthquakes (1616, 1771, and the 1948–1949 sequence). Another sequence (January–March 1901) was re-evaluated, identifying its previously unknown main event. It was confirmed that some earthquakes (1870, 1906, 1922, and 1924) had low magnitudes and scarce to nil macroseismic effects, whereas some other turned out either very doubtful or wholly fictitious (1835, 1838, 1855, and 1898). The seismic hazard of Sardinia can now be reassessed on a sounder basis than before. We hope that our work will help the people of Sardinia to improve their awareness of living in a seismic land, if with a low level of seismicity.

Evidence of two metamorphic cycles preserved in garnet from felsic granulite in the southern Variscan belt of Corsica, France

The Solenzara-Fautea unit is composed of Variscan migmatites and garnet-kyanite granulitic gneisses with pyroxenite boudins outcropping between the villages of Fautea and Solenzara in southeast Corsica. We investigated felsic granulite samples exposed at the seashore south of the village of Tarcu to improve existing pressure-temperature (P-T) estimates of the metamorphic evolution. Relictic garnet (Grt1) is overgrown by a second generation of garnet (Grt2) that also appears as small, euhedral crystals in the matrix. The P-T history of the gneiss was reconstructed on the basis of garnet composition and isochemical phase diagrams. Grt1 formed at 1.3–1.75 GPa, 650–700 °C, whereas Grt2 reflects higher temperature conditions between 750 and 800 °C at 0.9 GPa. The P-T conditions obtained for Grt2 formation are supported by the application of Zr-in-rutile thermometry yielding average temperatures of 708–719 °C at 0.9 GPa. Temperatures calculated with ternary feldspar thermometry on reintegrated feldspar compositions are in the range 745–812 °C. Although a precise P-T path could not be obtained, the microstructural evidences and new P-T estimates support two cycles on which each garnet type was formed by prograde metamorphism. We hypothesize that the felsic granulites were part of a series of metamorphic slices of the Variscan Corsica-Sardinia block which were involved into a sequence of deep crustal movements. According to existing geochronological data, the two metamorphic cycles are Variscan and occurred within the time frame 365–335 Ma.

Ion microprobe dating of fissure monazite in the Western Alps: insights from the Argentera Massif and the Piemontais and Brian\xe7onnais Zones

Ion probe 208Pb/232Th fissure monazite ages from the Argentera External Massif and from the high-pressure units of the Western Alps provide new insights on its Cenozoic tectonic evolution. Hydrothermal monazite crystallizes during cooling/exhumation in Alpine fissures, an environment where monazite is highly susceptible to fluid-mediated dissolution-(re)crystallization. Monazite growth domains visualized by BSE imaging all show a negative Eu anomaly, positive correlation of Sr and Ca and increasing cheralite component (Ca + Th replacing 2REE) with decreasing xenotime (Y) component. The huttonite component (Th + Si replacing REE and P) is very low. Growth domains record crystallization following chemical disequilibrium in a fissure environment, and growing evidence indicates that they register tectonic activity. Fissure monazite ages obtained in this study corroborate previous ages, recording crystallization at ~ 36 Ma, ~ 32–30 Ma, and ~ 25–23 Ma in the high-pressure regions of the Western Alps, interpreted to be respectively related to top-NNW, top-WNW and top-SW thrusting in association with strike-slip faulting. During this latter transpressive phase, younger fissure monazite crystallization is recorded between ~ 20.6 and 14 Ma in the Argentera Massif, interpreted to have occurred in association with dextral strike-slip faulting related to anticlockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia Block. This strike-slip activity is predating orogen-parallel dextral strike-slip movements along and through the internal part of all other External Crystalline Massifs (ECM), starting only at ~ 12 Ma. Our combined compositional and age data for hydrothermal monazite track crystallization related to tectonic activity during unroofing of the Western Alps for over more than 20 million years, offering chronologic insights into how different tectonic blocks were exhumed. The data show that fissures in the high-pressure units formed during greenschist to amphibolite facies retrograde deformation, and later in association with strike-slip faulting.

Timing and kinematics of flow in a transpressive dextral shear zone, Maures Massif (Southern France)

The Maures–Tanneron Massif and the Corsica–Sardinia Block are two segments of the southern European Variscan belt that separated during the Late Oligocene–Miocene due to the opening of the Western Mediterranean basin. Correlation between the two regions, based mainly on petrologic similarities, is still debated. However, there are no detailed structural and petrochronological constraints on their potential relationships. In northern Sardinia there is well-documented evidence for a dextral transpressive shear zone that initiated after the first stage of frontal collision. In the Maures–Tanneron Massif, despite recognition of an important episode of transpressive deformation, it is still unclear which structures were active during this tectonic regime. We investigate in detail the kinematic of flow, finite strain and the timing of the deformation of the Cavalaire “Fault” (CF), a major ductile shear zone in the Maures–Tanneron Massif. In contrast to previous models, we argue that the CF is a transpressive shear zone characterized by a prevalent component of pure shear, while in-situ monazite geochronology reveals that the CF is initiated at ~ 323 Ma. The new data presented here, based on a multidisciplinary approach document, for the first time, the vorticity of the flow, finite strain and timing of this sector of the East Variscan Shear Zone, a regional-scale shear zone that characterized the Southern European Variscan belt during the late Carboniferous.

Transfer zones and associated volcanic province in the eastern Valencia Basin: Evidence for a hot rifted margin?

The role of NW-SE transfer zones during the opening of the Northwestern Mediterranean Basin has long been evidenced, mostly from seismic-reflection and magnetic data. Each of these features corresponds to transverse basement steps and/or fractures controlling the progressive deepening from the Valencia Basin toward the center of the Liguro-Provençal Basin. The most important one, the North-Balearic-Fracture-Zone, accounts for the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block and separates the Valencia continental basin from the Liguro-Provençal oceanic basin. Another transfer zone, the Central Fracture Zone is the limit of the NE part of the Valencia Basin floored with volcanic basement. Further north, the Catalan Fracture Zone corresponds to a large scale transfer zone that limits between the eastern Pyrenees and the thinned crust of the Gulf of Lion. New observations on deep seismic lines show in detail the extent of a 1–3 km thick volcanic Province around the North-Balearic-Fracture-Zone. It includes the numerous volcanoes of the Valencia Basin mostly superimposed on the transverse fractures zones. The transfer zones are also characterized by narrow syn-rift grabens interpreted as transtensional pull-apart basins along the transfer faults. The transfer zones are associated at depth with domes uplifting the Moho, thinning locally the crust down to 3 km and exhuming deeper material. Deep reflections and thinning at the base of the crust draw extensional shear-zones and crustal boudins that, together with the large amount of syn-rift volcanism in the area, suggests a ductile behavior during early stage of extension. This ductile behavior has then evolved toward more brittle deformation and deposition of syn-rift sediments in asymmetric basins. The volcanic Province disappears in the distal prolongation of the Catalan Fracture Zone that we observe and characterize for the first time. Here a thin crust with flat top consists of westward-dipping reflections in the upper part, rooted in reflective layers. This crust passes laterally to the type II exhumed domain of the Liguro-Provençal Basin and to the oceanic domain to the south. Three crustal domains can thus be distinguished in the transition between the Valencia and Liguro-Provençal Basins illustrating the complex 3D deformation of the area.

Towards a Southern European Tethyan Palaeomargin provenance signature: sandstone detrital modes and detrital zircon U–Pb age distribution of the Upper Cretaceous–Paleocene Monte Bignone Sandstones (Ligurian Alps, NW Italy)

Constraining the source terranes of Alpine siliciclastic flysch sequences is crucial for building a clearer picture of the palaeogeography and geodynamic evolution of the Western Tethys in the framework of impending continental collision. This paper presents an integrated study that involves palaeocurrent dispersal analysis, sandstone petrography and detrital zircon geochronology of the Upper Cretaceous–Paleocene Monte Bignone Sandstones, a siliciclastic turbidite system deposited during the pre-collisional evolution of the Ligurian Alps. Palaeocurrent analysis illustrates an overall eastward transport of the proximal sediments in the present configuration. Considering the ca. 45°–50° counter-clockwise rotation of the Tertiary Piedmont Basin and of the Corsica–Sardinia block in the late Paleogene, this indicates the derivation of the sediments from the northern margin of the Piedmont–Ligurian Ocean. Sandstone petrography records a stratigraphic evolution from quartzose sandstones towards lithic and then to lithic sub-arkosic composition. This trend is interpreted to reflect the gradual unroofing of the provenance terrane. The lithotypes of the recycled sedimentary rock fragments and the up-section increase in dolostone and carbonate clast proportions suggest the erosion of the sedimentary cover of the southern European palaeo-margin. New geochronological data (U–Pb detrital zircon ages) correspond to the pre-Alpine stages of crustal growth recorded in the Variscan Maures-Tanneron Massif, and therewith confirm the derivation of the sediments from the passive palaeo-European margin. This conclusion highlights the importance of the lower plate in providing the source of coarse-clastic deep-water successions during pre-collisional convergent steps. Results from this multi-proxy provenance analysis contribute to better defining the detrital signatures associated to the continental micro-fragments that constituted the palaeo-European plate as it supplied deep-sea siliciclastic sediments into the Piedmont–Ligurian Ocean prior to continental collision.

Minorca, an exotic Balearic island (western Mediterranean)

Despite forming part of the Balearic group of islands, Minorca differs stratigraphically and structurally from Majorca and Ibiza: i) Paleozoic rocks are abundant in Minorca but are very scarce in Majorca and are absent in Ibiza. Eocene-Oligocene sediments are virtually absent in Minorca but crop out extensively in Majorca, ii) Contractional structures in Minorca differ in direction (aligned SW-NE in Majorca and Ibiza and N-S in Minorca) and in age from those in Majorca and Ibiza. In addition, Paleozoic deposits of Minorca do not correlate with those of Sardinia, where in addition the Triassic sediments are not very abundant. Contractional deformation in Sardinia is in part older (late Eocene-early Miocene) than in Minorca (early Miocene?). Given its Neogene clockwise rotation, Minorca cannot be considered a small block dragged by the early Miocene counter clockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block. Furthermore, the Paleozoic and Mesozoic stratigraphy of Minorca (siliciclasticlate Paleozoic rocks, Triassic Germanic facies and Jurassic carbonates) has affinities with that of the southern part of the Catalan Coastal Ranges. Thus, of all the Balearic islands, Minorca seems to have traveled the farthest during the Valencia Trough rifting with the result that it resembles an exotic island forming part of the Balearic foreland.

On the systematic position of the oldest insular ruminant Sardomeryx oschiriensis (Mammalia, Ruminantia) and the early evolution of the Giraffomorpha

Sardomeryx oschiriensis is the oldest insular ruminant known (Burdigalian of Oschiri, Sardinia, Italy). Only two isolated upper dentitions compose the type material. The first phylogenetic hypothesis proposed Sardomeryx to be closely related to the Giraffoidea and especially the Late Miocene Sardinian derived giraffid Umbrotherium. Description of new specimens from Laerru (Burdigalian, Sardinia, Italy), including lower teeth and decidual premolars, leads to a reinterpretation of the phylogenetic position of Sardomeryx and of the early evolutionary history of the Giraffomorpha. Based on our phylogenetic hypothesis, Sardomeryx is nested within the Giraffomorpha as a basal Palaeomerycoidea. Sardomeryx may have originated from south-western Europe before the separation of the Corsica-Sardinia Block during the earliest Miocene. The enigmatic latest Oligocene Bedenomeryx from the south-west France is also considered as a basal (and the most ancient) member of the Palaeomerycoidea. Including Bedenomeryx in the Palaeomerycoidea lineage would place the origin of the Giraffoidea, the sister family of Palaeomerycoidea, within the Oligocene. Bedenomeryx is characteristic of arid south-western France, directly echoing the advanced condition observed in the Sardomeryx dentition (e.g. high crowned teeth, absence of the external postprotocristid on lower molar, reduction in length of the premolar row) typical for insular ruminants in arid environments.

Origin of exotic clasts in the Central-Southern Apennines: clues to the Cenozoic fold-and-thrust collisional belt in the Central Mediterranean area

AbstractThe Central-Southern Apennines are the result of the collision between Europe and Africa. Despite the volume of existing literature, many problems remain unsolved such as the presence of Tertiary conglomerates containing exotic basement clasts. The lack of basement rocks in the Central-Southern Apennines implies that the origin of these clasts has to be sought in areas where the basement is extensively exposed. These include the Calabro–Peloritani arc and the Sardinia–Corsica block, which in Cenozoic time were connected to the Central-Southern Apennines. In this work we present the results of sedimentary, geochemical and petrographic analyses performed on the exotic basement-derived clasts. These analyses include lithological, major- and minor-element and rare Earth element compositions which are compared to analogous rocks from Calabria and Sardinia basements. Results indicate Eastern Sardinia as the primary source area for the studied conglomeratic units, linking the Central-Southern Apennines sedimentary cover to the Mesozoic carbonates of Eastern Sardinia prior to the opening of Tyrrhenian Sea. The Cilento unit (Campania) was directly fed by an uplifting Cenozoic orogen, and the Filettino, Gavignano (Latium) and Ariano Irpino (Campania) units were produced by the successive reworking of ‘Cilento-like’ sedimentary units. These results may imply that part of the Central-Southern Apennines represented a portion of the European margin of the Tethys.

Age of UHP metamorphism in the Western Mediterranean: Insight from rutile and minute zircon inclusions in a diamond-bearing garnet megacryst (Edough Massif, NE Algeria)

Diamond-bearing UHP metamorphic rocks witness for subduction of lithospheric slabs into the mantle and their return to shallow levels. In this study we present U–Pb and trace elements analyses of zircon and rutile inclusions from a diamond-bearing garnet megacryst collected in a mélange unit exposed on the northern margin of Africa (Edough Massif, NE Algeria). Large rutile crystals (up to 300 μm in size) analyzed in situ provide a U–Pb age of 32.4±3.3 Ma interpreted as dating the prograde to peak subduction stage of the mafic protolith. Trace element analyses of minute zircons (≤30 μm) indicate that they formed in equilibrium with the garnet megacryst at a temperature of 740–810 °C, most likely during HP retrograde metamorphism. U–Pb analyses provide a significantly younger age of 20.7±2.3 Ma attributed to exhumation of the UHP units. This study allows bracketing the age of UHP metamorphism in the Western Mediterranean Orogen to the Oligocene/early Miocene, thus unambiguously relating UHP metamorphism to the Alpine history. Exhumation of these UHP units is coeval with the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia block and most likely resulted from subduction rollback that was driven by slab pull.

Ivrea mantle wedge, arc of the Western Alps, and kinematic evolution of the Alps–Apennines orogenic system

The construction of five crustal-scale profiles across the Western Alps and the Ivrea mantle wedge integrates up-to-date geological and geophysical information and reveals important along strike changes in the overall structure of the crust of the Western Alpine arc. Tectonic analysis of the profiles, together with a review of the existing literature allows for proposing the following multistage evolution of the arc of the Western Alps: (1) exhumation of the mantle beneath the Ivrea Zone to shallow crustal depths during Mesozoic is a prerequisite for the formation of a strong Ivrea mantle wedge whose strength exceeds that of surrounding mostly quartz-bearing units, and consequently allows for indentation of the Ivrea mantle wedge and eastward back-thrusting of the western Alps during Alpine orogeny. (2) A first early stage (pre-35 Ma) of the West-Alpine orogenic evolution is characterized by top-NNW thrusting in sinistral transpression causing at least some 260 km displacement of internal Western Alps and E-W-striking Alps farther east, together with the Adria micro-plate, towards N to NNW with respect to stable Europe. (3) The second stage (35–25 Ma), further accentuating the arc, is associated with top-WNW thrusting in the external zones of the central portion of the arc and is related to the lateral indentation of the Ivrea mantle slice towards WNW by some 100–150 km. (4) The final stage of arc formation (25–0 Ma) is associated with orogeny in the Apennines leading to oroclinal bending in the southernmost Western Alps in connection with the 50° counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block and the Ligurian Alps. Analysis of existing literature data on the Alps–Apennines transition zone reveals that substantial parts of the Northern Apennines formerly suffered Alpine-type shortening associated with an E-dipping Alpine subduction zone and were backthrusted to the NE during Apenninic orogeny that commences in the Oligocene.