Palaeostress and neotectonic analysis of sheared conglomerates: Southwest Alps and Southern Apennines

Geometrical and mechanical characteristics of the deformation of poorly cemented conglomerates are described. Using striated pebbles for analysis of palaeostresses, it is crucial to distinguish radial striation patterns, which result from deformation of the matrix around a rigid pebble, from unidirectional striation patterns that represent shear zones crossing the conglomeratic material. Examples of palaeostress determinations from striations of the latter type are given for extensional settings (Provence) and compressional settings (Southern Apennines, Southwest Alps). Their comparison with fault analyses in brittle rocks that underlie the conglomerates validates their usefulness for palaeostress analyses and suggests that some conglomerates behave as materials containing pre-existing surfaces of mechanical anisotropy that fail by sliding on some suitable oriented surfaces. These examples show that sheared conglomerates can be used for stratigraphic dating of the deformation, for studies of syndepositional deformation and for neotectonic analysis.