The Western Alps from the Jurassic to Oligocene: spatio-temporal constraints and evolutionary reconstructions

Despite extensive research in the last 150 years, the regional tectonic reconstruction of the Western Alps has remained controversial. The curved orogenic belt consists of several ribbon-like continental terranes (Sesia/Austroalpine, Internal Crystalline Massifs, Briançonnais), which are separated by two or more ophiolitic sutures (Piemonte, Valais, Antrona?, Lanzo/Canavese?). High-pressure (HP) metamorphism of each terrane occurred during distinct orogenic episodes: at ∼65 Ma in the Sesia/Austroalpine, at ∼45 Ma in the Piemonte zone and at ∼35 Ma in the Internal Crystalline Massifs. It is suggested that these events reflect individual accretionary episodes, which together with kinematic indicators and the speed and direction of plate motions, provide constraints for the discussed reconstruction model. The model involves a prolonged orogenic history that took place during relative convergence of Europe and Adria (here considered as a promontory of the African plate). The first accretionary event involved the Sesia/Austroalpine terrane. Final closure of the Piemonte Ocean occurred during the Eocene (∼45 Ma) and involved ultra-high-pressure (UHP) metamorphism of the Piemonte oceanic crust. Incorporation of the Briançonnais terrane in the accretionary wedge occurred thereafter, possibly during or after subduction of the Valais Ocean in the late Eocene (45–35 Ma). This subduction was terminated at ca. 35 Ma, when the Internal Crystalline Massifs (i.e. the assumed internal parts of the Briançonnais terrane) were buried into great depths and underwent HP and UHP metamorphism.