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Geological Society, London, Special Publications Foreland basin evolution around the western Alpine Arc Mary Ford and W. Henry Lickorish Geological Society, London, Special Publications 2004; v. 221; p. 39-63 doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.2004.221.01.04

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© 2004 Geological Society of London

Foreland basin evolution around the western Alpine Are MARY

F O R D 1'2 & W. H E N R Y

L I C K O R I S H 1'3

1Geologisches Institut, E T H , Sonneggstrasse 5, CH-8092, Z~rich, S w i t z e r l a n d 2 C R P G - E N S G , ]5 rue N o t r e dame des Pauvres, B.P. 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre-lbs-Nancy Cedex, France 3School o f Earth Sciences, University o f Leeds, Leeds L S 2 P J T , U K Abstract: The arcuate form of the external western Alps was generated during Tertiary NW-directed collision between the Apulian indentor and the southward-subducting European passive margin. The evolution of peripheral syn-collisional depocentres around this arcuate orogen (in France and Switzerland) is reconstructed using a compilation of stratigraphic and tectonic data. This reveals fundamental changes in the flexural behaviour of the European lithosphere during collision. During early collision (Eocene), an increasingly arcuate, peripheral flexural basin migrated rapidly NW across the European plate. During peak collision (early Oligocene), frontal flexure, recorded in the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB), steepened markedly, while lateral flexure of the European plate, affecting SE France, effectively ceased. Here, Oligocene sedimentation was confined to small thrust-sheet-top basins. Two rift systems initiating in the late Eocene, the West European rift system and the West Mediterranean oceanic basin (that created the Gulf of Lion passive margin), are superimposed in space and time on the outer margins of the alpine flexural depocentres. During waning collision (Mio-Pliocene) the NAFB became overfilled, then uplifted and abandoned while, in SE France, a local depocentre (Digne-Valensole) developed between uplifting blocks and continued to accumulate sediments until the late Pliocene.

Foreland basins form in front of mountain belts due to the regional isostatic (flexural) response of the lithosphere to the migrating orogenic load (Beaumont 1981; Jordan & Flemings 1991). It is now well established that the two-dimensional geometry and stratigraphy of a foreland basin is controlled primarily by the flexural strength of the lithosphere and the magnitude, geometry and rate of migration of the orogenic load. Secondary controls include the history of sedimentation (including sea level variations) and erosional unloading of thrust sheets (e.g. Beaumont 1981; Jordan 1981; Karner & Watts 1983; Flemings & Jordan 1989, 1990; Sinclair et al. 1991; Toth et al. 1996). Three-dimensional variations in these parameters can also be detected in the lateral variations in foreland geometry and stratigraphy (McNutt et al. 1988; Johnson & Beaumont 1995; Sinclair 1996; Matenco et al. 1997). The three-dimensional evolution of flexural basins around arcuate orogens raises spatial, temporal and mechanical questions; for example, how can a continental lithosphere accommodate an increasingly arcuate flexure? The degree of curvature (in map form) observed in present-day or reconstructed arcuate foreland basins has been used by McNutt et al. (1988) and Sinclair (1996) to calculate the elastic thickness of the foreland plate, using a model in which an elastic lithospheric

plate responds to a point load by arcuate flexure in three dimensions. The western Alps describe a 90 ° primary arc that developed during the Cenozoic collision of the Apulian (or Adriatic) microplate with the southward-subducting European passive margin (Dewey et al. 1989; Platt et al. 1989a,b; Vialon et al. 1989; Lickorish et al. 2002). In front of (i.e. north of) the western Alps, the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) developed as a peripheral foreland basin (Dickinson 1974; Johnson & Beaumont 1995). The oldest strata of this basin are found in the Helvetic nappes of Switzerland and the Northern Subalpine chains to the west in France. With over 5km of clastic stratigraphy, this basin has become one of the best-known examples of a flexural foreland basin (e.g. Matter et al. 1980; Allen et al. 1985; Homewood et al. 1986; Sinclair et al. 1991). On the southwestern side of the Alpine arc, remnants of Tertiary depocentres in the Southern Subalpine chains (SSC; Fig. 1), containing the Gr6s d'Annot and Gr6s de Champsaur, also formed part of this alpine foreland basin system (e.g. Gigot et al. 1974; Elliott et al. 1985; Pairis 1988; Vially 1994; Ford et al. 1999). Can we use these Tertiary strata to reconstruct the flexural behaviour of the European plate during collision with the Adriatic indentor? Do they record the development of a continuous

From: JOSEPH, P. & LOMAS, S. A. (eds) 2004. Deep-Water Sedimentation in the Alpine Basin of SE France." New perspectives on the Grbs d'Annot and related systems. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 221, 39-63. 0305-8719/03/$15.00 © The Geological Society of London.

40

M. F O R D & W. H. LICKORISH

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FORELAND BASIN EVOLUTION, WESTERN ALPINE ARC flexural basin around the alpine arc during collision? Can the foreland basin history be correlated with the evolution of the internal alpine zones? To address these questions, this paper reconstructs the development of Tertiary depocentres around the arc using a compilation of stratigraphic and tectonic data. Tertiary basin evolution can be divided into four stages that reflect the changing flexural behaviour of the European plate during collision and can also be correlated to major geodynamic events within the orogen itself. We show that, during early collision (Eocene), an increasingly arcuate flexural basin migrated rapidly NW across the European passive margin. During peak collision (early Oligocene), frontal flexure (i.e. the NAFB) increased markedly, while lateral flexure of the European plate (SE France) effectively ceased. Two rift systems, the West European rift system and the West Mediterranean oceanic basin (Gulf of Lion passive margin), are superimposed in space and time on these flexural depocentres around the Alps. Thus, thermal subsidence of the Gulf of Lion passive margin, coupled with a eustatic sea level rise, caused marine conditions to extend northward into the NAFB during the Burdigalian. During waning collision (late Miocene-Pliocene) the NAFB was uplifted and abandoned due to outward migration of the deformation front and uplift of all external alpine zones.

Regional structure F r o n t a l Alps." N o r t h A l p i n e F o r e l a n d Basin, H e l v e t i c a n d N o r t h e r n S u b a l p i n e Chains

The North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB), borders the Central Alps from the Haute Savoie

41

region in France to Vienna in Austria (Fig. la). The basin is quite narrow around Lake Leman (Figs 1, 2) but gradually widens eastward to a maximum width of 150 km in southern Germany. In cross-section, the basin is wedge-shaped (Fig. 2a,b), with its basement dipping south to reach depths of up to 7.5kin below sea level under the external Helvetic nappes (Fig. 2a) and Prealps (Fig. 2b; Milnes & Pfiffner 1977; Trfimpy 1980; Homewood et al. 1986; Pfiffner 1986; Pfiffner et al. 1997). Early (Eocene) stratigraphic units of the NAFB are preserved within the Helvetic nappes and Infrahelvetic thrust sheets. Younger basin stratigraphy (Oligocene-Miocene) is over 5kin thick and relatively undeformed (plateau molasse) except within the imbricated Subalpine Molasse zone (Figs 1, 2). The Helvetic nappes and Northern Subalpine Chains developed principally during the Oligocene and early Miocene (Guellec et al. 1990; Pfiffner et al. 1997). The Jura fold belt developed from Late Miocene to Pliocene ( l l - 3 M a ) , recording 25-35 km of NW-directed shortening (Fig. la; Burkhard 1990; Philippe et al. 1996; Hindle & Burkhard 1999). Fission track studies (Hunziker et al. 1997) show that, at the same time, the external crystalline massifs (e.g. Aar and Aiguilles Rouges) were exhumed due to thrusting toward the NW of between 25 and 50km (Burkhard 1999). In eastern and central Switzerland, time-equivalent shortening within the Subalpine molasse is estimated as 25-27 km. This shortening may root back below the Aar massif (Burkhard 1990; Schmid et al. 1997). Estimates from cross-section restoration of north-directed shortening in the eastern Helvetic nappes have not been forthcoming, due to difficulties in stratigraphic correlation between the various nappes, the presence of up to five deformation phases (Milnes & Pfiffner 1977) and local complexities of out-of-sequence thrusting (Burkhard 1999). An estimate of l l 2 k m

Fig. 1. (a) Simplified geological map of the Western Alps showing principal tectonic units and Tertiary depocentres. In the external zones, Mesozoic palaeo-normal faults are unticked heavy dashed lines; major thrusts are ticked heavy dashed lines, important structural trends are fine lines. The three cross-sections in Figure 2 are shown as lines A-A', B-B' and C-C'. Names of external crystalline massifs are: M-E, MauresEsterel; Ar, Argentera; P, Pelvoux; B, Belledonne; AR, Aiguilles Rouges; MB, Mont Blanc. Other abbreviations are SSC, Southern Subalpine Chains; NSC, Northern Subalpine Chains; NAFB, Northern Alpine Foreland Basin, VI, Val d'Illiez; DF, Durance Fault. Boreholes in Figure 3 are LI (Linden 1; Maurer et al. 1978), K (Kusnacht), T (Tiefenbrfinnen) and W (Waiech; Naef et al. 1985). (b) Geological map of SE France showing the principal structures of the Southern Subalpine Chains, Tertiary outliers, the position of the 10 stratigraphic profiles shown in Figure 3 and the section line shown in Figure 2c. Abbreviations are as follows: A1, Allons; An, Annot; Ar, Argens; Ba, Bauges; Bo, Bornes; Ca, Cayolle; Ch, Champsaur; Chart., Chartreuse; DT, Digne Thrust; Es, Esparron; FPT, Frontal Pennine Thrust; FPF, Frontal Pennine Fault; FT, Faucon-Turriers; GC, Grand Coyer; LL, Lake Leman; M, Majestre; MDT, Median D+voluy Thrust; P, Peyresq; SM, Subalpine Molasse; SB, Soleil Boeuf; SA, Saint Antonin; VF, Var Fault.

42

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FORELAND BASIN EVOLUTION, WESTERN ALPINE ARC (Pfiffner 1986; Sinclair 1997a) must be taken as a minimum, as it represents only thrust front advance. In western Switzerland, Burkhard & Sommaruga (1998) estimate a total NW-directed shortening in the external zones, including the Jura fold belt, of 75-130km. The Northern Subalpine Chains of France include the massifs of Bornes, Bauges, Chartreuse and Vercors (Fig. 1). Shortening gradually decreases toward the SW to 40 km in the Vercors and the direction of shortening changes from WNW in the Bornes area to W in the Vercors (Philippe et al. 1996, 1998; Beck et al. 1998; Lickorish et al. 2002). The N-S-trending thrusts of the Vercors massif die out southward into the Diois-Baronnies region. The most external Jura structures are superimposed on the southern margin of the Rhine graben and the eastern margin of the Bresse and Valence basins (Fig. 1). These basins form part of the West European rift system that developed from the latest Eocene to the Miocene due to WNW-ESE extension along the western and northern periphery of the Alpine orogen (Fig. 1; Ziegler 1988; Bergerat et al. 1990; Rouchy 1997; Merle & Michon 2001). Late uplift of the Massif Central is associated with extensive late Miocene-Holocene volcanism. W e s t e r n s i d e w a l l o f the A l p s : S o u t h e r n S u b a l p i n e chains, S E F r a n c e

The SW-SSW-directed shortening of the Southern Subalpine chains (SSC) can be traced from the D6voluy massif southward to the Castellane arc in SE France (Fig. lb). This fold and thrust belt developed from late Eocene to Pliocene times and is characterized by a Triassic evaporitic detachment (Goguel 1963; Lemoine 1973; Siddans 1979; Fry 1989). Sequential restoration of a NE-SW-trending cross-section (Fig. 2c) gives between 21.5 and 26 km shortening (Lickorish & Ford 1998; Ritz 1991). The thrust belt is dominated by the Digne thrust sheet, an inverted Liassic half-graben (Gidon 1975). The Digne thrust itself accommodated at least 10km SW-SSW displacement and dies out northward into the Median D6voluy Fault, with only 2-3 km of WSW to W displacement (Meckel et al. 1996). The Embrunais-Ubaye (EU) nappes comprise the Helminthoid flysch nappes and their associated Subbrianconnais and Brianconnais imbricates (Figs l b and 2c). These were emplaced onto the SSC below sea level in the early Oligocene as evidenced by the olistostromic Schistes A Blocs at the base of the

43

nappes (Kerckhove 1969; Merle & Brun 1984). Fission track studies have shown that the Pelvoux and Argentera external crystalline massifs were exhumed in late Miocene to Pliocene times (Fig. 1; Mansour et al. 1992; Seward et al. 1999). Late displacement on the Digne thrust may have rooted back below these exhuming basement massifs (Lickorish & Ford 1998). The Frontal Pennine Fault records significant late (Pliocene-Holocene) normal displacement (Tricart et al. 1996). Isolated remnants of Tertiary depocentres are preserved within the SSC from D6voluy to the south coast (Fig. lb). These deposits become progressively younger toward the foreland (Figs lb and 3b; Elliott et al. 1985). The SSC curves to the south into the Castellane arc where E-W-trending structures record approximately 17kin of mainly Miocene shortening (Dardeau 1988; Laurent et al. 2000). The Castellane arc structures themselves link eastward into the north-south structures of the Tertiary Nice Arc (Bulard et al. 1975). The Gulf of Lion and its onshore satellite Tertiary basins (e.g. Camargue, Al~s, Manosque, Figs 1, 4) represent the NE-SW-trending passive margin of the Western Mediterranean oceanic basin (Provenqal basin), which opened from the late Oligocene to the Pliocene due to the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block (Vially & Tr6moli6res 1996; S6ranne 1999; Guennoc et al. 2000). Thermal subsidence on this passive margin began in the Burdigalian. As in the rest of the Mediterranean, this margin and the Rhone valley were profoundly affected by Messinian ravinement with subsequent deposition of thick evaporates (Guennoc et al. 2OOO).

Tertiary stratigraphy around the Alpine arc The lithostratigraphy of the NAFB has been extensively described in the literature and summaries are available for the Swiss part of the basin in Matter et al. (1980), Trtimpy (1980), Pfiffner (1986), Homewood et al. (1986), Sinclair et al. (1991), Burkhard & Sommaruga (1998), and for the French part of the basin in Debrand-Passard et al. (1984), Guellec et al. (1990), Allen & Bass (1993) and Deville et al. (1994). Forebulge erosion and onlap have been documented in eastern Switzerland, where the northern border of the Eocene foreland basin is largely preserved (e.g. Sinclair et al. 1991; Crampton & Allen 1995; Allen et al. 2001). The foreland basin succession lies unconformably

44

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increased as o r o g e n relief increased. This period corresponds to the accretionary, or early collision stage ( 5 0 - 3 5 M a ) , described by Schmid et al. (1996), involving a plate convergence rate o f 15 ram/yr. D u r i n g this stage o f low orogenic relief, m a x i m u m eclogite facies m e t a m o r p h i s m occurred (25-30kbars) within the subduction zone followed by very rapid e x h u m a t i o n of

56

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Fig. 9. Graph of time against distance showing the migration of the northern margin of the NAFB throughout the Tertiary on three NW-SE profiles, indicated on Figure 8. Alpine shortening has been restored. Between the Lutetian and the end Chattian the eastern profile shows a migration rate of 6 mm/yr, the central profile, 9.3 mm/yr and the western profile 9.6 mm/yr. From the Aquitanian through the early and mid Miocene, the basin margin was more or less stationary. Jura thrusting, starting at 1l Ma, uplifted the basin and terminated sedimentation. Compiled from Berger (1996), Berger (2000, EUCOR-U RGENT website), Burkhard & Sommaruga (1998), Debrand-Passard et al. (1984). high pressure and ultra-high pressure rocks (Duchene et al. 1997; Wheeler et al. 2001). (2) In the early Oligocene, the frontal foreland system became disconnected from the SSC in SE France. In the frontal NAFB, subsidence and sedimentation increased dramatically during the Oligocene (34-24 Ma). The basin became overfilled as flexure of the European plate became more pronounced. In contrast to previous models (e.g. Sinclair & Allen 1992), Figures 8 and 9 indicate that migration of the northern limit of the NAFB did not slow down significantly during, or after, peak collision in the early Oligocene, but, rather, continued to migrate NW at a rate of, on average, 6-9 ram/ yr. This migration ended in the Aquitanian, after which time the northern basin margin became more or less stationary. In SE France, exotic flysch nappes were emplaced over the Eocene foreland basin without any detectable flexural response of the European plate. With sedimentation confined to small thrust-sheet-top basins, SE France effectively became the abandoned sidewall of the orogen. The continuing NW-directed contraction within the orogen requires the development of a N W SE-oriented zone of sinistral transpression or shear along its western border (Fig. 5; Lickorish et al. 2002). Between 35Ma and 30Ma, the plate convergence rate in the central Alps decreased to 5.5mm/yr (Schmid et al. 1996). Small granite intrusions were emplaced along

the Insubric Line and major backthrusting (retrocharriage) began in the internal zones. Due to excessive tectonic thickening, orogen relief became pronounced, thus increasing erosion and sediment supply to the NAFB. The cause of this major change in orogen geodynamics at the beginning of the Oligocene is controversial. We propose that the same process that caused major changes in the geodynamics of the internal orogenic zones was also responsible for the changes in the flexural behaviour of the European plate. Was peak collision caused by some major lithospheric-scale event, such as slab break-off (von Blankenburg & Davies 1995), or the passage of the orogenic wedge over the hinge line of the European passive margin (Sinclair 1997a)? Or could peak collision simply mean that convergence and thickening of the orogenic nappe stack had reached a critical stage? While slab break-off may explain observations in the internal Alps, it is inconsistent with increased flexure of the European plate. Geodynamic modelling is required to address these questions. Between 32Ma and 19Ma, the orogen passed into a post-collisional phase. Plate convergence slowed again to 4.5mm/yr (Schmid et al. 1996). The northern deformation front migrated slowly toward the foreland, while southward thrusting started in the Southern Alps of Italy. Major thrust emplacement phases occurred in internal and external zones, sustaining a high-angle

FORELAND BASIN EVOLUTION, WESTERN ALPINE ARC orogenic wedge. Backthrusting and dextral strikeslip continued along the Insubric line, causing rapid exhumation of the Bergell granite (Schmid et al. 1996). The Aar massif began to exhume slowly. (3) During the Burdigalian (20-16Ma), a seaway penetrated northward to the N A F B due, in part, to thermal subsidence of the Gulf of Lion passive margin and European rift systems and, in part, to a eustatic high stand (Fig. 6). Following this transgression, continental conditions were quickly re-established in the N A F B (UFM), while marine conditions slowly retreated southward along the Rhone valley. On the scale of the orogen, the post-collisional stage continued. The internal and external zones continued to shorten and rise, however, as the collision started to wane, decreasing amounts of detritus were provided to the NAFB. (4) Finally, in the late Miocene and Pliocene, accelerated exhumation of the external massifs, coupled with thrusting at the outer margins of the Jura-Chartreuse-Vercors, Diois-Baronnies and Digne fold-thrust belts, caused uplift of the external zones and termination of sedimentation in the NAFB. Coevally, the internal zones of the Alps appear to have been experiencing upper crustal extension (Fig. 7). Three-dimensional mapping of the presentday European Moho around the western alpine arc using seismic data (Waldhauser et al. 1998) reveals a continuously flexed, coherent plate. This implies that, while lateral flexure of the western sidewall has remained relatively stationary below the NW-migrating orogen since the early Oligocene, frontal flexure continued to migrate N W some 100 km during the Oligocene (Fig. 9) without tearing the plate. This form of threedimensional flexure cannot be replicated using simple point load models (e.g. McNutt et al. 1988; Sinclair 1996), but requires the migration of a line load of finite length over a continuous plate. These observations have important implications for the three-dimensional flexural behaviour and strength of the continental lithosphere. This work was supported by the Swiss Nationalfonds (Project No. 20-49534.96). We thank H. Sinclair, P. Homewood, M. Burkhard, A. Pfiffner, S. Schmid, and O. Vanderhaeghe for useful discussions. We also thank P. Allen, H. Sinclair, F. Schlunegger, A. Mascle and A. Gardiner for their incisive and careful reviews.

References ALLEN, P. A. & BASS,J. P. 1993. Sedimentology of the Upper Marine Molasse of the Rh6ne-Alp region,

57

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