3D-seismic evidence for thick-skinned tectonics in a 'classic' thin skinned tectonics region (external Alpine foreland, Switzerland)
- Author(s)
- Katerina Schöpfer, Kurt Decker, Fatemeh Nazari Vanani, Herfried Madritsch
- Abstract
The north-western Alpine foreland in Switzerland and France comprises the Late Miocene Jura Mountains, considered a type example for thin-skinned thrusting where deformation of the sedimentary cover is decoupled from the basement along a regional basal detachment. To what extent basement faults were involved during its deformation is a matter of debate. We use 3D seismic data to investigate the deformation style along the easternmost tip of the Jura range in unprecedented detail. Here, basement-rooted normal faults were not only repeatedly reactivated before thrust belt formation but also contemporaneously active as reverse/transpressional faults. They either propagated up into the Mesozoic succession without interruption (‘hard linkage’) or apparently controlled the localisation of Mesozoic faults via smaller-scale shear zones (‘soft linkage’). Our analysis of the resulting fault geometries questions the existence of a large-scale basal detachment in this area and points out the importance of thick-skinned fault reactivation.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geology
- External organisation(s)
- National Geological Survey Swisstopo
- Journal
- Terra Nova
- Volume
- 36
- Pages
- 217-229
- No. of pages
- 13
- ISSN
- 0954-4879
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12701
- Publication date
- 2023
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105122 Seismic
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geology
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/3e1a4e8d-27a1-47e3-8d4d-fc5d3a76b552