Progressive Deformation Patterns from an Accretionary Prism (Helminthoid Flysch, Ligurian Alps, Italy)

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a field-based structural investigation of a well-exposed paleo-accretionary prism, which experienced complex deformation in a low-grade metamorphic setting. Field analyses focused on the description of structural fabrics, with the main emphasis upon parameters like the orientation, style and kinematics of foliations, folds and shear zones. We address the research to the south-westernmost part of the Alpine chain, the Ligurian Alps, where, despite their origin as turbidite sequences deposited into the closing Alpine Tethys Ocean, the Helminthoid Flysch Nappes are presently distributed in the outer part of the chain, above the foreland. The new dataset highlights different deformation patterns related to the different spatial distribution of the flysch units. This regional-scale partitioning of strain is hence associated with progressive deformation within a two-stage geodynamic evolution. Correlations among the different orogenic domains allow the proposal of a kinematic model that describes the motion of the Helminthoid Flysch from the inner to the outer part of the orogen, encompassing the shift from subduction- to collision-related Alpine geodynamic phases.

Keywords

• orogenic wedge
• subduction flysch
• oceanic closure and continent collision
• deformation phases
• progressive deformation