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The Alpine nappe stack in western Austria: a crustal-scale cross section

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An Erratum to this article was published on 18 December 2014

Abstract

Based on an N–S-oriented crustal-scale cross section running east of the Rhine Valley in Vorarlberg, western Austria, we address the Alpine nappe stack and discuss the boundary between Central and Eastern Alps. For our cross section, we used surface geology, drillings and reinterpreted seismic lines, together with published sections. The general architecture of the examined area can be described as a typical foreland fold-and-thrust belt, comprising the tectonic units of the Subalpine Molasse, (Ultra-)Helvetic, Penninic and Austroalpine nappes. These units overthrusted the autochthonous Molasse along the south-dipping listric Alpine basal thrust. The European Basement, together with its autochthonous cover, dips gently towards the south and is dissected by normal faults and trough structures. The seismic data clearly show an offset not only of the top of the European Basement, but also of the Mesozoic cover and the Lower Marine Molasse. This indicates an activity of the structures as normal faults after the sedimentation of the Lower Marine Molasse. The Subalpine Molasse is multiply stacked, forming a triangle zone at the boundary with the foreland Molasse. The shortening within the Subalpine Molasse amounts to approximately 45 km (~67 %), as deduced from our cross section with the Lower Marine Molasse as a reference. The hinterland-dipping duplex structure of the Helvetic nappes is deduced from surface and borehole data. There are at least two Helvetic nappes needed to fill the available space between the Molasse below and the Northpenninic above. This is in line with the westerly located NRP20-East transect (Schmid et al., Tectonics 15(5):1047–1048, 1996; Schmid et al., The TRANSMED Atlas: the Mediterranean Region from Crust to Mantle, 2004), where the two Helvetic nappes are separated by the Säntis thrust. Yet in contrast to the Helvetic nappes in the NRP20-East transect, both of our Helvetic nappes comprise Cretaceous and Jurassic strata. This change is explained by an eastward down-stepping of the Säntis thrust along a pre-existing, approximately N–S striking lateral ramp bounding an inverted Jurassic graben structure below the Rhine Valley. This causes the Säntis thrust to detach the base Cretaceous west of the Rhine Valley and the base Jurassic units east of it. This graben-controlled change in detachment level leads to the formation of quite different nappe stacks on either side of the Rhine Valley and a “fault-controlled” appearance of the boundary between the Central and Eastern Alps.

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Acknowledgments

This project was carried out at alpS GmbH (Centre for Climate Change Adaptation) and the Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck. Thanks to the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Illwerke-Alternativenergie GmbH for funding this project in the framework of the COMET program, as well as to the rest of the working group (Lothar Mähr and Peter Niederbacher). We would like to thank Jan Behrmann and an anonymous reviewer for their thorough reviews and suggestions that helped to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Hannah Pomella, Hugo Ortner, Michael Zerlauth & Bernhard Fügenschuh

  2. alpS GmbH–Center for Climate Change Adaptation, Grabenweg 68, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Michael Zerlauth

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  1. Hannah Pomella
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  2. Hugo Ortner
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  3. Michael Zerlauth
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  4. Bernhard Fügenschuh
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Correspondence to Hannah Pomella.

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Pomella, H., Ortner, H., Zerlauth, M. et al. The Alpine nappe stack in western Austria: a crustal-scale cross section. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 104, 733–745 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-014-1097-3

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