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3D reconstruction of fabric and metamorphic domains in a slice of continental crust involved in the Alpine subduction system: the example of Mt. Mucrone (Sesia–Lanzo Zone, Western Alps)

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Abstract

Geological mapping, multiscale structural analysis, and estimations of the degree of fabric evolution and of reaction progress allow the construction of a 3D quantitative model of structural and metamorphic gradients in a portion of continental crust deeply involved in the Alpine subduction system and mainly structured under eclogite-facies conditions before the continental collision. The investigated and modelled rocks outcrop in the surroundings of Mt. Mucrone, in the central Sesia–Lanzo Zone. The Geomodeller® software allowed a quantitative 3D estimation of domains characterized by homogeneous fabric evolution and metamorphic reaction progress (DFE and DRP, respectively) for two of the seven structural and metamorphic imprints detected in this area: the D2-eclogitic and D5-greenschist stages, which are the most pervasive at km scale. Such a 3D modelling clarifies mutual relationships between fabric and metamorphic gradients and indicates that: (i) DFE and DRP are closely related regardless of the rock type; (ii) the syn-deformational thermal regime can influence the degree of metamorphic transformation, if DFE remains below the 60% threshold; (iii) the phase transitions can not be properly implemented in quantitative geodynamic modelling without considering the heterogeneity of reaction progress and fabric evolution.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding by University of Milano: Linea 2, Azione A—fondi giovani ricercatori “Analisi strutturale delle catene collisionali” (PSR2018_DZANONI). The results here presented have been developed in the frame of the MIUR Project “Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2017—Le Geoscienze per la società: risorse e loro evoluzione (work package 3, tasks 3.3 and 3.4)”. 3D modelling with Geomodeller® has been performed by LC. Suggestions and comments by G. Rebay and an anonymous reviewer greatly improved the original version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli 34, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Michele Zucali, Luca Corti, Francesco Delleani, Davide Zanoni & Maria Iole Spalla

  2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Michele Zucali

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  1. Michele Zucali
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  2. Luca Corti
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  3. Francesco Delleani
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  4. Davide Zanoni
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  5. Maria Iole Spalla
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Correspondence to Luca Corti.

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Zucali, M., Corti, L., Delleani, F. et al. 3D reconstruction of fabric and metamorphic domains in a slice of continental crust involved in the Alpine subduction system: the example of Mt. Mucrone (Sesia–Lanzo Zone, Western Alps). Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 109, 1337–1354 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-019-01807-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-019-01807-6

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