Accretionary history of the Rhenodanubian flysch zone in the Eastern Alps – evidence from apatite fission-track geochronology

Abstract

The thermotectonic evolution of the East Alpine Rhenodanubian flysch zone (RDFZ) and the collisional history along the orogenic front is reconstructed using apatite fission-track (FT) thermochronology. The apatite FT data provides evidence for a burial depth of at least 6 km for the samples, which were totally reset. Burial was not deeper than 11 km, since the zircon fission-track system was not reset. The RDFZ represents an accretionary wedge with a complex burial and cooling history due to successive and differential accretion and exhumation. The sedimentary sequences were deposited along a convergent margin, where accretion started before Maastrichtian and lasted until Miocene. Accretion propagated from a central area (Salzburg–Ybbsitz) both to the west and to the east. In the west, accretion lasted from Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene, reflecting underplating of the RDFZ by the European continental margin sediments. In the east, where three nappes (Greifenstein, Kahlenberg and Laab nappes) can be distinguished, the exhumation started between Late Oligocene and Early Miocene. The Kahlenberg and Laab nappes show total resetting of the apatite FT ages, while in the Greifenstein nappe there is only partial resetting. According to a new paleogeographic reconstruction, the Kahlenberg and Laab nappes were placed on top of the Greifenstein nappe by an out-of-sequence thrust.