FROM RIFTING TO DRIFTING - TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE SOUTH-ALPINE UPPER CRUST FROM THE TRIASSIC TO THE EARLY CRETACEOUS

The tectonic evolution of the South-Alpine rifted margin is discussed on the base of four palinspastic upper crustal profiles. Extension, related to the movements between Adria and Europe, began in the Norian after Variscan orogeny, Late Carboniferous to Middle Permian orogenic collapse and continental-scale wrenching. From the Late Triassic to the Early Liassic stretching was mostly limited to the Lombardian basin. During this time, extension was mainly controlled by four major listric faults, symmetrically centred around the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian Collio grabens. Smaller faults which also started in the Norian, were progressively de-activated during the Late Triassic. After the Middle Liassic, faulting in the Lombardian basin gradually ceased and the site of extension shifted westwards, i.e. towards the future site of crustal separation. Extension was then controlled by a set of west-dipping normal faults. Oceanic crust was formed not later than 157 Ma. The overall extension along the profile (which had a final length of 290 km) was 52 km which corresponds to a stretching factor of 1.22 for the whole length of the preserved margin. The strain rate is ca. 1 X 10(-16)/s. The sedimentation history suggests that the extension of the South-Alpine margin was a continuous process from the Norian to the Middle Jurassic. The changes in tectonic pattern are related to progressive hardening of the lithospheric segment undergoing slow extension.