Late Miocene to present exhumation in the Ligurian Alps (southwest Alps) with evidence for accelerated denudation during the Messinian salinity crisis
- 1Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Abstract
Detrital apatite (U-Th)/He and fission-track thermochronometry are applied to constrain the exhumation history of the Ligurian Alps (southwest Alps). Exhumation of the Ligurian Alps is recorded from ca. 11 Ma and continues until present. More than 4 km of exhumation is recorded at an average rate of 0.4 ± 0.2 mm/yr. Exhumation is accommodated along a north-dipping thrust at the foot of the Ligurian margin. Combined (U-Th)/He and fission-track thermal modeling show a phase of accelerated denudation between 7 and 5 Ma, associated with the base-level drop during the Messinian salinity crisis.
Footnotes
-
↵GSA Data Repository item 2003115, (U-Th)/He and apatite fission-track (AFT) sample details, analytical techniques, and AFT modeling parameters, is available online at www.geosociety.org/pubs/ft2003.htm, or on request from editinggeosociety.org or Documents Secretary, GSA, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140, USA.
-
- Accepted May 30, 2003.
- Received February 5, 2003.
- Revision received May 29, 2003.
- Geological Society of America
