DEFORMATION AND METAMORPHISM AT THE EASTERN BORDER OF THE TENDA MASSIF (NE CORSICA): A RECORD OF SUBDUCTION AND EXHUMATION OF CONTINENTAL CRUST

Abstract

A major detachment fault related to the post-orogenic extensional process and linked with rifting and drifting stages of the Liguro-Provençal and Northern Thyrrhenian sea, is described in recent literature for the eastern border of the Tenda Massif, North East Corsica, Western Mediterranean. New field mapping, meso/microstructural analyses and petrological investigations have been carried out in this area. Along the eastern border of the Tenda Massif, continental and oceanic units with epidote-blueschist facies metamorphic peak conditions are juxtaposed. After their coupling in a deeper part of the Alpine Corsica subduction wedge, the two units were deformed together by greenschist facies folding and shearing. Structural geometries and metamorphic records of the studied units, the regional tectonic settings and the available thermochronological data disclaim recent interpretations and suggest only a post-orogenic extensional reactivation. The main greenschist facies fabric and structures were related to syn-orogenic processes in response to intra-wedge deformation and strain delocalization during exhumation in a continental subduction setting. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.