THE LIGURIAN UNITS OF WESTERN TUSCANY (NORTHERN APENNINES): INSIGHT ON THE INFLUENCE OF PRE-EXISTING WEAKNESS ZONES DURING OCEAN CLOSURE

Abstract

Most of the tectonic units cropping out in Western Tuscany are fragments of the Jurassic oceanic crust, ophiolitic successions, overlaid diachronously by Upper Cretaceous-middle Eocene carbonate and siliciclastic flysch successions with their Cenomanian-lower Eocene shalycalcareous basal complexes. These units, so called Ligurian, have been emplaced during the closure of the Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean. Ophiolite bearing debris flows are common in the flysch basins and their relationship with ophiolitic tectonic slices points to a strong relation between tectonics and sedimentation from the early compressive events of the Late Cretaceous. The tectonic activity reflects in a rough morphology of the ocean floor. It progressively influences the distribution and sedimentology of the turbidites. During middle Eocene this relationship begun very important and a paleogeographic reconstruction with prominent linear ophiolitic reliefs that bounded some turbiditic basins can be done. In our reconstruction the sedimentary and structural evolution can be framed in the context of strain partitioning, developed during the ocean closure, between subduction processes and ancient weakness zones crosscutting both the ocean and the Adria continental margin and reactivated in compressive regime. These weakness zones can be interpreted as transform faults of the Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean with prolongations in the Adria passive margin. The weakness zones crosscut the oceanic lithosphere and the Adria continental margin and interfered with the subduction processes. The activity of the weakness zones is reflected in the Ligurian Units architecture where two main structural strike trends of thrusts and folds axial planes occur. The first trend is WSW-ENE oriented and it is connected with the reactivation of the weaknesses zones. This first orientation developed progressively from Late Cretaceous to Pliocene, from oceanic to ensialic convergence (D1, D2, and D4 deformation phases). The second trend is NNE-SSW oriented and is related to the late Eocene continental collision and the subsequent translation to the NE of the oceanic units onto the Adria continental margin (D3 deformation phase). © 2007 Lavoisier SAS. All rights reserved.