Skip to Main Content
Skip Nav Destination
GEOREF RECORD

Successive shearing tectonics during the Hercynian collisional evolution of the southwestern French Massif Central

Manuel Duguet and Michel Faure
Successive shearing tectonics during the Hercynian collisional evolution of the southwestern French Massif Central
Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France (2004) 175 (1): 49-59

Abstract

In the French Massif Central, the Devonian-Carboniferous tectonic evolution of the Rouergue-Albigeois area is characterized by three phases of low-angle ductile shearing. The first event D (sub 1) , which occurred probably in the Lower Devonian, is responsible for the south-westward thrusting of the high metamorphic Levezou nappe which belongs to the Upper Gneiss Unit above the Lower Gneiss Unit overlying itself the Para-autochthonous Unit, (locally called the St-Sernin-sur-Rance nappe). In the late Devonian-early Carboniferous, this stack of nappes is reworked by a second event, D (sub 2) , characterized by a top-to-the-NW shearing of the Para-autochthonous Unit upon the Lower Gneiss Unit developed under medium pressure/medium temperature metamorphism. The contact between the Lower Gneiss Unit and the Para-autochthonous Unit is a top-to-the-NW low-angle fault that progressively evolves into a dextral strike-slip fault from west to east. The D (sub 2) event is followed by a top-to-the south D (sub 3) thrusting dated around 330-340 Ma. The main feature of the D (sub 3) compressional stage is the emplacement of the whole stack of nappes previously structured by D1 and D2 events upon the Albigeois series. The D (sub 3) event produced south-verging recumbent folds in the Albigeois, Mont-de-Lacaune and Montagne Noire. The significance of the D (sub 2) event either as thrusting or normal faulting is discussed.


ISSN: 0037-9409
EISSN: 1777-5817
Serial Title: Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France
Serial Volume: 175
Serial Issue: 1
Title: Successive shearing tectonics during the Hercynian collisional evolution of the southwestern French Massif Central
Affiliation: Universite d'Orleans, Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Orleans, France
Pages: 49-59
Published: 2004
Text Language: English
Summary Language: French
Publisher: Societe Geologique de France, Paris, France
References: 44
Accession Number: 2004-037350
Categories: Structural geology
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. sects., geol. sketch maps
N43°19'60" - N44°12'00", E01°30'00" - E02°55'00"
N43°40'00" - N45°00'00", E01°45'00" - E03°30'00"
Country of Publication: France
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2022, American Geosciences Institute.
Update Code: 200411
Close Modal

or Create an Account

Close Modal
Close Modal