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Volume 12
Issue 11
10.3390/geosciences12110393
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Review

Bridging the Gap between Long–Term Orogenic Evolution (>10 Ma Scale) and Geomorphological Processes That Shape the Western Alps: Insights from Combined Dating Approaches

by
Yann Rolland
1,2,*,
Antonin Bilau
1,2,
Thibaut Cardinal
3,
Ahmed Nouibat
2,
Dorian Bienveignant
2,
Louise Boschetti
1,2,
Stéphane Schwartz
2 and
Matthias Bernet
2
1
Departement Sciences de la Terre, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, Edytem, 73370 Le Bourget-du-Lac, France
2
Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, IRD, ISTerre, 38000 Grenoble, France
3
Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, IRD, Géoazur, 250 rue Albert Einstein, Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Geosciences 2022, 12(11), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12110393
Submission received: 26 August 2022 / Revised: 8 October 2022 / Accepted: 11 October 2022 / Published: 25 October 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tectonic Geomorphology in Modern Orogenic Zones)
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Abstract

Constraining the relative roles of erosion and tectonics in the evolution of mountain belts is a challenging scientific goal. In this review article on the Western Alps, we show how it becomes possible to “bridge the gap” between the long–term (>Ma) orogenic evolution controlled by tectonics and exhumation processes and the recent geomorphological evolution that is accessible on an annual–decadal basis. Advances in mineral dating that have grown in relation to deformation in the ductile and brittle crustal fields have allowed us to constrain the evolution of deformation through time and depth. A drastic change from early collision, dominated by rapid underthrusting of the European plate, to a more stagnant syn–collisional tectonic context is documented since about 26–20 Ma by syn–kinematic phengites and vein–hosted monazites along the Alpine arc. The overall dextral kinematic context is accompanied by local extensional domains in the Simplon and High Durance Valley. Activation of the Simplon ductile fault is documented from 20 Ma, whereas the High Durance extensional system commenced after 10 Ma. The application of cosmogenic nuclide dating of incised river gorges demonstrates that the erosion pattern of the Western Alps follows a different evolution within the valleys dominated by upstream glacial erosion than in peripheral watersheds devoid of glaciers. The very low peripheral incision is found to be similar to the vertical GPS signal, suggesting equilibrium of tectonic uplift and incision, whereas the glacial–dominated valleys exhibit significantly increased and transient river incision during interglacials and a constant ongoing tectonic regime.
Keywords: alps; orogens; geochronological methods; erosion; tectonics alps; orogens; geochronological methods; erosion; tectonics

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MDPI and ACS Style

Rolland, Y.; Bilau, A.; Cardinal, T.; Nouibat, A.; Bienveignant, D.; Boschetti, L.; Schwartz, S.; Bernet, M. Bridging the Gap between Long–Term Orogenic Evolution (>10 Ma Scale) and Geomorphological Processes That Shape the Western Alps: Insights from Combined Dating Approaches. Geosciences 2022, 12, 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12110393

AMA Style

Rolland Y, Bilau A, Cardinal T, Nouibat A, Bienveignant D, Boschetti L, Schwartz S, Bernet M. Bridging the Gap between Long–Term Orogenic Evolution (>10 Ma Scale) and Geomorphological Processes That Shape the Western Alps: Insights from Combined Dating Approaches. Geosciences. 2022; 12(11):393. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12110393

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rolland, Yann, Antonin Bilau, Thibaut Cardinal, Ahmed Nouibat, Dorian Bienveignant, Louise Boschetti, Stéphane Schwartz, and Matthias Bernet. 2022. "Bridging the Gap between Long–Term Orogenic Evolution (>10 Ma Scale) and Geomorphological Processes That Shape the Western Alps: Insights from Combined Dating Approaches" Geosciences 12, no. 11: 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12110393

APA Style

Rolland, Y., Bilau, A., Cardinal, T., Nouibat, A., Bienveignant, D., Boschetti, L., Schwartz, S., & Bernet, M. (2022). Bridging the Gap between Long–Term Orogenic Evolution (>10 Ma Scale) and Geomorphological Processes That Shape the Western Alps: Insights from Combined Dating Approaches. Geosciences, 12(11), 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12110393

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