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The Western Alpine Ophiolites
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The Western Alpine Ophiolites

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Deposits".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (19 February 2021) | Viewed by 6500

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Paola Tartarotti

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Guest Editor
Department of Earth Sciences "Ardito Desio", University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli, 34, 20133 Milano, MI, Italy
Interests: ophiolites; oceanic lithosphere; structural geology; high pressure metamorphism; subduction processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Enrico Cannaò

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth Sciences "Ardito Desio", University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli, 34 20133 MILANO (MI), Italy
Interests: geochemistry of subduction zones; stable and radiogenic isotope geochemistry; high pressure metamorphism; recycling of volatiles

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ophiolites are pieces of oceanic lithosphere that have been thrust onto the edge of continental plates or subducted and sutured within orogenic belts. The investigation of ophiolites is critical for understanding the geodynamics, geochemical budget, fluid–rock interactions, and metamorphic evolution of their geological settings. This Special Issue of Minerals focuses on the ophiolites occurring in a key sector of the Alpine belt—the Western Alps. The Jurassic Western Alpine Ophiolites formed in an oceanic basin that opened between Europe and North Africa-Adria-Iberia. In the Western Alps, the occurrence of eclogite-facies ophiolites is of major importance for unravelling the geodynamics and metamorphism of subduction and exhumation processes. So far, the Western Alpine ophiolites have been interpreted in many different ways according to their different structures, lithostratigraphy, and metamorphic/geochemical imprints. As a result, various tectonic units or sub-units have been identified and contrasting mechanisms have been proposed to explain their present-day juxtaposition.

For this Special Issue, we invite authors to submit papers on field-based structural studies and petrological, geochemical and geochronological investigations. The development of new high precision in situ techniques for mineralogical and isotope geochemical analyses has provided new perspectives that may contribute to the unravelling of the geodynamic evolution of ophiolites from the oceanic stage to their tectonic emplacement. Contributions dealing with these topics are welcome, as are case studies from other sectors of the alpine belt that can be used as a comparison with the Western Alps ophiolites.

Prof. Paola Tartarotti
Dr. Enrico Cannaò
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • metamorphism of alpine ophiolites
  • ophiolite-related mineralogy
  • structure and microstructure
  • isotope geochemistry of subducted lithologies
  • recycling of volatiles and elements from the oceanic stage to alpine subduction
  • geochronology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 49534 KiB  
Article
Metasediments Covering Ophiolites in the HP Internal Belt of the Western Alps: Review of Tectono-Stratigraphic Successions and Constraints for the Alpine Evolution
by Paola Tartarotti, Silvana Martin, Andrea Festa and Gianni Balestro
Minerals 2021, 11(4), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11040411 - 14 Apr 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3445
Abstract
Ophiolites of the Alpine belt derive from the closure of the Mesozoic Tethys Ocean that was interposed between the palaeo-Europe and palaeo-Adria continental plates. The Alpine orogeny has intensely reworked the oceanic rocks into metaophiolites with various metamorphic imprints. In the Western Alps, [...] Read more.
Ophiolites of the Alpine belt derive from the closure of the Mesozoic Tethys Ocean that was interposed between the palaeo-Europe and palaeo-Adria continental plates. The Alpine orogeny has intensely reworked the oceanic rocks into metaophiolites with various metamorphic imprints. In the Western Alps, metaophiolites and continental-derived units are distributed within two paired bands: An inner band where Alpine subduction-related high-pressure (HP) metamorphism is preserved, and an outer band where blueschist to greenschist facies recrystallisation due to the decompression path prevails. The metaophiolites of the inner band are hugely important not just because they provide records of the prograde tectonic and metamorphic evolution of the Western Alps, but also because they retain the signature of the intra-oceanic tectono-sedimentary evolution. Lithostratigraphic and petrographic criteria applied to metasediments associated with HP metaophiolites reveal the occurrence of distinct tectono-stratigraphic successions including quartzites with marbles, chaotic rock units, and layered calc schists. These successions, although sliced, deformed, and superposed in complex ways during the orogenic stage, preserve remnants of their primary depositional setting constraining the pre-orogenic evolution of the Jurassic Tethys Ocean. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Western Alpine Ophiolites)
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19 pages, 39646 KiB  
Article
Pre-Alpine Tectono-Stratigraphic Reconstruction of the Jurassic Tethys in the High-Pressure Internal Piedmont Zone (Stura di Viù Valley, Western Alps)
by Marcello De Togni, Marco Gattiglio, Stefano Ghignone and Andrea Festa
Minerals 2021, 11(4), 361; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11040361 - 30 Mar 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2284
Abstract
We present a detailed description of the tectono-stratigraphic architecture of the eclogite-facies Internal Piedmont Zone (IPZ) metaophiolite, exposed in the Lanzo Valleys (Western Alps), which represents the remnant of the Jurassic Alpine Tethys. Seafloor spreading and mantle exhumation processes related to the Alpine [...] Read more.
We present a detailed description of the tectono-stratigraphic architecture of the eclogite-facies Internal Piedmont Zone (IPZ) metaophiolite, exposed in the Lanzo Valleys (Western Alps), which represents the remnant of the Jurassic Alpine Tethys. Seafloor spreading and mantle exhumation processes related to the Alpine Tethys evolution strongly conditioned the intra-oceanic depositional setting, which resulted in an articulated physiography and a heterogeneous stratigraphic succession above the exhumed serpentinized mantle. “Complete” and “reduced” successions were recognized, reflecting deposition in morphological or structural lows and highs, respectively. The “complete” succession consists of quartzite, followed by marble and calcschist. The “reduced” succession differs for the unconformable contact of the calcschist directly above mantle rocks, lacking quartzite and gray marble. The serpentinite at the base of this succession is intruded by metagabbro and characterized at its top by ophicalcite horizons. Mafic metabreccia grading to metasandstone mark the transition between the “complete” and “reduced” successions. The character of the reconstructed succession and basin floor physiography of the IPZ metaophiolite is well comparable with the Middle Jurassic–Late Cretaceous succession of both the Queyras Complex (External Piedmont Zone) and the Internal Ligurian Units (Northern Apennines) and with modern slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Western Alpine Ophiolites)
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