Steady-state exhumation of the European Alps Matthias Bernet* Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8109, USA Massimiliano Zattin Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, UniversitaÁdi Bologna, I-40127, Bologna, Italy John I. Garver Geology Department, Olin Building, Union College, Schenectady, New York 12308-2311, USA Mark T. Brandon Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8109, USA Joseph A. Vance Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1310, USA ABSTRACT and Garver et al. (1999) summarized how ZC Fission-track grain-age distributions for detrital zircon are used in this study to resolve for the zircon ®ssion-track system varies as a the late Cenozoic exhumation history of the European Alps. Grain-age distributions were function of erosion rate. Their calculations are determined for six sandstone samples and one modern river sediment sample, providing based on a one-dimensional steady-state so- a record from 15 Ma to present. All samples can be traced to sources in the Western and lution that accounts for the advection of heat Central Alps. The grain-age distributions are dominated by two components, P1 (8±25 and the in¯uence of cooling rate on TC. Rel- Ma) and P2 (16±35 Ma), both of which show steady lag times (cooling age minus depo- evant parameters for the European Alps, such sitional age), with an average of 7.9 m.y. for P1 and 16.7 m.y. for P2. These results indicate as the initial thermal gradient, surface temper- steady-state exhumation in the source region at rates of ;0.4±0.7 km/m.y. since at least ature, and crustal thermal diffusivity, are sim- 15 Ma. ilar to those used in the Himalayan example in Garver et al. (1999). The model calculation Keywords: Alps, steady-state, exhumation, erosion, ®ssion-track. predicts TC ø 240±250 8C for an exhumation rate of 0.5±1 km/m.y., which agrees with Hur- INTRODUCTION Previous studies of exhumation in the Alps have focused on reconstructing time-temper- ature-depth histories for currently exposed bedrock (see synthesis by Hunziker et al. 1992). We explore another approach here, us- ing synorogenic sediments to reconstruct the evolution of surface cooling ages with time. Fission-track dating of detrital zircon is well suited for this approach because individual grains can be dated. Furthermore zircon is widely distributed in typical crustal rocks and is robust during weathering and transport (see review by Garver et al., 1999). We present ®ssion-track grain-age distributions for 7 sam- ples of detrital zircons derived from the Alps since 15 Ma. Approximately 80±100 grains were dated per sample, providing a detailed sampling of the distribution of bedrock cool- ing ages at the time that the sampled sediment was eroded from its source. These data are used to examine the late Cenozoic evolution of exhumation rates in the Alps. LAG TIME In orogenic settings, closure of low-temper- ature chronometers is commonly related to ex- humation-related cooling caused by erosion or normal faulting. The lag time of a dated de- trital mineral, de®ned as the amount of time between closure and deposition, provides a measure of the rate of exhumation. The lag time concept is illustrated in Figure 1B. At a closure depth ZC, zircons pass through the clo- sure temperature TC and ®ssion tracks are re- tained. Regional exhumation causes the zir- Figure 1. A: Simpli®ed tectonic map of Alps and northern Apennine showing the study area. cons to move toward the surface where they B: Lag time concept is illustrated using schematic pro®le (A±A9) through central Alps and adjacent sedimentary basins. Stippled line shows the zircon ®ssion-track closure depth ZC, are eroded at time te. Brandon et al. (1998) where zircons cool through the effective ®ssion-track closure temperature TC at time tC. Zircons reach the surface at time te and are transported and ®nally deposited in basin at *E-mail: [email protected]. time td. q 2001 Geological Society of America. For permission to copy, contact Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com or (978) 750-8400. Geology; January 2001; v. 29; no. 1; p. 35±38; 3 ®gures; 1 table; Data Repository item 20019. 35 Figure 2. Contour map of zircon ®ssion-track bedrock ages for the European Alps (see text for details). Only broad features are shown in the eastern Alps, southwest part of western Alps, and Jura Mountains because of sparse data coverage. ford's (1986) ®eld-based estimate for the cen- faulting would allow the exhumed footwall to contour map of bedrock cooling ages com- tral Alps. A typical value for ZC for the central quench to a nearly constant cooling age, ex- piled from approximately 205 zircon ®ssion- Alps is 5 km. We assume that most of the lag tending down to the closure depth. This source track ages1. The youngest ages are associated time is spent exhuming the rocks from ZC. region would deliver a relatively constant with the Central Alps. Large volumes of syn- Sedimentary transport at the surface is negli- source of grain ages (static peak of Brandon orogenic sediment provide clear evidence that gible in comparison (e.g., Brandon and Vance, and Vance, 1992) until erosion had stripped erosion was an important exhumation process 1992). away a thickness equal to the closure depth. in the Alps (England, 1981). More recent Convergent orogenesis can be divided into The grain-age component from this source work has demonstrated the importance of tec- idealized phases of construction, steady state, would show a steadily increasing lag time, tonic exhumation in the Alps (e.g., Simplon and decay (Jamieson and Beaumont, 1989). with the increase equal to the amount of time fault: Mancktelow, 1992; Turba mylonite: The constructional phase involves the growth since the exhumation event. Nievergelt et al., 1996; Tauern window: Sel- of topography and an increase in erosion rates, The upsection change in lag time recorded verstone, 1985; Ratschbacher et al., 1991). which would be represented in the stratigraph- in sediments derived from an active volcanic ic record by an upsection decrease in lag time. source might appear similar to that produced FISSION-TRACK SAMPLES AND In some cases, the erosional out¯ux may be- by rapid normal faulting. Regional geologic RESULTS come large enough to balance the accretionary relationships and sedimentary petrography are Our samples come from 6 localities in the ¯ux into the orogen. This steady-state phase usually successful in distinguishing between Miocene Marnoso-Arenacea Formation of the would be recorded by a stratigraphic interval volcanism and rapid exhumation. Northern Apennines, Italy, and from modern where lag time remained approximately con- sediments from the lower reach of the Ticino stant. When convergence stops, the orogen TECTONIC SETTING River, which drains the source area for the moves into a decay phase, marked by a re- The Central and Western Alps formed by Marnoso-Arenacea Formation (Fig. 1A). All duction in topography and a decrease in ero- Cretaceous to present convergence between a sediments have an arkosic composition. Zir- sion rates. The decay phase would be recorded subducting European plate and an overriding cons are generally subhedral to rounded. De- by an upsection increase in lag time. Adriatic plate (e.g., Frisch, 1979; Platt, 1986). positional ages are based on biostratigraphy, Tectonic exhumation by normal faulting can Continental collision started in the Eocene, and are generally known to 61 m.y. also in¯uence lag times. If tectonic exhuma- and led to development of a subaerial orogen- As summarized by Ricci Lucchi (1986), the tion is persistent over millions of years, we ic wedge. Surface exposures of the Alpine lower part of the Marnoso-Arenacea Forma- might expect to see upsection changes in lag metamorphic core record peak conditions ca. tion(,5 Ma) records a ¯ysch stage of depo- time similar to those outlined above for ero- 35±30 Ma in the Central Alps (Steck and Hun- sition in a deep marine foredeep that bordered sional exhumation. An important distinction is ziker, 1994). There was almost no magmatism the east side of an active but otherwise sub- that tectonic exhumation does not produce associated with Alpine convergence. The only merged Apennine convergent wedge. Heavy sediment. Thus, a change in the rate of tec- signi®cant event was the emplacement of the mineral assemblages and paleocurrent direc- tonic exhumation will cause a change in lag Periadratic intrusions ca. 33±28 Ma. Silici- tions indicate sedimentary sources in the Cen- time, but no direct changes in the ¯ux of erod- clastic sediments of that age show signi®cant tral and Western Alps (Gandol® et al., 1983; ed sediment. volcanogenic detritus (e.g., lower Oligocene Alternatively, if tectonic exhumation were Taveyannaz sandstone). Other than this ex- 1GSA Data Repository item 20019, Zircon ®s- rapid and short lived, as is commonly pro- ample, sediments derived from the Alps show sion-track ages of the European Alps, is available on request from Documents Secretary, GSA, P.O. posed for cases of orogenic collapse, then the little to no volcanic in¯uence. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140, editing@ grain-age distributions would show an abrupt The present pattern of exhumation in the geosociety.org, or at www.geosociety.org/pubs/ upsection decrease in lag time. Rapid normal Alps is illustrated in Figure 2, which shows a ft2001.htm. 36 GEOLOGY, January 2001 TABLE 1. DETRITAL ZIRCON FISSION-TRACK DATA 2 td) 5 A 1 (B 2 1) td, which shows that A Sample Approximate N P1 P2 P3 P4 is the present lag time and (B 2 1) is the depositional change in lag time with depositional age.