Briançonnais zone

Piece of continental crust in the Penninic nappes of the Alps

Geology of the Alps
The Alps
Tectonic subdivision
Helvetic Zone Penninic nappes Austroalpine nappes Southern Alps
Formation & rocks
Bündner schist flysch molasse
Geological structures
Aarmassif Dent Blanche klippe Engadine Line Engadine window Flysch zone Giudicárie line Greywacke zone Hohe Tauern window Molasse basin Penninic thrustfront Periadriatic Seam Ivrea zone Lepontin dome Rechnitz window Rhône-Simplon line Sesia unit
Paleogeographic terminology
Valais Ocean Briançonnais zone Piemont-Liguria Ocean Apulian or Adriatic plate Alps portal Geology portal
v t e

The Briançonnais zone or Briançonnais terrane is a piece of continental crust found in the Penninic nappes of the Alps.^[1]

According to some paleogeographic reconstructions the rocks of the Briançonnais zone were in fact a part of the microcontinent Iberia, that encompassed not only the Iberian Peninsula but also Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. Because paleogeographic reconstructions of highly deformed pieces of crust are always difficult, this is disputed among geologists.^[2]

The Briançonnais zone is named after the French city of Briançon.^[3]

References

^ Schmid, Stefan M. "Description of the Western and Central Alps". Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut, University of Basel.
^ Benjamin Le Bayon and Michel Ballèvre (May 2006). "Deformation history of a subducted continental crust (Gran Paradiso, Western Alps): continuing crustal shortening during exhumation". Journal of Structural Geology. 28 (5): 793–815. Bibcode:2006JSG....28..793L. doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2006.02.009.
^ "Durance". Chambers's Encyclopaedia. Vol. 4. London: International Learning Systems. 1950. p. 673.