Provenance analysis of the Voirons Flysch (Gurnigel nappe, Haute-Savoie, France): stratigraphic and palaeogeographic implications

Ragusa, Jeremy; Kindler, Pascal; Segvic, Branimir; Ospina Ostios, Lina Maria

doi:10.1007/s00531-017-1474-9

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Title		Provenance analysis of the Voirons Flysch (Gurnigel nappe, Haute-Savoie, France): stratigraphic and palaeogeographic implications
Authors		Ragusa, Jeremy Kindler, Pascal Segvic, Branimir Ospina Ostios, Lina Maria
Published in		International Journal of Earth Sciences. 2017, vol. 106, no. 8, p. 2619-2651
Abstract		The Chablais Prealps (Haute-Savoie, France) represent a well-preserved accretionary wedge of the Western Alpine Tethys. They comprise a stack of sedimentary nappes related to palaeogeographic realms ranging from the Ultrahelvetic to the Southern Penninic. The provenance analysis is based on the Gazzi-Dickinson method, and on QEMSCAN® for heavy-minerals. The Quartzose petrofacies is the most important of the two sources, and supplied three of the four formations of the Voirons Flysch. It is similar to the sources that fed the other flyschs from the Gurnigel nappe. It is characterised by a mature, quartz-rich assemblage and a heavy mineral population dominated by apatite and the zircon-tourmaline-rutile mineral group. These observations suggest a Clastic wedge provenance. The Feldspathic petrofacies is derived from a feldspar-rich source associated with metamorphic clasts and a heavy mineral population dominated by garnet. This provenance characterises only one formation of the Voirons Flysch, and is related to the Axial Belt provenance. This provenance analysis shows that the Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene Voirons Flysch was fed by two sources, in contrast to the other flyschs of the Gurnigel nappe, and further suggests that this flysch was not deposited in the Piemont Ocean but in the Valais domain. Based on the results and comparative provenance analysis with the other flyschs of the Gurnigel nappe, we propose a generic feeding model which involves the Sesia-Dent Blanche nappe, the sedimentary nappes incorporated in the accretionary prism, and probably the Briançonnais basement.
Keywords		Gurnigel nappe — Chablais Prealps — Voirons Flysch — Provenance — QEMSCAN — Heavy mineral — Valais domain
Identifiers		DOI: 10.1007/s00531-017-1474-9
Full text		Article (Published version) (6.9 MB) - Limited access to UNIGE Dataset: https://github.com/jragusa/Publications/tree/master/Ragusa2017a
Structures		Faculté des sciences / Section des sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement / Département des sciences de la Terre
Research group		Sedimentology, Biostratigraphy and Micropaleontology
Citation (ISO format)		RAGUSA, Jeremy et al. Provenance analysis of the Voirons Flysch (Gurnigel nappe, Haute-Savoie, France): stratigraphic and palaeogeographic implications. In: International Journal of Earth Sciences, 2017, vol. 106, n° 8, p. 2619-2651. doi: 10.1007/s00531-017-1474-9 https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:117774