Penninic thrustfront
Geology of the Alps |
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Tectonic subdivision |
Penninic nappes |
Austroalpine nappes |
Southern Alps |
Formations & rocks |
Geological structures |
Aarmassif | Dent Blanche klippe | 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 |
Briançonnais zone |
Piemont-Liguria Ocean |
Apulian or Adriatic plate |
The Penninic thrustfront is a major tectonic thrustfront in the French Alps. The thrustfront moves over a developing decollement horizon, and separates the (internal) high grade metamorphic rocks of the Penninic nappes from the (external) sedimentary rocks and crystalline basement of the Helvetic nappes. The last are in France often called zone Dauphiné or Dauphinois.
Thrusting over the decollement horizon continues today, as the Apulian tectonic plate moves westward, converging with the European plate.