Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
    • Special Volumes and Special Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscribers
    • FAQ
    • Terms & Conditions for use of AJS Online
  • Instructions to Authors
    • Focus and paper options
    • Submit your manuscript
  • Site Features
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Usage Statistics
    • RSS
  • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • The Journal

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Journal of Science
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
American Journal of Science

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
    • Special Volumes and Special Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscribers
    • FAQ
    • Terms & Conditions for use of AJS Online
  • Instructions to Authors
    • Focus and paper options
    • Submit your manuscript
  • Site Features
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Usage Statistics
    • RSS
  • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • The Journal
  • Follow ajs on Twitter
  • Visit ajs on Facebook
  • Follow ajs on Instagram
Research ArticleArticles

The Exhumation history of the European Alps inferred from linear inversion of thermochronometric data

Matthew Fox, Frédéric Herman, Sean D. Willett and Stefan M. Schmid
American Journal of Science June 2016, 316 (6) 505-541; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2475/06.2016.01
Matthew Fox
* Department of Earth Sciences, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
** Present address: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA and Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, California, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: matthew.fox@berkeley.edu
Frédéric Herman
* Department of Earth Sciences, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
*** Present address: Institute of Earth Science, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sean D. Willett
* Department of Earth Sciences, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Stefan M. Schmid
* Department of Earth Sciences, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Thermochronometric data collected across the Alps over the last three decades allows for investigation of the evolution of this orogen, which is subject to changes in climate and geodynamics. Exhumation rates are inferred from the thermochronometric ages using a statistical inversion method based on the fact that the distance a sample traveled since closure is equal to the integral of the exhumation rate from the present day to the age of the sample. Exhumation rates are assumed to be spatially correlated but are free to vary through time. This results in the quantification of exhumation rates across the Alps, since 32 Ma, along with assessments of the quality of these inferences. We find that exhumation rates are initially fast in the internal arc of the Western Alps at rates up to 0.8 km/Myr at 30 Ma, decreasing at 20 Ma to 0.3 km/Myr to remain slow to the present. At the same time, around 20 Ma, rates across the External Crystalline Massifs of Western Alps increase to 0.6 km/Myr. We also find that the onset of high exhumation rates in the Tauern Window and the Lepontine Dome occurs at around 20 Ma, a time characterized by major reorganizations in the Alpine chain. A general increase in exhumation rates at around 5 Ma over the entire Alps is not confirmed. Instead we find that the Western Alps exhibit a 2 to 3 fold increase in exhumation rate over the last 2 Ma, during a recent event not seen further east, in spite of very similar topographic characteristics. We attribute this strong signal to detachment of the European slab in the Western Alps, combined with efficient glacial erosion.

  • European Alps
  • thermochronometry
  • exhumation rates
  • landscape evolution
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

American Journal of Science: 316 (6)
American Journal of Science
Vol. 316, Issue 6
1 Jun 2016
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Journal of Science.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The Exhumation history of the European Alps inferred from linear inversion of thermochronometric data
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Journal of Science
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Journal of Science web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
11 + 3 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
The Exhumation history of the European Alps inferred from linear inversion of thermochronometric data
Matthew Fox, Frédéric Herman, Sean D. Willett, Stefan M. Schmid
American Journal of Science Jun 2016, 316 (6) 505-541; DOI: 10.2475/06.2016.01

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
The Exhumation history of the European Alps inferred from linear inversion of thermochronometric data
Matthew Fox, Frédéric Herman, Sean D. Willett, Stefan M. Schmid
American Journal of Science Jun 2016, 316 (6) 505-541; DOI: 10.2475/06.2016.01
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • INTRODUCTION
    • SETTING
    • INDEPENDENT ESTIMATES OF EXHUMATION RATES
    • DATA USED IN THIS STUDY
    • METHOD TO INFER EXHUMATION RATES FROM THERMOCHRONOMETRIC DATA
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION OF THE TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE ALPS IN THE CONTEXT OF INVERSION RESULTS
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • Appendix
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Timing and Nd-Hf isotopic mapping of early Mesozoic granitoids in the Qinling Orogen, central China: Implication for architecture, nature and processes of the orogen
  • India in the Nuna to Gondwana supercontinent cycles: Clues from the north Indian and Marwar Blocks
  • Unravelling the P-T-t history of three high-grade metamorphic events in the Epupa Complex, NW Namibia: Implications for the Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic evolution of the Congo Craton
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • European Alps
  • thermochronometry
  • exhumation rates
  • landscape evolution

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Archive

More Information

  • RSS

Other Services

  • About Us

© 2023 American Journal of Science

Powered by HighWire