DATING DEFORMATION USING RB-SR IN WHITE MICA - GREENSCHIST FACIES DEFORMATION AGES FROM THE ENTRELOR SHEAR ZONE, ITALIAN ALPS

Ages of deformation have been obtained by Rb-Sr analysis of white mica s whose microstructural and chemical characteristics indicate that the y crystallized or recrystallized during shear fabric formation. Since white micas commonly define deformation fabrics in medium-grade metamo rphic rocks, these ages can be directly related to structural geometri es with regional context. This direct method contrasts with estimates of midcrustal deformation ages derived from cooling histories because it does not rely on assumptions about the thermal structure of the cru st. It does require that the dated minerals attained isotopic equilibr ium with the dominant Sr reservoir at temperatures lower than the clos ure temperature. This resetting was apparently achieved during dynamic recrystallization of white micas in greenschist-facies metasediments and metagranitoid units in the western Alps. The results suggest that the Sr isotopic composition of the new mica is buffered by the coexist ing high-Sr phases (calcite, feldspar or epidote) via the grain bounda ry network. High-strain rocks from the Entrelor shear zone system of t he western Alps have yielded indistinguishable white mica Rb-Sr ages a long 30 km of individual and kinematically linked shear zones. The age of the back-thrusting event is constrained at 34+/-1 Ma, the age yiel ded by the younger generation of synkinematically crystallized white m icas. This event was short-lived, involving at least 20 km of shorteni ng in similar to 1 m.y. or less. An earlier, variably overprinted comp onent, dating from 38 to 37 Ma, has been identified in the mica fabric , but its kinematic significance is uncertain. This method of dating s train fabrics offers a powerful tool for tectonic studies, since isoto pic resetting can be directly linked to structural geometries, microst ructural textures, and PT conditions. It allows testing of kinematic m odels in orogens and can provide important information on the rates of geological processes in the crust.