The Rio Magno ophiolitic unit in eastern Alpine Corsica: a northern Apennines Ligurid element.

The Rio Magno unit (eastern Corsica) is represented by an Apenninic-type (I nternal Ligurides) ophiolitic sequence: N-MORB basalts, Lower Cretaceous Pa lombini-bearing limestones, Middle Cretaceous flysch. In addition, it is un affected by HP-LT alpine metamorphism. These peculiar features further supp ort the hypothesis of close geodynamical relationships between the Corsican and Northern Apenninic ophiolites. We suggest that, in the Jurassic Piedmo nt-Ligurian oceanic basin, the Rio Magno and Internal Ligurides ophiolitic sequences represent a continuous, internal, oceanic palaeodomain. Afterward s, during Late Cretaceous-Late Eocene, they underwent a similar orogenic ev olution, escaping from deep involvement during the subduction beneath the E uropean continental margin. (C) 2001 Academie des sciences / Editions scien tifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.