Large extensional structures developed during emplacement of a crystalline thrust sheet: the Mondoñedo nappe (NW Spain)

Abstract

The Mondoñedo nappe is a crystalline thrust sheet characterized by large recumbent folds, regional intermediate-pressure metamorphism, synkinematic intrusion of granitoids during nappe emplacement, and an extensional ductile shear zone developed within the nappe during thrusting. A large tectonic window permits the study of the footwall unit, revealing another extensional shear zone contemporaneous with thrusting and a low-pressure metamorphic evolution, in contrast to that of the hanging wall unit. The two main extensional shear zones produced E–W extension parallel to the direction of orogenic shortening and normal to the orogenic structural trend. Furthermore, subordinate N–S longitudinal extension was accommodated by normal faults in the footwall, and some of these faults were used as lateral ramps in late stages of thrusting. The role of the extensional shear zones and faults described is discussed in the context of an evolving orogenic wedge dominated by plate convergence but characterized by large-scale rheological heterogeneities within it. Deep-seated viscous flow, triggered by heat accumulation, seems to account for the horizontal stretching and probable tapering of the orogenic wedge, which was induced by gravitational instabilities due to partial melting and underplating by buoyant continental crust.