Mesozoic subsidence history of the European marginal shelves of the alpine Tethys (Helvetic realm, Swiss Plateau and Jura)

Abstract

Based on a palinspastic restoration of the Helvetic realm, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, the Mesozoic subsidence history of this area is reconstructed using about 50 stratigraphic sections and by taking into account the following parameters: age of the sediments, compaction corrected thickness, depositional depth estimations and eustatic sealevel corrections for each lithological unit. The following major subsidence phases may be deduced from the geohistory diagrams: - Triassic (mainly in the Jura), - Early Jurassic (in the southernmost and western Helvetic realm), - Early Cretaceous (in the southernmost and western part of the Helvetic and Subalpine realms). In the Jura, the Triassic and Middle Jurassic phases are probably due to intracontinental rifting following Late Variscan structures. The Early Jurassic phase due to extensional tectonics is locally well established in the Helvetic realm. For the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous phases, the subsidence is mainly due extensional tectonics on the northern margin of the Tethys.