Structural Evolution, Exhumation Rates, and Rheology of the European Crust During Alpine Collision: Constraints From the Rotondo Granite—Gotthard Nappe

The rheology of crystalline units controls the large-scale deformation geometry and dynamics of collisional orogens. Defining a time-constrained rheological evolution of such units may help unravel the details of collisional dynamics. Here, we integrate field analysis, pseudosection calculations and in situ garnet U–Pb and mica Rb–Sr geochronology to define the structural and rheological evolution of the Rotondo granite (Gotthard nappe, Central Alps). We identify a sequence of four (D₁–D₄) deformation stages. Pre-collisional D₁ brittle faults developed before Alpine peak metamorphism, which occurred at 34–20 Ma (U–Pb garnet ages) at 590 ± 25°C and 0.9 ± 0.1 GPa. The reactivation of D₁ structures controlled the rheological evolution, from D₂ reverse mylonitic shearing at amphibolite facies (520 ± 40°C and 0.8 ± 0.1 GPa) at 18–20 Ma (white mica Rb–Sr ages), to strike-slip, brittle-ductile shearing at greenschist-facies D₃ (395 ± 25°C and 0.4 ± 0.1 GPa) at 14–15 Ma (white mica and biotite Rb–Sr ages), and then to D₄ strike-slip faulting at shallow conditions. Although highly misoriented for the Alpine collisional stress orientation, D₁ brittle structures controlled the localization of D₂ ductile mylonites accommodating fast (∼3 mm/yr) exhumation rates due to their weak shear strength (<10 MPa). This structural and rheological evolution is common across External Crystalline Massifs (e.g., Aar, Mont Blanc), suggesting that the European upper crust was extremely weak during Alpine collision, its strength controlled by weak ductile shear zones localized on pre-collisional deformation structures, that in turn controlled localized exhumation at the scale of the orogen.