Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Development of the European Margin Spreading of the Liguro-Piemontais Ocean

Publisher Summary The Liguro-piemontais and Central Atlantic Oceans opened contemporaneously, resulting in the separation of the Eurasia–North America block from the South America–Africa block to which Apulia was attached. The chapter discusses the organization of the European margin of the Tethys in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age. In the Central Alps, the Valais units consist mainly of Hercynian continental basement (Simplon–Ticino nappes) and sedimentary Mesozoic to Eocene cover. The chapter describes the interpretation of the Valais zone. One of the key events in the post-rift history of the Liguro-piemontais margin, first rifted in Early to Middle Jurassic times, was the development of a successor rift system of Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous age. However, the evolution of this system from a rift to oceanic spreading in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous in the future Central and Eastern Alps must now be in question notwithstanding the remaining uncertainties.