Massif de Belledonne

Representation and status

Historical Variants: Belledonne Massif = External Massif (Gouffon et al. 2024)

Subordinate units

Kind of protolith

Definition: Gouffon Yves (Editor) (2024) : Tectonic Map of Switzerland 1:500000, Explanatory notes. Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern

p.32: Only the northern end of the Belledonne Massif is present in the map area. Its pre-Mesozoic basement is separated from those of the Aiguilles Rouges and Mont Blanc massifs by the axial depression of the Val Montjoie, but correlations between them are highly probable. Considering their sedimentary covers, Epard (1990) links the Aiguilles Rouges Massif with the external part of the Belledonne Massif and the external part of the Mont Blanc Massif with the internal part of the Belledonne Massif. According to Gidon (2020), the most external part of the Belledonne Massif does not extend to the northeast of the Megève Window. Thus, only the middle part of this massif is equivalent to the Aiguilles Rouges Massif; however, their corresponding sedimentary covers are separated by a thrust near St-Gervais-les-Bains. The Belledonne Massif is composed of crystalline rocks and metasediments of Precambrian to Early Carboniferous age, of Variscan granites and of a Mesozoic sedimentary cover.