Zone du Combin

Representation and status

Color CMYK
(0%,1%,2%,5%)
Color RGB
R: 241 G: 239 B: 237
Rank
tectonic zone
Validity
Unit is in Use
Status
informal term
Status discussion

Nomenclature

Deutsch
Combin-Zone
Français
Zone du Combin
Italiano
Zona del Combin
English
Combin Zone
Origin of the Name

Massif du Grand Combin (VS)

Historical Variants

Formation calcaréo-serpentineuse (Giordano 1869), zone mésozoïque du Grand Combin = zone du Combin (Argand 1909, Argand 1911b, Stutz & Masson 1938, Jemelin 1970), zone mésozoïque du Grand Combin (Bartholmès 1920), Zone du Combin = Combinzone (Staub 1942b), Combinzone (Güller 1947), Combin-Zone (Bearth 1953), Western Piemonte Zone = Combin Zone s.l. (Compagnoni et al. 1977), Zona del Combin = unità del Combin = unità superiore della Zona Piemontese = unità ofiolitiche superiori (Dal Piaz et al. 1992a), zone des schistes lustrés (Gouffon 1993), Combin unit (Babist et al. 2006), Combin zone (Dal Piaz et al. 2015), Combin Unit (Giuntoli & Engi 2016)

Nomenclatorial Remarks

La définition de la zone du Combin diffère sensiblement d'un auteur à l'autre.

Description

Description

rare Permian, Triassic sequences, Liassic schistose marbles and a heterogeneous complex of ophiolite-bearing calcschists ; characteristic regularly repeated interbedding of calcschists and prasinites ; no true oceanic crust, but thinned continental crust of the Penninic margin (Compagnoni et al. 1977)

Hierarchy and sequence

Subordinate units
Upper boundary

Dent Blanche, Pillonet, Sesia

Lower boundary

Verrès, Etirol-Levaz, Mt-Emilius, Glacier Rafray, Acque Rosse, Tour Ponton

Age

Age at top
  • Late Cretaceous
Age at base
  • Permian
Dating Method

Cénomanien-Turonien (Marthaler 1981 et 1984, Savary 1982, Schneider 1982, Crespo 1984, Sartori ----)

Geography

Geographical extent
Grand Combin, Mont Pleureur, Val des Dix, Val d'Hérens, Moiry, Zinal, Theodulpass.

Palaenography and tectonic

Paleogeography
Ultrabriançonnais :

UB

Tectonic unit (resp. main category)
Kind of protolith
  • ophiolitic
Metamorphism
monocyclic
Metamorphic facies
  • greenschist facies (epizone)
  • blueschist facies

References

Definition
Argand Emile (1909) : L'exploration géologique des Alpes Pennines Centrales. Bull. Soc. vaud. Sci. nat. 45/166, 217-276
Definition
Sartori Mario (1987) : Structure de la zone du Combin entre les Diablons et Zermatt (Valais). Eclogae geol. Helv. 80/3, 789-814
Important Publications
Marthaler Michel (1984) : Géologie des unités penniques entre le val d'Anniviers et le val de Tourtemagne (Valais, Suisse). Eclogae geol. Helv. 77/2, 395-448

  • Nappe du Tsaté

    Name Origin

    Alpage du Tsaté (VS)

    Rank
    nappe
    Status
    valid
    In short

    The Tsaté Nappe is an Upper Penninic tectonic unit of the Western Alps cropping out in southern Valais and in the Valle d’Aosta. It comprises oceanic metasediments (mainly calcschists and black shales of Cretaceous age) and ophiolitic rocks of Jurassic age originating from the Piemonte-Liguria Ocean. This nappe is characterized by a chaotic aspect and metamorphism under conditions of blueschist facies followed by greenschist facies. It is interpreted as the result of the formation of an accretionary wedge at the foot of the active Adriatic margin and the subsequent subduction below this continental plate.

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    • unité de la Luette

      Name Origin

      La Luette (VS), Val d'Hérémence

      Rank
      tectonically bounded lithostratigraphic unit
      Status
      informal term
      Valid term
      Graue-Serie (Tsate) Garda-Bordon-Formation
      In short

      Unité la plus interne de la nappe du Tsaté, constituée de calcschistes à dominance calcaire ou pélitique, riches en roches vertes.

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    • unité du Pleureur

      Name Origin

      Le Pleureur (VS)

      Rank
      tectonically bounded lithostratigraphic unit
      Status
      informal term
      Valid term
      Rousse_Serie (Tsate)
      In short

      Marbres phyllitiques clairs, brèches sédimentaires à composants calcaires et dolomitiques, calcschistes quartzo-micacés à surface d'altération rougeâtre (nappe du Tsaté).

      Age
      Cretaceous
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  • Frilihorn-Decke

    Name Origin

    Sommet du Frilihorn (VS)

    Rank
    nappe
    Status
    valid
    Nomenclatorial Remarks
    <p>cf. faisceaux de Cogne (Elter 1972) et du Prariond (Ellenberger 1958, Deville 1987)</p>
    In short

    The Frilihorn Nappe is a thin Upper Penninic tectonic unit intercalated within the Tsaté Nappe in the Val d’Anniviers, Zermatt Valley and Valtournanche. It is composed of a series of Briançonnais-type Permian–Triassic sediments overlain by Jurassic breccias and limestone and calcschists probably of Cretaceous age (hence quite similar to that of the Mont Fort Nappe).

    Age
    Middle Triassic
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  • Nappe des Cimes Blanches

    Name Origin

    Cimes Blanches = Cime Bianche (Italia)

    Rank
    nappe
    Status
    valid
    Nomenclatorial Remarks
    <p>Les éléments initialement attribués à la nappe des Cimes Blanches dans le val de Moiry et le val d'Hérens sont dorénavant regroupés dans une unité tectonique distincte, la nappe du Sasseneire.</p>
    In short

    The Cimes Blanches Nappe is a thin Upper Penninic tectonic unit intercalated within the Tsaté Nappe in the Val d’Anniviers, Zermatt Valley and Valtournanche. It is composed of a series of Briançonnais-type Permian–Triassic sediments overlain by Jurassic breccias and limestone and calcschists probably of Cretaceous age (hence quite similar to that of the Mont Fort Nappe).

    Age
    Permian
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