Geological map of the Saint Marcel Valley (Aosta valley, Western Alps)

What is it about?

The geological map of the Saint-Marcel valley at the scale of 1:20,000 illustrates the tectonic setting of metaophiolites from the southern Aosta Valley, in the Italian side of the Western Alpine belt. The map highlights the sharp contact between the metaophiolitic basement and its metasedimentary cover. In spite of the Alpine tectonics, this contact is regarded as deriving from the original oceanic crust/sediments interface.

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Why is it important?

Metasediments reflect various sedimentation episodes starting from pelagic and proximal settings to the onset of the orogenic stage. The Saint-Marcel valley metasediments thus reflect a changing in the sedimentation environments through time and space during the overall geologic evolution.

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