Pressure–temperature–deformation–time of the ductile Alpine shearing in Corsica: From orogenic construction to collapse

• The terminal assembly of the Alpine Corsica orogen occurred at ~ 32–27 Ma.
• Shift to crustal extension occurred post ~ 27 Ma.
• The top-to-the-E ductile extension culminated during the early Miocene at ~ 20–21 Ma.
• The exhuming HP core of the Alpine Corsica entered in the brittle crust post ~ 20 Ma.
• Constraints on the Tertiary geodynamic evolution of the Alpine-Apennine system

Definition of the Tertiary tectono-metamorphic history of Alpine Corsica is a key task to decipher the space–time linkage between the Alpine and Apennine subduction systems in the Mediterranean region. Alpine Corsica exposes a nappe stack of oceanic- and continental-derived units, structurally juxtaposed onto the former European continental margin (Hercynian Corsica). Still uncertain is the timing of involvement of the continental-derived units in orogenic construction and shift to regional extension. This paper focuses on reconstruction of the pressure–temperature–deformation–time evolution of selected ductile shear zones activated during transition from the tectonic underplating to the extensional reworking stages. New Rb–Sr mineral age data, integrated with structural and thermobarometric investigations constrain the waning stages of the high-pressure (from blueschist to greenschist facies metamorphic conditions) top-to-the-W thrusting of the HP, oceanic-derived realm (Schistes Lustrés Complex) onto the Hercynian Corsica along the East Tenda Shear Zone in the early Oligocene (from ~ 32 to ~ 27 Ma). This early compressional evolution is overprinted by a major phase of retrogressive, syn-greenschist top-to-the-E extensional shearing in the Schistes Lustrés Complex with the last episode of deformation-related ductile recrystallization recorded during the early Miocene at ~ 20–21 Ma, in a continuum transition from ductile to brittle shearing. The same early Miocene Rb–Sr deformation ages are recovered from the ductile-to-brittle top-to-the-E reactivation domains within the East Tenda Shear Zone, documenting that transition from compression to extension in Alpine Corsica occurred during the late Oligocene–early Miocene time lapse. Implications of these data are discussed in the broader context of the Tertiary geodynamic evolution of the Central Mediterranean region.