Conveners:
Gianluca Vignaroli (Università degli Studi di Bologna)
Stefano Tavani (Università degli Studi di Firenze)
Silvia Mittempergher (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca)
Mountain belts are complex archives of polyphase deformation, where the structural grain of the lithosphere, from fault rocks and shear-zone fabrics to crustal-scale structures, is often dictated by the orogenic memory, i.e., the capacity of the lithosphere to preserve and reactivate inherited structures across successive tectonic cycles. Understanding how structural inheritance influences the localisation of strain, the structural architecture of orogens, and the transition between tectonic regimes remains a fundamental challenge in the Earth sciences.
This session aims to explore the interplay between pre-existing structural and rheological heterogeneities across multiple scales and the development of new fault networks. We focus on the spatio-temporal evolution of ductile shear zones and brittle faults, investigating how polyphase histories (including rifting, subduction, collision, and collapse) exploit the rheological properties, produce strain localisation/partition, and affect orogenic symmetry/asymmetry.
By bridging the gap between micro-scale processes and plate-scale dynamics, this session welcomes field-based and analytical studies contributions that address the overprinting of structural fabrics through rheological and tectonic cycles. We especially encourage multidisciplinary approaches presenting innovative 3D/4D perspectives on orogenic evolution.