GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE ULTRA-HIGH PRESSURE BROSSASCO-ISASCA UNIT (WESTERN ALPS, ITALY)

In the southern Dora-Maira Massif, Western Alps, slivers of continental crust with similar lithologies, but recrystallised during the Alpine orogeny at different peak-P conditions, are exposed. They include the Brossasco-Isasca Unit (BIU) where coesite was first discovered in continental crust (Chopin, 1984). A new 1:20,000-scale geologic map and related cross-sections of the whole BIU and adjoining units is presented, in which the most significant features useful to infer the pre-Alpine history and the Alpine tectonic and metamorphic evolution, are summarized. Thanks to detailed petrography and petrology, the geologic map shows the precise location of ultra-high pressure (UHP) minerals (such as coesite), and the locations of the most significant mineral assemblages (such as kyanite + jadeite). This innovative approach is used to distinguish the BIU from the adjacent units. Relict pre-Alpine structures (such as igneous intrusive contacts with basement xenoliths and metagranitoids) are summarised in a sketch illustrating the geologic setting of the UHP metamorphic unit as inferred before the Alpine orogeny.