Field Trip Leaders: Giorgio Pennacchioni1, Alberto Ceccato2, Giovanni Toffol3
1Università di Padova.
2ETH-Zentrum, Zürich, Switzerland.
3Cardiff University, UK.
Date: 11-14 September 2024
Cost: € 600 (Full); € 320 (REDUCED SIMP/SGI/EAG members); € 545 (REDUCED Societies affiliated to SGI)
Minimum number of participants: 22
Maximum number of participants: 28
Description
The excursion will consist of 2 full days of field work on glacially-polished outcrops at the front of the Mesule glacier (Südtirol, northeastern Italy) within the meta-granitoids of the Tauern tectonic window of the eastern Alps. These outcrops host an impressive variety of spectacularly exposed mesoscale structures ranging from magmatic, with classic examples of multiphase magmatic intrusion and magma mingling structures, to deformation structures that include different types of ductile shear zones and brittle faults. Both the ductile and brittle deformation was accompanied by episodes of fluid infiltration accounting for a complex history of fluid rock interaction during deformation.
This field trip was run six times as part of EGU summer schools mainly dedicated at teaching advanced techniques of quantitative structural analysis in deformed basement rocks. It was preferentially addressed at PhD and post-Doc students and early-career researchers. You can find more details on the field excursion (and a list of suggested readings) and a selection of images of the field structures at the web site of the former summer school:
https://servizi.geoscienze.unipd.it/egu-summerschool-2023/index.html
https://servizi.geoscienze.unipd.it/egu-summerschool-2023/photos/thumbnails.html
The web site of the Chemnitzerhütte refuge is http://www.chemnitzerhuette.com/
Programme
11/9 - 11 am: transfer by bus from Padova (Dept. of Geosciences, Via G. Gradenigo 6) to Lappago (BZ) and climb to the Chemnitzerhütte; dinner and overnight stay at the refuge;
12-13/9 visit to the outcrops at the front of the Mesule Glacier; breakfast and dinner at the refuge, and pocket lunch on the outcrops; overnight stays at the refuge;
14/9 breakfast at the hut, descent to valley and return to Padova.
The field area is easy to access and no climbing or special Alpine experience is required. The access to the Chemnitzerhütte (2420 m a.s.l) is by an easy mountain path climbing up for ca. 500 m of altitude difference. The walk from the refuge to the outcrops takes ca. 1 h of easy walk along a slightly steeping path. However, the excursion is in a high mountain environment and adequate equipment is essential. A checklist of the recommended equipment can be found on the web link indicated below. If you need further information do not hesitate to contact me (Giorgio Pennacchioni). The outcrops are at around 2600 m.a.s.l. We will be outside the whole day (with a packed lunch provided by the hut). The weather can be warm and sunny but can also be very cold, windy and, in the worst case, snowy.
Further information
Cost includes transfer by bus to Südtirol and back to Padova; full board at the refuge.
Field trip contact: giorgio.pennacchioni@unipd.it