Abstract (eng)
The southeastern Kreuzeck Mountains are built up by Upper Austroalpine Units, which experienced a markedly different tectono-metamorphic evolution. They can be divided in the Koralpe-Wölz Nappe System in the footwall, and the Drauzug-Gurktal Nappe System in the hanging wall, which had their peak metamorphism in different periods of the earth history. The Koralpe-Wölz Nappe System is built up by the Prijakt Nappe, which is built up by the Prijakt-Polinik Complex. It consists of homogenously S dipping monotonous paragneisses and minor mica shists with SE dipping stretching lineations. Fine grained garnet amphibolites are intercalated. Rb/Sr cooling ages on biotite showing 76 ± 1 Ma, indicate an Alpine imprint of the complex. The borderline to the overlying Kreuzeck-Gailtaler Alpen Nappe, which is subdivided into several complexes, is represented by the Wallner Shearzone. The Wallner Shearzone is a several hundreds of meters thick, S dipping phyllonite/mylonite zone, which is normal faulting to the S. It contains tens of meters thick ultracataclasites apart from heavily sheared rocks of the neighboring complexes. Cooling ages in the bordering units and temperatures in the shearzone, suggest a Cretaceous activity, and it can be assumed that the high pressure rocks, occurring further in the northwest, have been exhumed along this shearzone. The overlying Kreuzeck-Gailtaler Alpen Nappe is subdivided from bottom to top into the Strieden, Gaugen and Goldeck complexes. Following, they are described according to their occurrence from North to South. Directly above the Wallner Shearzone, the Gaugen Complex is located. It is built up by brownish discoloring paragneisses and mica shists with large, sheeted white micas and subordinated amphibolite bodies. The trend and plunge are unhomogenous, due to the polyphase history. The Gaugen Complex is dissected by the steeply N dipping, EW strinking Leßnigbach Shearzone, which is thrusting to the S. It comprises heavily phyllonitisized greenshists (chlorite-sericite shists) from the underlying Strieden Complex. It is suggested that the Leßnigbach Shearzone is linked to the Wallner Shearzone and therefore assumed to be also Cretaceous in age. In tight lateral association antimonite was found in ancient times, which is believed to be connected to the shearzone. Sm/Nd isotope ages on garnets reveal the peak temperatures during the Variscan orogeny to be 306 ± 5 Ma at 560 °C and 6,5 kbar, as shown by microscopy and PT pseudosections. Rb/Sr biotite ages gave 292 ± 3 Ma and 273 ± 3 Ma in the area to the south of the Leßnigbach Shearzone and 221 ± 2 Ma to the north of it. These ages are interpreted to reflect Variscan cooling with a Cretaceous thermal overprint, which is very weak in the South and more intense in the northern block, reflecting the tectonic history of the northern block, which was exhumed from greater depths during the Late Cretaceous activity of the Wallner and Leßnigbach shearzones.
South of the Gaugen Complex, the underlying Strieden Complex occurs, which is bordered by the roughly EW striking, sinistral Blaßnig Shearzone. The latter contains pseudotachylites as well as ultracataclasites. The Strieden Complex is suggested to be at the current position due to the activity of a positive flower structure and consists of garnet mica shists with garnets up to 1 cm and fine grained amphibolites, which are heavily folded with NW dipping fold axes. In the South, the Strieden Complex is probably bordered against the Gaugen Complex by a shearzone similar to the Blaßnig Shearzone. The Gaugen Complex in turn is separated from the overlying Goldeck Complex by a shallow to the S dipping shearzone. Both of these borders are not outcropping in the study area, since they are covered by alluvial deposits of the Drau valley.
The Goldeck Complex comprises lowgrade phyllites and minor marbles. They are overlain by lower Triassic shists and Mesozoic sediments of the Drauzug.
In addition, few basaltic dikes can be found in the mapped area, which are supposed to be connected to the Periadriatic Intrusivs. The area is also interesting in terms of quarternary geology, since there are diverse glacial sediments from the last glacial maximum (Würm). When the ice was finally melting, huge areas were covered by ice marginal sediments and due to destabilization of the mountain slopes, mass movements developed. Additionally, a later glacior of the ice desintegration phase is evident by the formation of a lateral moraine.