Thermo-mechanical controls on Alpine deformation of NW Europe

The lithosphere of the Northern Alpine foreland has undergone a polyphase evolution with an intense interplay between upper mantle thermal perturbations and stress-induced intraplate deformation that points to the importance of lithospheric folding of the thermally weakened lithosphere. In this paper we address relationships between deeper lithospheric processes, neotectonics and surface processes in the Northern Alpine foreland with special emphasis on tectonically induced topography. We focus on lithosphere memory and neotectonics with special attention to the thermo-mechanical structure of the lithosphere, mechanisms of large-scale intraplate deformation, Late Neogene anomalies in subsidence and uplift, and links with surface processes and topography evolution. © The Geological Society of London 2006.