Observations sur les flyschs des Alpes maritimes francaises et italiennes; sedimentologie, variations de facies

Abstract

In the Maritime Alps of France and Italy, there are Flysch complexes whose facies are similar but whose ages differ, as well as Flysch complexes of contrasting composition. The sedimentational features and facies of two of these complexes were studied with a view to interpreting depositional conditions. The constituents of the autochthonous Oligocene Annot sandstone complex came from the south. Measurements of current direction indicate that the sandstones of the overthrust helminthoid-bearing Flysch complex (upper middle Cretaceous) came from the southwest, locally from the westnorthwest. In neither case was the Argentera-Mercanton massif the source of the sands, although it may have supplied small amounts to the Annot sandstone.