Quaternary deformations along the Engadine-Gruf tectonic system, Swiss-Italian Alps

The Engadine Line (EL) is a seismically active fault in southeastern Switzerland. In the field we studied its western segment, presently not affected by seismicity but characterised by features suggesting neotectonic motions, and the coterminous Gruf Line. Uphill- and downhill-facing scarps, offset rivers, non-equilibrium hydrological conditions and aligned deep-seated gravitational slope deformations are dominant in the western sector of the EL in the Inn Valley. Landform offsets and the most recent fault striations point to oblique left-lateral strike-slip. Close to the EL, at the Maloja Pass, a huge collapse beheaded the Inn Valley. Trench excavation with palaeoseismic analysis, stratigraphic correlations of Quaternary deposits and optically stimulated luminescence dating indicate that the collapse and faulting mostly occurred in the Late Pleistocene. In the Bregaglia Valley, the Gruf Line stretches along the southwestern extension of the EL. Six deep-seated gravitational slope deformations developed along the Gruf Line and were dated to pre- and post-Last Glacial Maximum times. We suggest that the western sector of the EL moved also in a Pleistocene time interval during which tectonic forces in the area were probably larger than at present, favouring local uplift, widespread gravity deformation, and retrogressive slope failure at the Inn Valley head. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.