Deformation partitioning in the mid- to deep sheared crust of the Variscan Fautea-Favone metamorphic complex (southern Corsica, France)

The Variscan basement in Corsica (France) is exposed as scattered metamorphic complexes preserved in the late Permian batholith in the south-western sector of the island. We present the first tectono-metamorphic map (at 1:10000 scale) of the Variscan high-grade metamorphic complex exposed in one of these complexes in the Fautea-Favone area (south-eastern Corsica). Our geological mapping distinguished the Fautea Migmatitic Complex (FMC), to the south, and the Tarcu-Favone Gneissic Complex (TFC), to the north. Considering the type and distribution of deformation structures, and lithotypes, the TFC and FMC are further divided in three sub-units. The two complexes are separated by a c. 1 km-thick zone where the two complexes are amalgamated in an anastomosed pattern (Transitional Units, TRU). Both complexes are lately affected by ductile to brittle localized shear zones with both dextral and sinistral kinematics, frequently bounding lozenge-shaped low-strain domains.