Divergent and convergent margins actualistic models are reviewed and
applied to the history of the western Alps. Tethyan rifting history and
geometry are analyzed: the northern European margin is considered as an
upper plate whereas the southern Apulian margin is a lower plate; the
Breche basin is regarded as the former break-away trough; the internal
Brianconnais domain represents the northern rift shoulder whilst the
more external domains are regarded as the infill of a complex rim basin
locally affected by important extension (Valaisan and Vocontain trough).
The Schistes lustres and ophiolites of the Tsate nappe are compared to
an accretionary prism: the imbrication of this nappe elements is
regarded as a direct consequence of the accretionary phenomena already
active in early Cretaceous; the Gets/Simme complex could orginate from a
more internal part of the accretionary prism. Some eclogitic basements
represent the former Apulian margin substratum (Sesia) others
(Mont-Rose) are interpreted as the former edge of the European margin.
The history of the closing Tethyan domain is analyzed and the remaining
problems concerning the cinematics, the presence/absence of a volcanic
arc and the eoalpine metamorphism are discussed.