Long-Term and Recent Activity of the Brenner Fault Finally Reconciled

Polarized-light microscope images of thin sections (thin rock slices) from calc-schists collected at increasing distance from the main Brenner Fault (footwall). Deformation is cataclastic (brittle) near the fault and mylonitic (ductile) about 2 kilometers away. Near the fault, cataclasis overprints earlier mylonitic fabrics, producing hybrid deformation. Foliation is visible in all samples. Credit: Argante et al. [2026], Figure 4