Eastward displacement reduction of the Gavarnite thrust and implications of South Pyrenean thrusting

The Gavarnie thrust, a major alpine fault in the Palaeozoic basement of the Pyrenean Axial zone, shows a displacement reduction from its type area to the east, so that in the Val d'Aran area it does not have a multi-kilometric slip as at Gavarnie, and its trace becomes difficult to follow. In the Val d'Aran, the thrust dips steeply to the north, and brings rocks of comparable structural level into contact, in a ramp-over-ramp geometry. It is unlikely that it roots some of the far-travelled south Pyrenean thrust sheets (i.e. Nogueres, Pedraforca) as has been proposed in some crustal reconstructions.