Fig. 1

a Tectonic map of the Alps modified after Schmid et al. (2004) and Mohn et al. (2010) with the location of study area (red square). b Geological map of the Err nappe (from Masini et al. 2012). The white circles in b mark the two studied areas. PVL Piz Val Lunga, FCT Fuorcla Cotschna; c Restored section showing a section across the northwestern Adriatic rifted margin before onset of Alpine convergence in Late Cretaceous time (modified after Masini et al. 2011). The section shows the distribution of the main paleogeographic domains of the margin (green terms) and refers to the major Alpine units (red terms). OCT ocean continent transition, LE lower Err unit, ME middle Err unit, UE upper Err unit, Ag Agnelli Fm., LA lower Allgäu Fm., UA upper Allgäu Fm., Bd Bardella Fm., Sal Saluver Fms., RC radiolarian chert, TAF top of Agnelli Fm