Metabasic rocks of the ophiolitic sequences of the Glockner Nappe and Eclogite Zone in the south-central Tauern Window, Austria, reveal important insights into rifting and spreading of the Alpine Tethys. U–Pb dating of magmatic zircons yields a concordant 157 ± 2 Ma crystallization age for the precursor of a coarse-grained metagabbro from the Glockner Nappe. The Late Jurassic intrusion age is coeval with mafic plutonic activit...