Structure of an intraplate fold-and-thrust belt

The Iberian Chain is a complex intraplate fold-and-thrust belt resulting from the convergence between the Eurasian, Iberian and African plates during the late Eocene to the Miocene. The main trend of its contractionalstructures is NW-SE, but E-W, NE-SW and N-S-trending structures are also present. T...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Gimerà, Joan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:201376
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/201376
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1344/GeologicaActa2018.16.4.6
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Thrust belt
Intraplate
Crustal thickness
Iberia
Descripción
Sumario:The Iberian Chain is a complex intraplate fold-and-thrust belt resulting from the convergence between the Eurasian, Iberian and African plates during the late Eocene to the Miocene. The main trend of its contractionalstructures is NW-SE, but E-W, NE-SW and N-S-trending structures are also present. The boundaries of the chain with its surrounding foreland basins are always thrusts. The North-Iberian Thrust separates thechain from the Ebro Basin to the North, while the Serranía de Cuenca Thrust makes the SE boundary of the chain, separating it from the Tajo Basin and La Mancha foreland areas. Between these thrusts, thecontractional structure is basement-involved, while South of the Serranía de Cuenca Thrust only Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks are involved in the thrust-system, detached in the evaporitic Triassic materials. Twoparts can be differentiated considering the major structure of the chain. The western and central areas hold two major anticlinoriums separated by the Almazán Synclinorium. East of the Teruel Depression, E-WstrikingN-verging thrusts in the North, and NW-SE-striking S-verging thrusts in the center and South are the dominant structures.The crust thickened during the Cenozoic contraction generating a mean crustal thickening of about 5km. The horizontal shortening obtained from cross-sections is 32km, and from a density-gravity section of 57.5km.These two values may be considered end values.The relief of the Iberian Chain has a strong areal coincidence with the contractional structures and the thickened crust, indicating that they are genetically related.