Evaluation of pinnacle reef distribution at shallow subsurface using integrated geophysical methods: A case study from the upper Kimmeridgian (Spain)

The well exposed outcrops of the upper Kimmeridgian shallow-marine carbonates at Jabaloyas (Iberian Chain, NE Spain) permit the evaluation of geophysical methods for the identification of sedimentary facies. Direct measurement of magnetic susceptibility in facies and detailed grids of magnetometry, electromagnetic multifrequency and ground-penetrating radar (50–500 MHz antennas) have been performed in two study areas where the upper Kimmeridgian rocks are nearly horizontal. Magnetometry indicates negative anomalies in residual magnetic field and vertical magnetic gradient related to reef pinnacles and faults. Electromagnetic data reveal that positive anomalies of apparent conductivity correlate with non-reefal facies. The areal distribution of magnetometry and EM data does not permit the unequivocal identification of pinnacles and faults at the studied area. By contrast, ground penetrating radar profiles and maps of relative reflectivity in two way travel time slices are useful for the identification of faults (hyperbolic anomalies) and reefal and non-reefal facies (radar facies A and B, respectively). The integration of geophysical data, mainly ground penetrating radar, has permitted the 3D reconstruction of reef pinnacles and its tectonic framework.     

Silurian/Ordovician asymmetrical sill-like bodies from La Codosera syncline, W Spain: A case of tholeiitic partial melts emplaced in a single magma pulse and derived from a metasomatized mantle source

A Silurian/Ordovician extensional event in the southernmost sectors of the Central Iberian Zone is inferred from the Sm/Nd isochron obtained (436 ± 17 Ma) after the diabase sills from the La Codosera syncline. From the geochemical and mineralogical points of view, the diabase sills are subalkaline and range between high-Mg tholeiite diabases to tholeiite andesites. LREE enrichment, an Nb negative anomaly, the absence of a Ta trough and a high Nd isotope signature (ε_Ndt = + 6) are the most relevant geochemical features. The diabase bodies are up to 330 m in thickness and were sampled from bottom to top along several different sections, permitting the definition of an accumulation of clinopyroxene, olivine and plagioclase close to chilled margins at the bottom, and abundant pegmatoid layers at the top. Chemical profiles and mass-balance modelling suggest that the bulk rock and chilled margin compositions are not dissimilar, defining an unusual S-type vertical compositional profile for large (> 50 m thick) sills, which in turn strongly suggests a single magma pulse and a probable gravitational settling. Assuming chilled margin samples as the parental magma, as well as Cr-enriched samples as cumulate layers, a two-stage liquid line of descent has been established, the first one consisting of a clinopyroxene-plagioclase-olivine cumulate assemblage. A second stage in relation to the depletion in Ti, Fe and V is accounted for by ilmenite fractionation, along with that of clinopyroxene, plagioclase and olivine fractionation. Thermobarometric estimations reveal that the clinopyroxene (around 1100 °C and 197 MPa) was a late mineral phase, whereas the plagioclase (around 1200 °C) was pre- to syn-emplacement, in agreement with the presence only of plagioclase phenocrysts in the chilled margins and the very abundant positive Eu anomaly. The energy constraint modelling is consistent with the lack of a significant assimilation process owing to the high temperature contrast between the country rock and the magma itself. The compositional characteristics of chilled margins enable them to be ruled out as primary melts in equilibrium with mantle olivine (Fo₉₁), a certain amount of olivine fractionation being required, which might have occurred in magma conduits en route to shallow emplacement levels in the crust. Spinel lherzolitic xenoliths from the European Cenozoic alkaline magmatism appear to be unsuitable protoliths to account for the chilled margin compositions. Instead, a hybrid mantle source consisting of a small amount of OIB-mantle component (5 wt.%) and a depleted end-member mantle component seems to be a plausible protolith, resulting in a good fit with the fractionation-corrected chilled margin trends for 10% of partial melting.     

PGE distribution in massive sulfide deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt

We present the first platinum group elements (PGE) data on seven massive sulfide deposits in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), one of the world largest massive sulfide provinces. Some of these deposits can contain significant PGE values. The highest PGE values were identified in the Cu-rich stockwork ores of the Aguas Teñidas Este (Σ PGE 350 ppb) and the Neves Corvo (Σ PGE 203 ppb) deposits. Chondrite normalized PGE patterns and Pd/Pt and Pd/Ir ratios in the IPB massive, and stockwork ores are consistent with the leaching of the PGE from the underlying rock sequence.     

Morphotectonics of the Iberian Peninsula

A morphotectonic interpretation of the relief of the Iberian Peninsula (IP) is presented based on an analysis of its gross forms. Several geological–geophysical and geomorphological methods were used in order to build up a morphostructural sketch. Three main categories were established using the approach of Rantsman (1979): Territorial Units (1-megablock, 9-macroblocks, 34-mesoblocks, 1.374-blocks and 2.523-microblocks); Morphostructural Alignments (2-first, 8-second, 20-third and 1-fourth rank; and 43 knots between Morphostructural Alignments (second-fourth rank). The main seismic activity is concentrated on the first- and second-rank lineaments, and some important epicenters are located near the lineament intersections. The origin of the earthquakes in the vicinity of such knots can be explained by the forcing/pushing of macroblocks westwards. The existence of earthquakes along the lineaments may be explained by tension. From the present study it appears that earthquake occurrence in the IP is due principally to stress concentrations around morphotectonic zones. A seismotectonic interpretation of the IP is also presented. On this map three zones are distinguished (A, B, C), each of them with a different active level and dimensions.Received: 25 November 2000     

Tectonics of the Beja-Acebuches Ophiolite: a major suture in the Iberian Variscan Foldbelt

The Beja-Acebuches Ophiolitic Complex (BAOC) (south Portugal/Spain) corresponds to a high grade metamorphic belt along the boundary between Ossa-Morena and the South Portuguese Zones and comprises a lithostratigraphic sequence including (from top to bottom) metabasalts, (metamorphosed) multiple dyke intrusions in gabbro, flasergabbros and metaserpentinites. It is affected by three deformation phases. D₁ affects the ophiolite lower stratigraphic units and is represented by a mylonitic cleavage with a stretching lineation where shear criteria indicates the sense of shear to be towards the north-north-east; this deformation event can be related to the ophiolite emplacement above the crystalline footwall of the Serpa antiform, affecting Precambrian basement and Cambrian cover rocks. The obduction polarity ist north-eastwards, similar to the subduction polarity that generates the Beja Gabbroic Complex (BGC), implying a flake geometry. The second deformation phase, D₂, is represented by an intense WNW-ESE sinistral shear event which is responsible for the shattered appearance of the suture; D₂ is reactivated later by a more brittle D₃ event involving thrusting to the south-west, again with a sinistral component. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic ages were obtained for (metamorphosed) multiple dyke intrusions in the BAOC's gabbro (342.6 ± 1.4 Ma), for metagabbroic cumulates (340.7 ± 1.9 Ma), and for the undeformed/unmetamorphosed BGC (341.1 ± 1.3 Ma) occurring to the north of the ophiolitic suture. These ages reflect a last regional cooling event in the area which post-dates the ophiolite emplacement and the intrusion of the BGC through this oceanic sequence. Correspondence to: P. Fonseca     

Ta and Sn concentration by muscovite fractionation and degassing in a lens-like granite body: The case study of the Penouta rare-metal albite granite (NW Spain)

The Penouta peraluminous low-phosphorous granite is the most important low-grade, high-tonnage Sn-Ta-Nb-bearing albite granite from the Iberian Massif. A sheet or laccolith shape, instead of a stock, is inferred for the Penouta granite, maybe in relation with the low viscosity and high mobility of a fluorine-bearing melt. Subhorizontal lateral extension of the magma is also inferred via vertical and horizontal geochemical variations. The absence of compositional gaps in variation diagrams, coupled with continuous evolutionary trends of compatible and incompatible elements with height, discard a multi-pulse intrusion and point to a single magma pulse. Mineral chemistry, trace element and least-squares mass balance modelling support a differentiation process from bottom to top in the emplacement place. The absence of switch from incompatible to compatible behaviour (bell-shaped trends) in Sn, Nb and Ta variation diagrams, coupled to experimental constraints on tantalite and cassiterite saturation, suggest that Nb-Ta oxides and probably cassiterite were not fractionated mineral phases, their crystallisation being related to concentration gradients within a trapped intercumulus melt. Major and trace element modelling support that the concentration upwards of Ta and the Ta/Nb ratio could be a consequence of mineral fractionation, with a key role of muscovite (mainly primary) for the Ta/Nb ratio, as this mineral has a higher partition coefficient for Nb than Ta. Our results suggest that fluorine and peraluminosity had a limited effect in the Ta/Nb ratio variations. Hence, Ta enrichment is mainly controlled by fractional crystallisation processes. In most cases, Sn enrichment was also concomitant with Ta, indicating that crystal-melt fractionation processes also played an important role in Sn concentration. Nevertheless, the strongest Sn enrichment in the granite (e.g., central part of the granite body) does not correspond to a significant Ta enrichment. The high affinity of Sn for fluids and the high partitioning of Ta for melt could explain this decoupling. Nevertheless, the magmatic signature of cassiterites in these strongly Sn-enriched zones (central part of the granite body) rules out a hydrothermal subsolidus origin for this fluid. By analogy with models carried out in sill-like bodies it seems likely that the Sn enrichment in the central part of the granite body is related to fluid saturation/degassing occurred in the lower margin, as a consequence of cooling and crystallisation of mostly anhydrous minerals (i.e. second boiling). The vapour exsolved migrated into the hotter melt up to the central part, where it probably was reabsorbed, yielding cassiterite with a magmatic signature. Moreover, we suggest that heat loss in the upper margin of the granite body might also contribute to the formation of a second fluid-saturated zone. As a result, pegmo-aplites and greisen were developed.     

Identification and characterization of fluid escape structures (pockmarks) in the Estremadura Spur,West Iberian Margin

Located on the West Iberian margin, between Cabo Carvoeiro and Cabo da Roca, the Estremadura Spur is a trapezoidal promontory elongated in an east-west direction, extending until the Tore seamount. Recently a field with more than 70 pockmarks was discovered in the NW region of the Estremadura Spur outer shelf (Lourinhã Monocline). Pockmarks are the seabed culminations of fluid migration through the sedimentary column and their characteristic seabed morphologies correspond to cone-shaped circular or elliptical depressions. The characterization of these features and the understanding of the associated fluid escape process are the main objectives of this work. Here we characterize these structures to understand their structural and stratigraphic control based on: 1) Seismic processing and interpretation of the high resolution 2D single-channel sparker seismic dataset, 2) Bathymetric and Backscatter interpretation and 3) ROV direct observation of the seafloor.The analysis of the seismic profiles allowed the identification of six seismic units, disturbed by the migration and accumulation of fluids. The Estremadura Spur outer shelf has been affected by several episodes of fluid migration and fluid escape during the Pliocene-Quaternary that are expressed by a vast number of seabed and buried pockmarks. At present, the pockmarks are mainly inactive, as the seabed pockmarks are covered by recent sediments. It is concluded that the migration of fluids to the seabed occurred over the Pliocene-Quaternary, as indicated by the buried pockmarks at different depths below the seabed. The vertical stacking of various pockmarks suggests a cyclical fluid flow activity that can possibly be the result of the eustatic sea level variations and the subsequent changes of the hydrostatic pressure.     

Climatic and tectonic significance of Late Pleistocene and Holocene tufa deposits in the Mijares River canyon,eastern Iberian Range,northeast Spain

The tufa deposits developed in the Mijares River canyon at the eastern sector of the Iberian Range were studied by using geomorphological, stratigraphic, micromorphological, mineralogical and chronological (U/Th and ¹⁴C) techniques. These tufas are located along a high‐gradient river profile reach, with high water turbulence and mechanical outgassing, related to Quaternary faulting activity upstream in the regional context of an extensional tectonic regime. Two stepped and terraced fluviatile tufa structures with large phytohermal barrage frameworks and smaller dammed areas have been differentiated. The first structure, Upper Pleistocene in age (from 200 000 to 50 000 years BP ), is made up by two morphosedimentary units reaching 120 m in thickness, and the second one, Holocene in age (10 000–5000 years BP ), is 35 m in thickness. These structures record a more or less continuous tufa development with a mean deposition rate ranging between 1 and 5 mm a⁻¹ as minimum. A preferential growth with high biological activity during warm and wet palaeoenvironmental stages (isotopic stages 7, 3 and 1) can be deduced. Thus, neotectonic activity controlled the location along the Mijares River as well as the large thickness of the tufa deposits, whereas warm climatic periods favoured intense tufa activity in the fluvial system. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

History of vegetation during the Holocene in the Courel and Queixa Sierras,Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula

Palynological studies undertaken in the mountainous regions of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula are few in number and have been concerned largely with the second half of the Holocene. New pollen data from two Galician sierras, the Courel and Queixa Sierras, provide a 10000‐yr record of vegetation and climate change. In the Courel Sierra before 9750 yr BP, Laguna Lucenza (1420 m a.s.l.) reflects a period of open landscape covered by Poaceae and heliophilous plants, which may be correlated with the Younger Dryas. The onset of the Holocene is characterised by the expansion of oak woodland, prior to 9300 yr BP, following a short phase of birch along with the gradual decline of pine. The oak values reach a peak at 8350 ± 80 yr BP. Towards 8800 yr BP Corylus begins to expand, followed by Alnus (7500 yr BP) and Ulmus. During this period, the Fraga pollen assemblage (Queixa Sierra, 1360 m a.s.l.) indicates Betula woodland surrounding the site, masking the regional predominance of oak. After 5000 yr BP there is a gradual decrease in arboreal pollen values in both Sierras. Castanea appears in Laguna Lucenza (Courel Sierra) at 4075 ± 75 yr BP. There is widespread deforestation during the last 4000 yr. During this period the presence of large quantities of microcharcoal particles points to the occurrence of fire. The reduction in forest is associated with the arrival of cultivation at 4000 yr BP at low altitudes in the Queixa Sierra. At higher altitudes the first agricultural activity is dated at later than 2000 yr BP. This coincides with the first record of cereal cultivation at high altitude in the Courel Sierra. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tectono-thermal evolution in a region with thin-skinned tectonics: the western nappes in the Cantabrian Zone (Variscan belt of NW Spain)

 The palaeotemperature distribution in the transition from diagenesis to metamorphism in the western nappes of the Cantabrian Zone (Somiedo, La Sobia and Aramo Units) are analysed by conodont colour alteration index (CAI) and illite crystallinity (IC). Structural and stratigraphic control in distribution of CAI and IC values is observed. Both CAI and IC value distributions show that anchizonal conditions are reached in the lower part of the Somiedo Unit. A disruption of the thermal trend by basal thrusts is evidenced by CAI and IC values. There is an apparent discrepancy between the IC and CAI values in Carboniferous rocks of the Aramo Unit; the IC has mainly anchizonal values, whereas the CAI has diagenetic values. Discrepant IC values are explained as a feature inherited from the source area. In the Carboniferous rocks of the La Sobia Unit, both IC and CAI indicate diagenetic conditions. The anchimetamorphism predated completion of emplacement of the major nappes; it probably developed previously and/or during the early stages of motion of the units. Temperature probably decreased when the metamorphosed zones of the sheets rose along ramps and were intensely eroded. In the context of the Iberian Variscan belt, influence of tectonic factors on the metamorphism is greater in the internal parts, where the strain and cleavage are always present, than in the external parts (Cantabrian Zone), where brittle deformation and rock translation are dominant, with an increasing role of the burial on the metamorphism. Received: 11 May 1998 / Accepted: 19 January 1999