On the tectonic origin of Iberian topography

The present-day topography of the Iberian peninsula can be considered as the result of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Iberian plate (including rifting and basin formation during the Mesozoic and compression and mountain building processes at the borders and inner part of the plate, during the Tertiary, followed by Neogene rifting on the Mediterranean side) and surface processes acting during the Quaternary. The northern-central part of Iberia (corresponding to the geological units of the Duero Basin, the Iberian Chain, and the Central System) shows a mean elevation close to one thousand meters above sea level in average, some hundreds of meters higher than the southern half of the Iberian plate. This elevated area corresponds to (i) the top of sedimentation in Tertiary terrestrial endorheic sedimentary basins (Paleogene and Neogene) and (ii) planation surfaces developed on Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks of the mountain chains surrounding the Tertiary sedimentary basins. Both types of surfaces can be found in continuity along the margins of some of the Tertiary basins. The Bouguer anomaly map of the Iberian peninsula indicates negative anomalies related to thickening of the continental crust. Correlations of elevation to crustal thickness and elevation to Bouguer anomalies indicate that the different landscape units within the Iberian plate can be ascribed to different patterns: (1) The negative Bouguer anomaly in the Iberian plate shows a rough correlation with elevation, the most important gravity anomalies being linked to the Iberian Chain. (2) Most part of the so-called Iberian Meseta is linked to intermediate-elevation areas with crustal thickening; this pattern can be applied to the two main intraplate mountain chains (Iberian Chain and Central System) (3) The main mountain chains (Pyrenees and Betics) show a direct correlation between crustal thickness and elevation, with higher elevation/crustal thickness ratio for the Central System vs. the Betics and the Pyrenees. Other features of the Iberian topography, namely the longitudinal profile of the main rivers in the Iberian peninsula and the distribution of present-day endorheic areas, are consistent with the Tertiary tectonic evolution and the change from an endorheic to an exorheic regime during the Late Neogene and the Quaternary. Some of the problems involving the timing and development of the Iberian Meseta can be analysed considering the youngest reference level, constituted by the shallow marine Upper Cretaceous limestones, that indicates strong differences induced by (i) the overall Tertiary and recent compression in the Iberian plate, responsible for differences in elevation of the reference level of more than 6 km between the mountain chains and the endorheic basins and (ii) the effect of Neogene extension in the Mediterranean margin, responsible for lowering several thousands of meters toward the East and uplift of rift shoulders. A part of the recent uplift within the Iberian plate can be attributed of isostatic uplift in zones of crustal thickening.     

Comparison of horizontal and downward particle fluxes across canyons of the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean): Meteorological and hydrodynamical forcing

In the framework of the European project Eurostrataform, an array of six near-bottom mooring lines was deployed in the heads of the major submarine canyons incising the continental slope of the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean). All moorings were equipped with sediment traps, current meters and turbidity Optical Backscatters Sensors (OBS) situated at few meters above the bottom. Particulate mass fluxes were recorded weekly by the sediment traps between November 2003 and May 2004 and compared with horizontal export fluxes obtained from the turbidity and current meters.     

Tangled up in folds: tectonic significance of superimposed folding at the core of the Central Iberian curve (West Iberia)

The amalgamation of Pangea during the Carboniferous produced a winding mountain belt: the Variscan orogen of West Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, this tortuous geometry is dominated by two major structures: the Cantabrian Orocline, to the north, and the Central Iberian curve (CIC) to the south. Here, we perform a detailed structural analysis of an area within the core of the CIC. This core was intensively deformed resulting in a corrugated superimposed folding pattern. We have identified three different phases of deformation that can be linked to regional Variscan deformation phases. The main collisional event produced upright to moderately inclined cylindrical folds with an associated axial planar cleavage. These folds were subsequently folded during extensional collapse, in which a second fold system with subhorizontal axes and an intense subhorizontal cleavage formed. Finally, during the formation of the Cantabrian Orocline, a third folding event refolded the two previous fold systems. This later phase formed upright open folds with fold axis trending 100° to 130°, a crenulation cleavage and brittle–ductile transcurrent conjugated shearing. Our results show that the first and last deformation phases are close to coaxial, which does not allow the CIC to be formed as a product of vertical axis rotations, i.e. an orocline. The origin of the curvature in Central Iberia, if a single process, had to be coeval or previous to the first deformation phase.     

滇西北普朗斑岩铜矿床成矿时代及其意义

普朗斑岩铜矿在中国斑岩铜矿床中有其特殊性,无论对中甸岛弧带的基础地质还是矿产资源评价预测的研究,都具有重要意义。然而,该斑岩铜矿床无确切的年代学数据。通过作辉钼矿Re-Os年龄和单矿物K-Ar年龄测定,首次确定了普朗斑岩铜矿床内具有钾硅酸盐化的黑云石英二长斑岩成矿作用的活动时间为(235.4±2.4)Ma～(221.5±2.0)Ma,石英-辉钼矿阶段的辉钼矿Re-Os年龄大致为(213±3.8)Ma,两者十分相近。表明普朗斑岩铜矿床的成矿作用是在印支期完成的。主矿体钾长石K-Ar年龄显示热液活动持续到(182.5±1.8)Ma左右,说明与斑岩铜矿有关的热液系统寿命可达40Ma之久。这种长寿命的热液系统是高品位大规模的斑岩铜矿形成的必要条件之一。     

Tectonic and oceanographic process interactions archived in Late Cretaceous to Present deep‐marine stratigraphy on the Exmouth Plateau,offshore NW Australia

Deep‐marine deposits provide a valuable archive of process interactions between sediment gravity flows, pelagic sedimentation and thermohaline bottom‐currents. Stratigraphic successions can also record plate‐scale tectonic processes (e.g. continental breakup and shortening) that impact long‐term ocean circulation patterns, including changes in climate and biodiversity. One such setting is the Exmouth Plateau, offshore NW Australia, which has been a relatively stable, fine‐grained carbonate‐dominated continental margin from the Late Cretaceous to Present. We combine extensive 2D (~40,000 km) and 3D (3,627 km²) seismic reflection data with lithologic and biostratigraphic information from wells to reconstruct the tectonic and oceanographic evolution of this margin. We identified three large‐scale seismic units (SUs): (a) SU‐1 (Late Cretaceous)—500 m‐thick, and characterised by NE‐SW‐trending, slope‐normal elongate depocentres (c. 200 km long and 70 km wide), with erosional surfaces at their bases and tops, which are interpreted as the result of contour‐parallel bottom‐currents, coeval with the onset of opening of the Southern Ocean; (b) SU‐2 (Palaeocene—Late Miocene)—800 m‐thick and characterised by: (a) very large (amplitude, c. 40 m and wavelength, c. 3 km), SW‐migrating, NW‐SE‐trending sediment waves, (b) large (4 km‐wide, 100 m‐deep), NE‐trending scours that flank the sediment waves and (c) NW‐trending, 4 km‐wide and 80 m‐deep turbidite channel, infilled by NE‐dipping reflectors, which together may reflect an intensification of NE‐flowing bottom currents during a relative sea‐level fall following the establishment of circumpolar‐ocean current around Antarctica; and (c) SU‐3 (Late Miocene—Present)—1,000 m‐thick and is dominated by large (up to 100 km³) mass‐transport complexes (MTCs) derived from the continental margin (to the east) and the Exmouth Plateau Arch (to the west), and accumulated mainly in the adjacent Kangaroo Syncline. This change in depositional style may be linked to tectonically‐induced seabed tilting and folding caused by collision and subduction along the northern margin of the Australian plate. Hence, the stratigraphic record of the Exmouth Plateau provides a rich archive of plate‐scale regional geological events occurring along the distant southern (2,000 km away) and northern (1,500 km away) margins of the Australian plate.     

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of transverse extensional faults in a foreland basin: Response to changes in tectonic plate processes

Late Paleocene to Middle Eocene strata in the easternmost part of the Southern Pyrenees, up to 4 km thick, provide information on tectono-sedimentary evolution of faults transversal to the Pyrenean chain. To know how changes in tectonic plate processes control the structural evolution of transverse faults and the synchronous thickness and lithological distribution of sedimentary strata in a foreland basin, field observations, interpretation of 2D seismic lines tied to lithostratigraphic data of exploration wells and gravity modelling constrains were carried out. This resulted in the following two tectono-sedimentary phases in a foreland basin: first phase, dominated by transverse extensional faulting, synchronous with deposition of marine carbonates (ca. 57 to 51 Ma); and second phase, characterized by transverse contractional faulting, coeval to accumulation of marine and transitional siliciclastics (51 to 44 Ma). During the first phase, Iberia and Adria were moving to the east and west respectively. Therefore, lithospheric flexure in the easternmost part of the Iberian plate was developed due to that Sardinia was over-thrusting Iberia. Consequently, activation of E-dipping normal faults was generated giving rise to thick-deep and thin-shallow carbonate platform deposits across the hanging walls and footwalls of the transverse structures. During the second phase, a shearing interaction between Iberia and Sardinia prevailed re-activating the transverse faults as contractional structures generating thin-shelf and thick-submarine fan deposits across the hanging walls and footwalls of the transverse structures. In the transition between the first and second phases, evaporitic conditions dominated in the basin suggesting a tectonic control on basin marine restriction. The results of our study demonstrate how thickness and lithology distribution, controlled by transverse faulting in a compressional regimen, are influenced by phases related to processes affecting motions and interactions between tectonic plates and continental blocks.     

Cenozoic thick-skinned deformation and topography evolution of the Spanish Central System

The Spanish Central System is a Cenozoic pop-up with an E–W to NE–SW orientation that affects all the crust (thick-skinned tectonics). It shows antiform geometry in the upper crust with thickening in the lower crust. Together with the Iberian Chain it constitutes the most prominent mountainous structure of the Pyrenean foreland.The evolutionary patterns concerning the paleotopography of the interior of the Peninsula can be established by an analysis of the following data: gravimetric, topographical, macro and micro tectonic, sedimentological (infilling of the sedimentary basins of the relative foreland), P–T–t path from apatite fission tracks, paleoseismic and instrumental seismicity.Deformation is clearly asymmetric in the Central System as evidenced by the existence of an unique, large (crustal-scale) thrust at its southern border, while in the northern one there is a normal sequence of north verging thrusts, towards the Duero Basin, whose activity ended during the Lower Miocene. This deformation was accomplished under triaxial compression, Oligocene–Lower Miocene in age, marked by NW–SE to NNW–SSE shortening. Locally orientations of paleostresses deviate from that of the regional tensor, following a period of relative tectonic quiescence. During the Upper Miocene–Pliocene, a reactivation of constrictive stress occurred and some structures underwent rejuvenation as a consequence of the action of tectonic stresses similar to those of today (uniaxial extension to strike–slip with NW–SE shortening direction). However, the westernmost areas show continuous activity throughout the whole of the Tertiary, with no apparent pulses. At the present time there is a moderate seismic activity in the Central System related to faults that were active during the Cenozoic, with the same kinematic characteristics.     

塔里木盆地西北缘柯坪冲断带构造变形特征

柯坪冲断带位于塔里木盆地西北缘,是新生代南天山褶皱冲断系的一部分.本文根据野外实际考察和地震剖面解释,总结了该冲断带的构造变形特征.它是发育于古生界中且以中寒武统膏盐层为主滑脱面的薄皮构造,是内部结构相对简单的叠瓦状冲断,因更新世才定型而具暴露式冲断前锋,有断层传播褶皱发育但已遭强烈剥蚀,前展式冲断.上新世晚期的冲断曾控制了磨拉石盆地发育（西域组砾岩）,但该盆地已遭更新世的冲断推覆作用破坏.根据平衡剖面恢复,柯坪冲断带南部3排冲断层的总构造缩短量为29.1%-40.7%.     

Lithospheric transition from the Variscan Iberian Massif to the Jurassic oceanic crust of the Central Atlantic

A 1000-km-long lithospheric transect running from the Variscan Iberian Massif (VIM) to the oceanic domain of the Northwest African margin is investigated. The main goal of the study is to image the lateral changes in crustal and lithospheric structure from a complete section of an old and stable orogenic belt—the Variscan Iberian Massif—to the adjacent Jurassic passive margin of SW Iberia, and across the transpressive and seismically active Africa–Eurasia plate boundary. The modelling approach incorporates available seismic data and integrates elevation, gravity, geoid and heat flow data under the assumptions of thermal steady state and local isostasy. The results show that the Variscan Iberian crust has a roughly constant thickness of 30 km, in opposition to previous works that propose a prominent thickening beneath the South Portuguese Zone (SPZ). The three layers forming the Variscan crust show noticeable thickness variations along the profile. The upper crust thins from central Iberia (about 20 km thick) to the Ossa Morena Zone (OMZ) and the NE region of the South Portuguese Zone where locally the thickness of the upper crust is <8 km. Conversely, there is a clear thickening of the middle crust (up to 17 km thick) under the Ossa Morena Zone, whereas the thickness of the lower crust remains quite constant (6 km). Under the margin, the thinning of the continental crust is quite gentle and occurs over distances of 200 km, resembling the crustal attitude observed further north along the West Iberian margins. In the oceanic domain, there is a 160-km-wide Ocean Transition Zone located between the thinned continental crust of the continental shelf and slope and the true oceanic crust of the Seine Abyssal Plain. The total lithospheric thickness varies from about 120 km at the ends of the model profile to less than 100 km below the Ossa Morena and the South Portuguese zones. An outstanding result is the mass deficit at deep lithospheric mantle levels required to fit the observed geoid, gravity and elevation over the Ossa Morena and South Portuguese zones. Such mass deficit can be interpreted either as a lithospheric thinning of 20–25 km or as an anomalous density reduction of 25 kg m⁻³ affecting the lower lithospheric levels. Whereas the first hypothesis is consistent with a possible thermal anomaly related to recent geodynamics affecting the nearby Betic–Rif arc, the second is consistent with mantle depletion related to ancient magmatic episodes that occurred during the Hercynian orogeny.