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| Titel |
Plate kinematics in the Cantabrian domain of the Pyrenean orogen |
| VerfasserIn |
S. Tavani |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1869-9510
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Solid Earth ; 3, no. 2 ; Nr. 3, no. 2 (2012-09-03), S.265-292 |
| Datensatznummer |
250000987
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/se-3-265-2012.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
The Cantabrian domain represents the western portion of the Pyrenean orogen,
in the area where the Iberian continental lithosphere was subducted toward
the north underneath the transitional to oceanic lithosphere of the Bay of
Biscay. There, the about 100 km of orogenic convergence have been mostly
accommodated in the northern portion of the orogen (i.e. the retro wedge)
developed in the Bay of Biscay abyssal plain, while only crustal-scale
folding with limited internal deformation occurred in the Cantabrian
southern wedge (pro-wedge). Integrated meso- and macrostructural analyses and
a reappraisal of available information from the transitional area between
the Pyrenean and Cantabrian domains are presented in this work, allowing to
set geometric and kinematic constraints on the entire Meso-Cenozoic history
of the northern portion of the Iberian Plate, including subduction
initiation and evolution in the western portion of the Pyrenean orogen.
The structural record of the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deformation
stage, which was associated with rifting and seafloor spreading in the Bay
of Biscay, indicates a ridge perpendicular (NNE-SSW oriented) extension,
with no evidence of relevant strike-slip components during rifting. A
Cenozoic NNW-SSE oriented shortening stage followed, related to the
limited (about 100 km) north-directed subduction of the Iberian continental
lithosphere underneath the transitional to oceanic lithosphere of the Bay of
Biscay. Subduction led to the formation of the poorly-developed Cantabrian
pro-wedge, which is laterally juxtaposed to the well-developed Pyrenean
pro-wedge to the east. During this convergence stage, the structural
framework in the Cantabrian pro-wedge, and particularly along its transition
with the Pyrenean wedge to the east, was severely complicated by the
reactivation of Paleozoic and Mesozoic inherited structures.
Data presented in this work fully support the development of the Cantabrian
Mountains as related to indentation and consequent thickening of the Bay
of Biscay transitional lower crust during north-directed subduction of
Iberian continental lithosphere. In essence, the Cantabrian pro-wedge is a
lithospheric south-verging fault-propagation anticline developing above the
subduction plane. The structural record in the area indicates that a
lithospheric fault-propagation folding stage was predated, during the very
early stages of orogenic shortening, by the development of a
lithospheric-scale open syncline overlying the nucleation point of
lithosphere sinking. Such a syncline is today partially preserved and
represents one of the few natural examples of subduction initiation. |
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