Oblique strain partitioning and transpression on an inverted rift: The Castilian Branch of the Iberian Chain
article
The Iberian Chain is a wide intraplate deformation zone formed by the tectonic inversion during the Pyrenean orogeny of a Permian-Mesozoic basin developed in the eastern part of the Iberian Massif. The N-S convergence between Iberia and Eurasia from the Late Cretaceous to the Lower Miocene times produced significant intraplate deformation. The NW-SE oriented Castilian Branch of the Iberian Chain can be considered as a "key zone" where the proposed models for the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Iberian Chain can be tested. Structural style of basin inversion suggests mainly strike-slip displacements along previous NW-SE normal faults, developed mostly during the Mesozoic. To confirm this hypothesis, structural and basin evolution analysis, macrostructural Bouguer gravity anomaly analysis, detailed mapping and paleostress inversions have been used to prove the important role of strike slip deformation. In addition, we demonstrate that two main folding trends almost perpendicular (NE-SW to E-W and NW-SE) were simultaneously active in a wide transpressive zone. The two fold trends were generated by different mechanical behaviour, including buckling and bending under constrictive strain conditions. We propose that strain partitioning occurred with oblique compression and transpression during the Cenozoic. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Topics
Cenozoic inversionIberiaMesozoic RiftingTranspressionBasin evolutionsBasin inversionsBouguer gravity anomaliesCenozoic inversionDeformation zonesEurasiaLate cretaceousMechanical behavioursMesozoicMioceneNormal faultsPermianSlip displacementsStrain conditionsStrain partitioningStrike-slip deformationsStructural stylesTectonic evolutionsTranspressionBucklingDeformationSpontaneous emissionTectonicsbasin evolutionBouguer anomalycompressiondata inversiondeformationdisplacementfoldinggeological mappinggravity anomalyintraplate processMiocenenormal faultoblique faultorogenypaleostressriftingstrain partitioningstrike-slip faulttranspressionEuropeIberian CordilleraSouthern EuropeSpainCastilia
TNO Identifier
241547
ISSN
00401951
Source
Tectonophysics, 470(3-4), pp. 224-242.
Pages
224-242