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Proquest Dissertations Biostratigraphical Controls on Timing and Rate of Thrusting in the External Zones of the Betic Cordillera, Southern Spain Jason Mark WOODWARD B.Sc. Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, University of London Thesis submitted for the Degree of Ph.D., 2002 ProQuest Number: U644310 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest U644310 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract The External Zones of the Betic Cordillera in Southern Spain comprise an obliquely convergent thin-skinned fold and thrust belt, active through much of the Miocene. During thrusting, a number of small inter-connected sedimentary basins formed on the upper surface of the thrust wedge, and were involved to varying degrees in the deformation. These basins provide an opportunity to date the inception and termination of both thrusting and strike-slip faulting at several locations across the belt, and hence of determining the rates of deformation and the rate of advance of the thrust front. Work concentrated on a series of basins in the eastern Subbetic and Prebetic belts on a transect from Lorca to Villacarillos, where good exposure, stratigraphie control, and the existence of seismic lines have allowed the construction of balanced sections across the thrust belt, so that the amount of shortening is known. Micropalaeontological biostratigraphy (based on planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils) provides refined controls for stratigraphie correlation and timing of tectonic events. The thrust front advanced rapidly, covering the distance to the Prebetic front within 14 Ma, and possibly in as little as 10 Ma. This timing is discussed in light of estimates for shortening along the same transect. The rapid rate of advance of the thrust front was accompanied by intervening periods of shortening and out-of-sequence thrusting within the thrust wedge. The Subbetic Frontal Thrust was active after the thrust front had progressed into the Internal Prebetic. The degree of partitioning of the strike-parallel component of motion also varied during evolution of the wedge. Biostratigraphy and field mapping have allowed timing of motion on the Socovos Fault to be re-evaluated, and episodes of deformation on the Crevillente Fault to be identified. The results are discussed in terms of mechanical models describing the partitioning of deformation in oblique convergence. Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisors, especially John Platt for his patience, encouragement, enthusiasm and stimulating discussions, Elspeth Urquhart for teaching me all about microfossils, and Alan Lord and Steve Matthews for their time and attention. I would like to thank the staff in the Micropalaeontology side of the department too, especially Jim Davy who kindly put up with me while I made a mess of his lab. My family also have been sources of support through my studies, especially my wife Allie, who makes a superb field assistant, interpreter, chef and companion (and has prevented me from being totally poor since I decided to remain a student). This work was supported by a NERC CASE Studentship supported by BPAmoco Grant GT04 / 98 /184 /ES Contents TITLE PAGE ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS FIGURE LIST 1 INTRODUCTION 11 1.1 G eologic and Tectonic Setting o f th e B etic -Rif Orogen 11 1.2 A dditio nal Constraints ON THE TIMING OF I n ternal Zo ne D efo rm atio n 13 1.3 T he External Zone of the B etic Co r d iller a 14 1.4 Estim ates of shortening in th e External Zones 17 1.5 Previous W ork o n T im ing of D efo rm atio n in the External Zones 18 1.6 Objectives of the Thesis 19 Chapter 1 F igures 21 2 METHODS 26 2.1 Sam pling strateg y 26 2.2 BlOSTRATIGRAPHIC ZONATION SCHEMES 26 2.2.1 A ssum ptions incorporated in previous biostratigraphic w ork in th e External Zones 28 2.2.2 Sources OF biostratigraphic ERROR 28 2.2.3 Com pressed stratigraphy 30 2.3 Structural data and mapping 31 2.3.1 Potential errors in structural interpretation 31 2.4 Other problems with working in the External Zones 32 2.4.1 Calichepitfalls 32 2.5 Micropalaeontological sample preparation techniques 32 2.5.1 Foraminifera 32 2.5.2 Dissolution of CACO 3 matrix in HCl to release foraminifera 33 2.5.3 Using acids to extract calcareous microfossils from carbonate rocks 34 2.5.4 N annoplankton extraction techniques 36 2.5.5 Radiolarian Sam ple Preparation 37 Chapter 2 F igures 38 3 THRUST BELT MECHANICS 42 3.1 Characteristics of thin-skinned fold-and-thrust-belts 42 3.2 Coulom b critical taper th eo ry 43 3.3 M echanics o f oblique convergence 47 3.4 Significance of pore fluid pressure in cr itic a l taper th eo r y 49 3.5 E xpected ranges of th rusting velo city 50 3.6 D ifferences in deformation styles betw een subaerial and subm arine W EDGES 50 Ch apter 3 Fig ures 52 4 MIOCENE DEFORMATION IN THE EASTERN SUBBETIC 56 4.1 THE I n t e r n a l- E x t e r n a l ZONE BOUNDARY (lEZB) 57 4.1 A Th e Espuna ba sin 58 4.1.2 T h eIEZB in the Vêlez Rubio C orridor 62 4.1.3 Barranco d e la Tala section 64 4.2 T h e so u t h e r n In t e r n a l S u b b e t ic : T h e Ca n a d a d e l M Afz 64 4.3 The Internal Subbetic , betw een M a iz a nd th e CFZ 66 4.3.1 Cuevas del Ambrosio section 66 4.3.2 Salvajero y Reverte 68 4.3.3 CerroTello 68 4.3.4 PiNOSA F o rm a tio n , NW of M ingrano 70 4.3.5 PiNOSA FM w e s t o f RAMBLA DEL CANTAR 73 4.3.6 W e st OF M in g ra n o 73 4.3.6.1 Rambla del Pozo 75 4.3.6.2 Sierra de Melgoso 75 4.4 T he External Subbetic , no rth o f th e Crevillente Fault Zone 77 4.4.1 The External Subbetic of Puebla de Don Fadrique 77 4.4.2 Subbetic around Nerpio 78 4.4.3 Post-deform ation Subbetic Miocene AROUND Nerpio 78 4.5 Sum m ary 79 5 PREBETIC DEFORMATION 99 5.1 Introduction 99 5.2 S ubbetic F r ontal Th rust a nd th e Intermediate U n its 102 5.2.1 Klippe s e o f S a n tia g o d e l a E sp a d a 103 5.2.2 T h e Internal Prebetic around N erpio and Puebla d e Don Fadrique 103 5.2.2.1 South of the Cerro del Mosquito 104 5.2.2.2 NW of Puebla de Don Fadrique 105 5.2.2.3 Summary of Nerpio and Puebla de Don Fadrique samples 107 5.2.3 Sierra DE LA PuERTA 107 5.2.4 Sierra DEL M olino AND S ierra DE LA P alera 108 53 The Internal Prebetic 109 5.3.1 T he Moratalla klippe 111 5.3.2 Cerro de Bagil and M olata d e Charan 112 5.3.3 Santiago DE LA E spada 113 5.4 The External Prebetic 114 5.4.1 ELCHE DE LA SIERRA-FEREZ 114 5.5 The Prebetic FRONT 115 5.5.1 Sierra DE Las CUATRO V illas 116 5.5.2 O ther locations on P rebetic FRont 117 5.6 Conclusions 118 Ch apter 5 Fig ures 119 6 STRIKE SLIP FAULTING 132 6.1 T he Socovos Fault 132 6.1.1 Socovos Fau lt , southeast o f T azona 135 6.1.2 East o f Socovos 137 6.2 T h e L in ea E l e c t r i c a F a u lt (LEF) 140 6.2.1 Barranco DEL Carcabo 141 6.3 T he Crevillente Fault Zo n e 142 6.4 Socovos AND CFZ RELATIONSHIP 145 6.5 O th e r IMPLICATIONS FOR DEFORMATION IN THE Prebetic 147 6.6 Conclusions 147 Chapter 6 Figures 149 7 CONCLUSIONS 168 7.1 R a te s OF SHORTENING 170 7.2 Critical taper 171 7.3 Strik e -slip faulting and partitioning o f o bliq ue convergence 171 7.4 F urther Wo r k 173 Ch apter 7 F igures 174 APPENDIX A - SAMPLE DETAILS 176 APPENDIX B-FORAMINIFERA PLATES 183 REFERENCES 186 Figure List F ig u r e 1.1 T e c t o n ic m a p o f t h e M editerranean r e g io n 22 F i g u r e 1 2 Map of the Betic Cordillera showing the main structural divisions 22 F ig u r e 1 3 a A f r ic a ’s m o t io n w it h r e s p e c t t o E u r o p e 23 F ig u r e 1.3b M o t io n o f t h r e e po in t s o n A f r ic a w it h r e spe c t t o E u r o p e 23 F ig u r e 1.4 T im e -a c t iv it y c h a r t 24 F ig u r e 1 3 St r u c t u r a l m a p o f t h e s t u d y a r e a 25 F ig u r e 2.1 P l a n k t o n ic foraminifera a n d nannofossil biozonations 39 F i g u r e 22 Larger foraminifera age ranges 40 F ig u r e 2.3 Sh e a r se n se a n a l y s is 41 F ig u r e 3.1 F o r c e b a l a n c e in a t h r u s t w e d g e 53 F ig u r e 3.2 Ca r t o o n s h o w in g o b u q u e l y c o n v e r g e n t w e d g e in t w o s t a t e s 54 F ig u r e 3.3 R elationship b e t w e e n fl u id p r e ssu r e a n d v e r t ic a l n o r m a l t r a c t io n 55 F ig u r e 3.4 f e e d b a c k b e t w e e n f a c t o r s influencing accretionary w e d g e t a p e 55 F ig u r e 4.1 L o c a t io n m a p 81 F ig u r e 4.2 St r u c t u r a l m a p o f E a s t e r n Su b b e t ic z o n e 82 F ig u r e 4 3 G e o l o g ic a l m a p o f V e l e z R u b io c o r r id o r , W o f F u e n s a n t a 83 F ig u r e 4.4 Relationship b e t w e e n S o l a n a a n d E spe jo s Fo r m a t io n s 84 F ig u r e 4.5 G e o l o g ic a l m a p o f Ba r r a n c o d e l a T a l a , E o f M a r ia 85 F ig u r e 4.6 G e o l o g ic a l m a p o f t h e M a Iz F o r m a t io n s unconformity 86 F ig u r e 4.7 Lo g o f M a Iz I Fo r m a t io n Se d im e n t s 87 F ig u r e 4.8 S l u m p in g ex po se d in MAfz I Fo r m a t io n 88 F ig u r e 4.9 M o b il e s l u m p b l o c k in t h e M Afz I F o r m a t io n 88 F ig u r e 4.10 L o g o f MAfz II f o r m a t io n Se d
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