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Compressional tectonic inversion of the Algero‐Balearic basin: Latemost Miocene to present oblique convergence at the Palomares margin (Western Mediterranean)
Author(s) -
Giaconia Flavio,
BoothRea Guillermo,
Ranero César R.,
Gràcia Eulàlia,
Bartolome Rafael,
Calahorrano Alcinoe,
Lo Iacono Claudio,
Vendrell Montserrat G.,
Cameselle Alejandra L.,
Costa Sergio,
Gómez de la Peña Laura,
MartínezLoriente Sara,
Perea Hector,
Viñas Marina
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
tectonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.465
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1944-9194
pISSN - 0278-7407
DOI - 10.1002/2015tc003861
Subject(s) - geology , tectonics , mediterranean climate , inversion (geology) , oblique case , structural basin , seismology , margin (machine learning) , paleontology , geomorphology , geography , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , machine learning , computer science
Interpretation of new multichannel seismic reflection profiles indicates that the Palomares margin was formed by crustal‐scale extension and coeval magmatic accretion during middle to late Miocene opening of the Algero‐Balearic basin. The margin formed at the transition between thinned continental crust intruded by arc volcanism and back‐arc oceanic crust. Deformation produced during the later positive inversion of the margin offshore and onshore is partitioned between ~N50°E striking reverse faults and associated folds like the Sierra Cabrera and Abubacer anticlines and N10–20°E sinistral strike‐slip faults like Palomares and Terreros faults. Parametric subbottom profiles and multibeam bathymetry offshore, structural analysis, available GPS geodetic displacement data, and earthquake focal mechanisms jointly indicate that tectonic inversion of the Palomares margin is currently active. The Palomares margin shows a structural pattern comparable to the north Maghrebian margins where Africa‐Eurasia plate convergence is accommodated by NE‐SW reverse faults, NNW‐SSE sinistral faults, and WNW‐ESE dextral ones. Contractive structures at this margin contribute to the general inversion of the Western Mediterranean since ~7 Ma, coeval to inversion at the Algerian margin. Shortening at the Alboran ridge and Al‐Idrisi faults occurred later, since 5 Ma, indicating a westward propagation of the compressional inversion of the Western Mediterranean.