Open AccessDecoupled flexure in the South Pyrenean Foreland
Author(s) -
Waltham D.,
Docherty C.,
Taberner C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000jb900064
Subject(s) - foreland basin , geology , asthenosphere , lithosphere , crust , subsidence , lithospheric flexure , upper crust , seismology , tectonics , paleontology , structural basin
Complex subsidence patterns during the mid‐late Eocene of the easternmost South Pyrenean foreland are well explained by a decoupled flexure model in which upper crustal buckling is accommodated by ductile flow in the mid‐lower crust while, simultaneously and independently, the lower lithosphere flexes above a ductile asthenosphere. The resulting predicted subsidence values agree with observation to well within the estimated uncertainties. The resulting lithospheric effective elastic thickness (EET) estimate (10±3 km) is low but similar to values obtained in the South Pyrenean foreland by other authors. The separate EET obtained for the upper crust (1.5±0.8 km) also agrees with tentative values given by other workers.