The evolution of the westernmost Mediterranean basins

Peña, L. Gómez de la; Ranero, César R.; Gràcia, Eulália; Booth‐Rea, Guillermo

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103445

Cited by 31 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 193 publications

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“…At present, the lithospheric features of Mallorca hardly fit earlier tectonic models for the island, evoking Early Miocene NW-directed crustal thickening followed by only minor SE-directed extension in the Middle to Late Miocene (e.g., Gelabert, 1998;Sabat et al, 2011). Middle Miocene SW-directed extension in Mallorca is, however, compatible with some models proposed for the opening of the Algero-Balearic basin to the SE (e.g., Booth-Rea et al, 2007;de la Peña, Ranero, et al, 2020;Haidar et al, 2021;Mauffret et al, 2004).…”

Section: Implications For Refining the Geodynamics Of The Western Mediterraneansupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Moreover, the Algero-Balearic basin is underlain by at least two different Tethyan slab segments, underneath the Betics-Rif and Algerian-Tunisian orogenic arcs (e.g., Faccenna et al, 2014;Fichtner & Villaseñor, 2015;Kumar et al, 2020;van Hinsbergen et al, 2014). The westernmost segment of the Algero-Balearic basin formed behind the Alboran volcanic arc in the Eastern Alboran basin during the Middle to Late Miocene (Booth-Rea et al, 2007, Booth-Rea, Ranero, & Grevemeyer, 2018de la Peña, Ranero, et al, 2020;Duggen et al, 2004Duggen et al, , 2008. The present slab segmentation of the Western Mediterranean was probably determined by the location of transform faults inherited from the Mesozoic Tethys rifting stage (e.g., Angrand et al, 2020;Vergés & Fernàndez, 2012).…”

Section: Geodynamic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two Cenozoic Extensional Phases in Mallorca and Their Bearing on the Geodynamic Evolution of the Western Mediterranean

et al. 2021

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We study the structure of the Llevant ranges in Mallorca with special emphasis on the Cenozoic extensional evolution of the island, which we integrate in a new geodynamic model for the Westernmost Mediterranean. Mallorca underwent two Cenozoic rifting phases in the Oligocene and Serravallian, before and after the development of its Foreland Thrust Belt (FTB). The first extensional event produced Oligocene semigrabens (≈29–23 Ma) that were inverted during the Early‐Middle Miocene (19–14 Ma) WNW‐directed FTB development. The second rifting event produced the extensional collapse of the Mallorca FTB during the Serravallian (≈14–11 Ma). This later rifting was polyphasic, with two orthogonal extensional systems, producing first NE‐SW, and then NW‐SE extension. The Oligocene extension affected a major part of the Western Mediterranean, opening the Liguro‐Provençal and other basins after the collapse of the Palaeogene AlKaPeCa orogen, and Mallorca, its former hinterland. Continued plate convergence nucleated a new subduction system in the Early Miocene that initiated along the Ibiza transform, producing the Mallorca WNW‐directed FTB and subduction of the South‐East Iberian passive margin. This process individualized the Betic‐Rif slab and initiated its westward retreat. Serravallian extension occurred at the northern edge of the subduction system coeval to the Algero‐Balearic basin opening. Extension initiated toward the SW direction of slab tearing and later rotated to a NW‐SE direction, probably in response to flexural and isostatic rebound. Through these processes the Alboran domain archipelago was driven toward the southwest until the Late Miocene, contributing to the present isolation of Mallorca from its Betic hinterland.

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Section: Implications For Refining the Geodynamics Of The Western Mediterraneansupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Geodynamic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two Cenozoic Extensional Phases in Mallorca and Their Bearing on the Geodynamic Evolution of the Western Mediterranean

et al. 2021

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“…The thick sedimentary sequence of the West Alboran basin (WAB, up to 9 km thick) was mainly deposited from the Burdigalian or even the Aquitanian to the Late Tortonian (Bourgois et al, 1992;Comas et al, 1992, Chalouan et al, 1997Soto and Platt, 1999;Sautkin et al, 2003;Do Couto et al, 2016;de la Peña et al, 2020). The detachments described on land probably extended offshore during the Burdigalian and controlled the first deposits in the WAB (García-Dueñas et al, 1992;Comas et al, 1992Comas et al, , 1999Do Couto et al, 2016).…”

Section: Neogene Basins and Tectonic Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lateral variations of pressure-temperature evolution in non-cylindrical orogens and 3-D subduction dynamics: the Betic-Rif Cordillera example

Bessière

Jolivet²,

Augier

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Orogens closely linked to 3-D subduction dynamics are frequently non-cylindrical and the Mediterranean region is a perfect natural laboratory to observe several of them, as well as their interactions. Through the succession of extension, subduction and sometimes collision events, the kinematic reconstructions of such orogens can be difficult and the subject of active debates. The internal zones are often non-consensual, especially when their long-term Pressure-Temperature-time-deformation (P-T-t-d) evolutions are studied. This complexity is mostly due to pre-orogenic inheritance or complex interactions between the subducting lithosphere, the overriding plate and the asthenosphere. All these elements are described and documented in Mediterranean orogens, i.e., a complex shape of the Eurasian and African margins in pre-orogenic times and a complex slab retreat and tearing dynamics. Their 3-D geometry results in strongly arcuate belts, such as the Betic-Rif Cordillera, located in the westernmost part of the Mediterranean region.Focused on the Internal Zones of the Betic-Rif Cordillera and based on recent findings (Orogen Project framework), a synthesis of the tectono-metamorphic evolution shows the relations in space and time between tectonic and P-T evolutions. The reinterpretation of the contact between peridotite massifs and Mesozoic sediments as an extensional detachment leads to a discussion of the geodynamic setting and timing of mantle exhumation. Based on new 40Ar/39Ar ages in the Alpuj&#225;rride Complex (metamorphic formations of the Betic Internal Zones) and a discussion of published ages in the Nevado-Filabride Complex (metamorphic formations of the Betic Internal Zones), we conclude that the age of the HP-LT metamorphism is Eocene in all the Internal Zones. A first-order observation is the contrast between the well-preserved Eocene HP-LT blueschists-facies rocks of the Eastern Alpuj&#225;rride-Sebtide Complex and the younger HT-LP conditions reaching partial melting recorded in the Western Alpuj&#225;rride. We propose a model where the large longitudinal variations in the P-T evolution are mainly due to (i) differences in the timing of subduction and exhumation, (ii) the nature of the subducting lithosphere and (iii) a major change in subduction dynamics at ~20 Ma associated with a slab-tearing event.

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“…4e) supports the presence of a domain formed by magmatic arc crust beneath the central part of the Eastern Alboran Basin, characterized by velocities close to 7 km/s in the lower crust (Gómez de la Peña et al, 2020). The stratigraphy of the Alboran Basin and Western Algerian Basin has recently been re-evaluated by Gómez de la Peña et al (2021) by analyzing a compilation of more than 4500 km of seismic profiles. Their results show that the area includes several large depocenters with different tectonic evolution during the Miocene, that later followed a common evolution during the Pliocene-Holocene compressive event.…”

Section: Controlled Source Seismic Profilingmentioning

confidence: 99%