The nevado-filábride complex in the western part of Sierra de los Filabres (Betic Internal Zone), structure and lithologic succession

Abstract

In the western part of Sierra de los Filabres (in the Nevado-Filábride Complex, within the Betic Internal Zone) several tectonic units have been described, in varying numbers depending on the author describing them. However, new cartographical data show that the limits of these units pass through the lithological formations without displacing them. Moreover, the rocks belonging to some units that are supposedly situated in a lower tectonic position really belong to higher formations. From bottom to top, these lithological formations are the following: (1) dark schists and quartzites; (2) quartzites, sandstones, sands, lutites, schists, and mica schists; (3) schists; (4) marbles, schists, and mica schists. High-angle reverse faults are associated with the great E-W anticline of Sierra de los Filabres. The existence of sands and apparent lutites visibly interlayered between rocks, such as schists and mica schists with garnets, poses a metamorphic problem that has not as yet been addressed.

Pre‐Subduction Architecture Controls Coherent Underplating During Subduction and Exhumation (Nevado‐Filábride Complex, Southern Spain)

“…Moving up section, the relationship between the overlying Mulhacén succession and the Veleta unit is spatially variable. While in most locations, we observe a continuous depositional relationship from Carboniferous to Permian rocks (Figures 1 and 8f), supporting similar findings by Sanz de Galdeano and Santamaría López (2019), along the western domain of Sierra Nevada and Sierra Alhamilla, Carboniferous rocks of Veleta are in direct contact with Triassic strata of the Tahal unit of the Mulhacén Succession (Figures 1 and 8a). This hiatus could be interpreted as a synrift unconformity in the depositional record, although a more complicated structural relationship between the Veleta and Mulhacén units has been proposed (Ruiz‐Fuentes & Aerden, 2018).…”

“…Samples from the higher parts of the Veleta unit contain garnet porphyroblasts, in contrast to the lower sections that do not contain garnets, as documented by this work and previous studies (e.g., Behr & Platt, 2012; Sanz de Galdeano & Santamaría‐López, 2019). A quartz mica schist with feldspar and minor garnet and a quartz‐rich schist (19SSN03) collected from within the uppermost Veleta close to the Veleta‐Tahal contact have quartz crystals with distinct layers of elongated ribbons with grain boundary migration and bulging (Figures 7a and 7b).…”

“…(2002), there are at least three different tectonic units separated by metamorphic grade with shear zones marking their contacts: the basal Ragua unit (Gómez‐Pugnaire & Franz, 1988), Calar Alto, which includes the Tahal formation, and the upper Bédar‐Macael unit. Another well‐accepted subdivision considers two main units: a lower homogeneous Veleta unit and an upper, more heterogeneous Mulhacén succession, which includes metamorphosed mafic and ultramafic rocks (Puga et al., 2000, 2002; Sanz de Galdeano & Santamaría‐López, 2019).…”

“…The first studies in the region described the contacts between these units as thrust faults (Egeler & Simon, 1969; García‐Dueñas et al., 1988; Kampschuur & Rondeel, 1975), but other studies suggest the contacts could be mylonitic shear zones developed during nappe tectonics with thrust contacts in between the units that later cut through these contacts as low angle normal fault shear zones (e.g., Booth‐Rea et al., 2005; Comas et al., 1999; Crespo‐Blanc, 1995; Martínez‐Martínez & Azañón, 1997; Martínez‐Martínez et al., 2002, 2010). More recently, Sanz de Galdeano and Santamaría‐López (2019) proposed that the Veleta‐Mulhacén contact is stratigraphic and transitional in nature and argued for the lack of structural discrepancies between the units. The revaluation of the MDA calculations from Poulaki & Stockli (2022) indicated at least eight structural repetitions, and here we compared these ages with petrological data, temperature conditions, textural fabrics, and field observations across the NFC to reevaluate the potential for significant internal structural features related to subduction deformation and underplating processes (Figure S5 in Supporting Information ).…”

On the Occurrence of Metadiaptomus chevreuxi (Calanoida, Diaptomidae, Paradiaptominae) in the Iberian Peninsula, With Notes on the Ecology and Distribution of its European Populations

“…Conversely, the fifth pond (Charca de Filabres) is located in Sierra de los Filabres (Almería, Spain), in the Nevado-Filábride complex. The geologic materials in Sierra de los Filabres are principally quartzites, schists and mica schists with marble intrusions [25]. Following the Köppen climate classification, the ponds included in this study are located in the Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot-dry summers and cold-wet winters [26].…”