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Structure of Alluvial Valleys from 3-D Gravity Inversion: The Low Andarax Valley (Almería, Spain) Test Case

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Abstract

This paper presents a gravimetric study (based on 382 gravimetric stations in an area about 32 km2) of a nearly flat basin: the Low Andarax valley. This alluvial basin, close to its river mouth, is located in the extreme south of the province of Almería and coincides with one of the existing depressions in the Betic Cordillera. The paper presents new methodological work to adapt a published inversion approach (GROWTH method) to the case of an alluvial valley (sedimentary stratification, with density increase downward). The adjusted 3D density model reveals several features in the topography of the discontinuity layers between the calcareous basement (2,700 kg/m3) and two sedimentary layers (2,400 and 2,250 kg/m3). We interpret several low density alignments as corresponding to SE faults striking about N140–145°E. Some detected basement elevations (such as the one, previously known by boreholes, in Viator village) are apparently connected with the fault pattern. The outcomes of this work are: (1) new gravimetric data, (2) new methodological options, and (3) the resulting structural conclusions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank S. Limonchi, A. Sánchez, and A. Jiménez for their help in the field campaigns. This work was supported by the Spanish research projects CGL2010-16250, and GEOSIR (AYA2010 17448), by the EU with FEDER, by the research team RNM-194, and the Water Resources and Environmental Geology Research Group (RNM-189) of Junta de Andalucía, Spain. A.G.-J. was supported by a Juan de la Cierva grant from the Spanish Government. This research is a contribution of the Moncloa Campus of International Excellence (UCM-UPM, CSIC).

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Correspondence to Antonio G. Camacho.

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Camacho, A.G., Carmona, E., García-Jerez, A. et al. Structure of Alluvial Valleys from 3-D Gravity Inversion: The Low Andarax Valley (Almería, Spain) Test Case. Pure Appl. Geophys. 172, 3107–3121 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-014-0914-8

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