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Kilometre-scale sheath folds in the western Betics (south of Spain)

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Abstract

The three-dimensional exposures of the Sierra Blanca marbles and neighbouring rocks in the western Betic cordillera of the south of Spain show tight to isoclinal F3 folds re-folded by a larger sheath-like structure. The relationships between both structures are as follows: (1) The mean axial surface for Sierra Blanca sheath fold can be defined as the great circle of best fit through the ß-axes of sub-cylindrical F3 folding domains. (2) The asymmetric F3-folds indicate a single mainly eastward normal sense of shear. (3) The mean attitude of the axial-plane crenulation foliation, Sc, is also sub-parallel to the mean axial surface for Sierra Blanca sheath fold. The regional context of the Sierra Blanca sheath fold is finally discussed, and a model of a heterogeneous high-strain extensional zone proposed.

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Acknowledgments

Detailed reviews by Antonio Azor and the referees José María Tubía, Francisco José Fernández Rodriguez and Reinhard Greiling considerably improved the original manuscript and are gratefully acknowledged. We would also like to express our warmest recognition to our friend and colleague Carlos Sanz de Galdeano. We have shared with him a good number of nice field-work days. His opinions and suggestions about former versions of the manuscript, although not always in accordance with our own ideas, have certainly been very important for us. Nevertheless, the responsibility for the ideas defended in this manuscript rests solely with the authors. We thank Prof. Adamantios Kilias and Dr. Markos Tranos, from the University of Thessaloniki (Greece), who spent a few days in the field with us. Thanks are also given to Christine Laurin for revising the English and to Angel Caballero (IACT, CSIC) for the graphics. Financial support from TOPO-IBERIA CONSOLIDER-INGENIO CSD2006-00041; RNM-316 (Junta de Andalucía) and CGL2006-01171 research projects is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dpto. de Geodinámica, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    M. Orozco

  2. Dpto. de Geodinámica y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Univ. Huelva, 21071, Huelva, Spain

    F. M. Alonso-Chaves

  3. Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, CSIC-Univ. Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    M. Orozco

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  1. M. Orozco
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  2. F. M. Alonso-Chaves
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Correspondence to F. M. Alonso-Chaves.

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Orozco, M., Alonso-Chaves, F.M. Kilometre-scale sheath folds in the western Betics (south of Spain). Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 101, 505–519 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-011-0690-y

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