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Interaction of two successive Alpine deformation fronts: constraints from low-temperature thermochronology and structural mapping (NW Iberian Peninsula)

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Abstract

The lateral termination of the Alpine-Pyrenean Orogen relief onshore is located in the NW Iberian Peninsula. It overlies a Variscan basement (Iberian Massif), where the sedimentary record of the Alpine tectonic is very scarce. Thus, the characterisation of the tectonic evolution of the lateral termination is difficult and timing and geometries of the main tectonic structures remain unclear. Combining the tectonothermal histories obtained by modelling of the apatite fission-track data (AFT) with structural mapping allows for a comparative study of the different tectonic scenarios and deformation transfer in the lateral termination of an orogen. AFT ages for the studied area vary from 53.5 ± 12.9 and 222 ± 12 Ma (from Late Triassic to Early Eocene). The beginning of the Cenozoic cooling episodes is in agreement with the infilling of the Tertiary basins (Late Eocene or Oligocene). Calculated uplift for the Alpine Orogeny is around 2,400 m. The Cantabrian Mountains were uplifted and emplaced southwards and the main period of exhumation began in the Palaeogene at rates of ~0.02 mm/a and continued during the Neogene at rates of ~0.06 mm/a. However, the Galaico-Leoneses Mountains, located to the south of the studied area, were uplifted and emplaced northwards during the Neogene, showing more rapid uplift rates of ~0.08 mm/a, suggesting that the western termination of the Alpine-Pyrenean Orogen relief is the result of the successive interaction of two Alpine deformation fronts.

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Acknowledgments

This project has been partially supported by Consolider CSD2006-041 and Research Group RNM-160 of the Regional Andalusian Government. The authors wish to thank G. Gutierrez Alonso and an anonymous reviewer for their comments and suggestions that have contributed to the improvement of the final version of the manuscript. The authors also want to express their appreciations to M. Brummitt and A. Gould for critically reading the manuscript and making several useful remarks.

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  1. Área de Geología. ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. C/Tulipán, s/n. Móstoles, 28933, Madrid, Spain

    F. Martín-González

  2. Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510, Puerto Real, Spain

    L. Barbero

  3. Departamento de Geodinámica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    R. Capote

  4. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, 33005, Oviedo, Spain

    N. Heredia & G. Gallastegui

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Martín-González, F., Barbero, L., Capote, R. et al. Interaction of two successive Alpine deformation fronts: constraints from low-temperature thermochronology and structural mapping (NW Iberian Peninsula). Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 101, 1331–1342 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-011-0712-9

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