Compartmentalization of the Betic Foreland (Southern Spain) by Structural Cross Elements

Frank A. Nobel, Harm E. Rondeel

The Alpine Prebetic of southern Spain occupies (1) a western Guadalquivir compartment of delapsial deposits, (2) a central fold arc of gravity-spreading origin, and (3) an eastern, wrench-dominated Alicante compartment.

The structure of the eastern compartment predominantly stems from repeated movements along northeast-southwest basement faults and their influence on the sedimentation since Cretaceous time. These movements can directly be related to North Atlantic plate motions. In the domain overstepping the central and eastern compartment, the sinistral wrench activity of the Alicante area demonstrably predates the fold-arc development. The dextral east-northeast-west-southwest Crevillente fault zone is superimposed on the northeast-southwest basal elements in a late stage. We suggest predating the major Prebetic and Subbetic elements in the central and western compartment. Emplacement of these elements occurred when uplift dominated in the internal parts of the Betic Cordilleras, resulting in over hrusting of the Subbetic onto the Prebetic that reacted by gravity spreading and sliding Prebetic and Subbetic elements into the deepening Guadalquivir basin.

Individualization of the compartments, being at a large angle to the northeast-southwest basal elements and to the present structural grain, is linked to elements in the Variscan basement.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.