--> ABSTRACT: Depositional Sequences and Thrust Propagation in the Upper Cretaceous to Lower Eocene Strata of the Inner Foreland Basin of the South-Central Pyrenees, Spain, by Emiliano Mutti; #91020 (1995).

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Depositional Sequences and Thrust Propagation in the Upper Cretaceous to Lower Eocene Strata of the Inner Foreland Basin of the South-Central Pyrenees, Spain

Emiliano Mutti

The upper Cretaceous to lower middle Eocene strata that form the fill of the inner south-central Pyrenean foreland basin represent an ideal succession to study the relationships between sequence stratigraphy and tectonics, and to develop predictive models for facies distribution patterns in basins undergoing active thrust propagation.

Major phases of structural deformation are recorded by angular unconformities of regional extent which are particularly well expressed along both frontal and lateral thrust ramps. These regional unconformities define thick sedimentary units, or allogroups, deposited during periods of relatively stable paleogeographic conditions. Within each allogroup, phases of less severe thrusting and related tectonically-induced unconformities can be recognized only through detailed stratal correlation within the framework of a high-resolution sequence-stratigraphic approach.

The allogroups of the south-central Pyrenees are internally composed of depositional sequences developed at three different hierarchical orders. From the smallest to the largest, these units include (1) m-thick elementary sequences representing the building blocks of the observed cyclic stacking patterns, (2) small-scale composite depositional sequences, and (3) large-scale composite depositional sequences. The latter coincide with the classic third-order sequences of sequence-stratigraphic models.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91020©1995 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, May 5-8, 1995