Segmentation and increasing activity in the Neogene-Quaternary Teruel Basin rift (Spain) revealed by morphotectonic approach

The NNW-SSE trending Teruel Basin rift is the largest Late Miocene-Quaternary extensional intracontinental structure located within the central-eastern Iberian Chain (Spain). The structural and morphotectonic study carried out in the central-northern part of this half graben basin (north of Teruel city) has allowed us to analyse rift segmentation, deformation partitioning and rift evolution. Results are based on vertical displacement calculations (fault throw and bending) of the main border and intrabasin fault zones. We use two geomorfological-stratigraphical markers, the Intramiocene Erosion Surface (IES; 11.2 Ma) and the Fundamental Erosion Surface (FES; 3.5 Ma). While the first marker reveals rift initiation under an E-W extension, the late marker records vertical displacements associated to a second, Late Pliocene–Quaternary rifting stage characterized by a nearly multidirectional extension regime with prevailing ENE-WSW trending ó3. Despite the along-axis rift segmentation into three structural domains (northern, central and southern) and the distribution of deformation among border and intrabasin faults in the central and southern domains, a consistent average slip rate (post-IES) of 0.09 mm/a has been calculated on distinct transects across the basin, suggesting a homogeneous crustal-scale extension process in the region. The results also reveal that slip rates during the Late Pliocene-Quaternary (0.12–0.16 mm/a) are higher than the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene (0.05–0.07 mm/a). Slip rate increase is caused by (i) a westward propagation of deformation from the Valencia Through, and (ii) a change in the regional stress field, both enhanced by crustal doming affecting central-eastern Iberia, as well as progressive fault linkage. Throw vs. distance graphs suggest that the main faults are in a transient stage towards coalescence, less advanced within the southern domain. Regional Late Pliocene-Quaternary uplift, concomitant with increasing slip rates in the Teruel Basin rift, has caused the basin to rise, so that synrift sedimentation only took place in rapidly subsiding residual basins until the region became exorheic and the basin was incised by the present-day fluvial network

A review of the European Neogene Mammal zones from integration of litho-, bio- and magnetostratigraphy in the Teruel Basin

The northern sector of the Teruel Basin (Spain) houses a dense and continuous record of late Neogene mammal fossil sites, as well as numerous biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic information making it a reference basin to define and refine the European mammal biostratigraphy from the Vallesian to the Villafranchian. The Neogene mammal chronology is in ongoing revision, and distinct correlations between basins and Europe provinces have been proposed based on their relative ages. New calibration methods based on numerical modelling have allowed the absolute ages of the paleontological sites to be refined. Nevertheless, some discrepancies arise, evidencing that ancho ring between absolute ages and mammal fossil record would benefit from a stronger stratigraphical framework. This work provides such a robust 3D stratigraphic framework of the whole basin that, together with magnetostratigraphy, allows establishing an accurate chronostratigraphic model and hence a precise chronology of sedimentary units and mammal sites. The absolute age of MN zones, or mammal stages, in the Teruel Basin has been revised on the basis of a detailed and confident stratigraphic correlation, and updated to the most recent Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale. In particular, new accurate ages have been proposed for the boundaries MN 9/10 to MN 16/17 from data exclusively located in the Teruel Basin, with a precision generally of 0.1–0.2 Ma

Alluvial sedimentation and tectono-stratigraphic evolution in a narrow extensional zigzag basin margin (northern Teruel Basin, Spain)

The northern part of the eastern margin of the extensional Neogene Teruel Basin (central-eastern Spain) consists of a non-linear, zigzag fault zone made of alternating ca. 2 km long, NNW-SSE trending segments and shorter NNE-SSW ones. Good outcrop conditions made possible a comprehensive integrated stratigraphic and structural study, especially focused on coarse clastic sediments deposited along the basin margin. Well-exposed stratal relationships with boundary faults, allowed the analysis of tectonic influence on sedimentation. Synsedimentary deformation includes growth faulting, rollover anticlines, and monoclines and associated onlap stratal terminations, angular unconformities, and other complex growth strata geometries. One of them is the onlap-over-rollover bed arrangement described here for the first time, which reveals the competition between tectonic subsidence and sedimentary supply. Both, the structural inheritance (dense Mesozoic fracture grid) and the dominant, nearly ‘multidirectional’ (s1 vertical, s2 ˜ s3), Pliocene extensional regime with s3 close to E-W, are considered to have controlled the margin structure and evolution. Tectono-stratigraphic evolution includes: (i) reactivation of inherited NNW-SSE faults and development of W-SW-directed small alluvial fans (SAF) while NNE-SSW segments acted as gentle relay ramp zones; (ii) progressive activation of NNE-SSW faults and development of NW-directed very small alluvial fans (VSAF); during stages i and ii sediments were trapped close to the margin, avoiding widespread progradation; (iii) linking of NNW-SSE and NNE-SSW structural segments, overall basin sinking and widespread alluvial progradation; (iv) fault activity attenuation and alluvial retrogradation. The particular structure and kinematic evolution of this margin controlled alluvial system patterns. Size of alluvial fans, directly set up at the border faults, was conditioned by the narrowness of the margin, small catchment areas, and proximity between faults, which prevented the development of large alluvial fans. The size of the relay zones, only a few hundred meters wide, acted in the same way, avoiding them to act as large sediment transfer areas and large alluvial fans to be established. These features make the Teruel Basin margin different to widely described extensional margins models

Geophysical characterization of buried active faults: the Concud Fault (Iberian Chain, NE Spain)

The Concud Fault is a ~14-km-long active fault that extends close to Teruel, a city with about 35,000 inhabitants in the Iberian Range (NE Spain). It shows evidence of recurrent activity during Late Pleistocene time, posing a significant seismic hazard in an area of moderate-to-low tectonic rates. A geophysical survey was carried out along the mapped trace of the southern branch of the Concud Fault to evaluate the geophysical signature from the fault and the location of paleoseismic trenches. The survey identified a lineation of inverse magnetic dipoles at residual and vertical magnetic gradient, a local increase in apparent conductivity, and interruptions of the underground sediment structure along GPR profiles. The origin of these anomalies is due to lateral contrast between both fault blocks and the geophysical signature of Quaternary materials located above and directly south of the fault. The spatial distribution of anomalies was successfully used to locate suitable trench sites and to map non-exposed segments of the fault. The geophysical anomalies are related to the sedimentological characteristics and permeability differences of the deposits and to deformation related to fault activity. The results illustrate the usefulness of geophysics to detect and map non-exposed faults in areas of moderate-to-low tectonic activity where faults are often covered by recent pediments that obscure geological evidence of the most recent earthquakes. The results also highlight the importance of applying multiple geophysical techniques in defining the location of buried faults

Sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of Barremian synrift barrier island–estuarine depositional systems from blended field and drone-derived data

The Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) Camarillas Formation in the Galve Sub-basin of eastern Spain is an exceptionally muddy, synrift, aggradational then retrogradational paralic succession. Deposition within these arid, equatorial paralic systems was strongly controlled by crustal rifting of the Iberia plate linked to the geodynamic evolution of the Atlantic Ocean, the Bay of Biscay and the Tethys Ocean. Although synsedimentary extensional tectonics controlled thickness and facies distributions, the parasequence stacking patterns point to a superimposed high-order allogenic control on the paralic succession. Field data and drone imagery are combined to document changes in sedimentology and three-dimensional stratigraphic architecture of these deposits to interpret changes in depositional environments as this basin filled. Three evolutionary stages are identified: (i) tide-dominated estuary; (ii) mixed-energy estuary, with a well-developed wave-dominated barrier island system; and (iii) barrier island–tidal inlet suite. An exceptional record of back-barrier-island depositional interactions is preserved in this high-subsidence, extensional-basin setting, including deposition of washover fans, flood-tidal deltas and ebb-tidal deltas. Drone-derived imagery facilitates three-dimensional architectural characterization of these complex paralic deposits, including multi-episodic tidal inlets, and correlation of basin scale stratigraphic markers. Spatio-temporal interactions between climate change, sea-level variations and rift-related subsidence generated complex estuarine and barrier island geobodies. The general transgressive trend recorded in the Camarillas Formation correlates well with global eustatic sea-level rise during the Barremian

La cuenca neógena extensional de El Pobo (Teruel, Cordillera Ibérica): sedimentología, estructura y relación con la evolución del relieve

This work integrates the stratigrahical and sedimentological analysis of the Neogene sedimentary record, the extensional structure and the development of coeval planation surfaces of the El Pobo Depression (eastern Iberian Chain, Spain), which has allowed defining the new El Pobo sedimentary basin and its evolution. The Neogene El Pobo Basin is located on the footwall block of the Sierra de El Pobo fault zone, and is separated into two subbasins. Such subbasins have a double control: (i) differential erosion of soft rocks (Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in age) on both sides of the Ababuj anticline core, which created the initial accommodation space; (ii) tectonic structure: two N-S trending half-grabens whose eastern boundaries are extensional faults synthetic with the Sierra de El Pobo fault zone, with their respective western boundaries representing passive margins in which gently tilting Neogene beds onlap Mesozoic units. The stratigraphical and sedimentological study of the Neogene in-fill shows that the western subbasin was characterized by alluvial systems with a concentric drainage, while in the eastern subbasin a fluvial-alluvial system with northwards axial drainage prevailed. Pale-ostress systems inferred from mesostructures (faults, solution lineations in conglomerate pebbles) indicate that basin development occurred within an extensional tectonic regime. Two main planation surfaces developed at the El Pobo area: intra-Miocene Erosion Surface (SEI, topping the Sierra de El Pobo relief), and Fundamental Erosion Sun, ace (SEF, modeling the eastern El Pobo pediment and splitting into three levels). The SEF upper level correlates with the upper limit of sedimentation over most of the basin, while the SEF middle, main level developed after Neogene sediments were deposited and then tilted by a major deformation episode. Such evolutionary millstones, together with correlations of megasequential patterns with the Teruel Basin, constrain the age of the El Pobo Basin between ca. 9.0 Ma and 3.8 Ma.eo del anticlinal de Ababuj, que creó el espacio de aco- modación inicial; (ii) estructura tectónica extensional: dos semigrabens con sendas fallas N-S en los bordes orientales, y con márgenes occidentales pasivos donde el Neógeno se dispone en onlap sobre el Mesozoico. La subcuenca occidental está rellena por sistemas aluviales concéntricos, y la oriental por cajada en la Superficie de Erosión Intramiocena que corona la Sierra de El Pobo, modela el piede- monte de enlace con la depresión y se desdobla en tres niveles. El nivel superior se correlaciona con el techo de la sedimentación; el nivel intermedio se desarrolla tras concluir la sedimentación y ser bas- culados los depósitos por un episodio tectónico. Estos hitos evolutivos, junto con la evolución de pale- oesfuerzos y la correlación de patrones megasecuenciales con la Cuenca de Teruel, acotan la edad de la Cuenca de El Pobo entre 9, 0 y 3, 8 Ma

Salt tectonics vs. inversion tectonics: The anticlines of the western Maestrazgo revisited (eastern Iberian Chain, Spain)

Many works in the last decades underline the role of evaporites, not just as a conditioning factor but as the engine for subsidence and eventually basin inversion. The western Mediterranean alpine ranges are being investigated in this regard because of the presence of discontinuous units of Permian to Triassic evaporites, deposited in the western Tethys basins. This work presents a thorough analysis of two particular structures (Cañada Vellida and Miravete anticlines) in the intraplate Maestrazgo basin (eastern Iberian Chain, Spain) in which evidence to support their reinterpretation as salt-driven structures have been recently reported. Our analysis includes (i) a comprehensive stratigraphic and structural study of the folds along their entire trace, (ii) the compilation of thickness and distribution of evaporite–bearing and supraevaporite units, paying special attention to changes in the thickness of units in relation to anticlines, and (iii) the study of fault patterns, sometimes in relation to the mechanical stratigraphy. All three aspects are also documented and discussed on a regional scale. The new data and interpretations reported here reinforce the extensional origin of the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous basins, and the role of regional extensional tectonics as the responsible for the development of first-order syn-sedimentary normal fault zones driving the formation and evolution of sub-basins. These basins were subsequently inverted and deformed, including the formation of complex, box-geometry anticlines that, in their turn, controlled deposition in Cenozoic basins. The review of the arguments that support the alternative of salt tectonics for the origin of such anticlines has allowed us to delve into the sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the inverted extensional basins and to propose a specific model for the development of these faulted anticlines. The role of salt levels and other interlayered detachments in the structuring of sedimentary basins and their inversion is also pondered. The observations in the eastern Iberian Chain reported here have implications to assess ongoing reinterpretations in terms of salt tectonics in other alpine basins and ranges of the western Mediterranean

An approach to the seismic hazard at Teruel city associated to the Concud fault (NE Spain)

This paper presents the results ofa probabilistic seismic hazard analysis at Teruel city from seismological and geological information. The characteristic earthquake of the Concud fault (M ~ 6.8; recurrence period = 7.3 ±2.7 ka) has a probabilityof occurrence within a 500-yearperiod ranging from 2.3 to 26.1%. Its parameters fit precisely the magnitude-frequency pattern obtained from the historical seismicity of the Teruel and Jiloca grabens. This coherency supports an estimate of the maximum expectable seism within a 500-yearperiod: M = 5.4± 0.3. Empirical correlations indicate a potential intensity at Teruel overI= VII for this earthquake, and minimum peak ground acceleration ap = 0.105 g, higher than thatspecified by earthquake-resistant building regulationsSe presentan los resultados de un análisis probabilistico de peligrosidad sísmica en el entorno de Teruel a partir de la información geológica y sismológica. El terremoto característico de la falla de Concud (M ~ 6,8;periodo de retorno = 7,3 ±2,7 ka) tiene una probabilidad de ocurrencia en un plazo de 500 años de entre 2,3y26,1 %. Sus parámetros se ajustan bien a la extrapolación de la curva frecuencia-magnitud de la sismicidad histórica en el entorno de las fosas de Teruel yJiloca. En consecuencia, se hace una estimación de la magnitud del seísmo esperable en 500 años: M = 5,4± 0,3. Por correlación empírica se atribuye a éste una intensidad potencial en Teruel por encima de I = VII, y una aceleración de pico mínima ap = 0,105 g, superior a la especificada en la Norma Sismorresistent

Expresión de la tectónica sinsedimentaria Aptiense en la subcuenca de Las Parras y su potencial estratigráfico (Cuenca del Maestrazgo, Cordillera Ibérica, Teruel)

Evidences of tectonic subsidence during the deposition of the marine Villarroya de los Pinares Formation (Aptian, Urgonian Facies) is found in the marginal Las Parras sub-basin (Maestrazgo Basin, Teruel). This tectonic activity is identified by the presence of a wedge-shaped strata! package related to fault activity and block rotation. The base of the wedge is an erosive surface that laterally evolves into an onlap surface, being the top a drowning surface. The wedge in the eastern section is built up by four shallowing upwards sequences, describing a retrogradational stacking pattern. A clear change from bioclastic, quartz rich limestone to muddy limestone with rudists, occurs gradually from base to top of the section. The western section is thinner than the eastern one and it only records the last muddy phase. Integration of both outcrops shows a higher subsidence at the easter portion of the fault. The little dimensions of faulted blocks in Las Parras sub-basin suggest the possibility of evaluate and separate tectonic, eustatic and sedimentary signals in the Aptian record

Niveles de tormenta en un intervalo siliciclástico costero aptiense de la subcuenca de Las Parras (Teruel): consideraciones paleogeográficas y estratigráficas

A coastal siliciclastic unit was deposited during the Aptian at the base ofVillarroya de los Pinares Formation in Las Parras sub-basin. It can be subdivided in four coarsening-upwards coastal sequences. We focus in the third sequence (S3), which is built up of fine to coarse sandstones, representing an upward change from storm dominated lower shoreface to upper shoreface environments. This sequence represent a reliable datum for correlation across the study area, allowing enhanced stratigraphic precision and the recognition of interesting relationships in the siliciclastic unit. Its lateral facies change suggests the location of a clastic discharge system toward the southeast. The major thickness unhomogeneity across this sequence is also found at the south- easternmost section, which is related with a different structural location involving a jump towards another subsiding block