Registro de la deformación a escala microestructural en el cabalgamiento de Gavarnie (Zona Axial Pirenaica)

El cabalgamiento de Gavarnie presenta una zona de falla de unos 30m de espesor desarrollada en ampelitas y carbonatos silúricos, con registro de deformación dúctil (milonitas) en zonas próximas al plano de cabalgamiento principal y un aumento progresivo de la deformación frágil hacia zonas externas en la zona de falla. El análisis de láminas delgadas, bajo microscopio de luz reflejada y transmitida, revela el control y distribución de la deformación por la calcita y los filosilicatos s.l., desarrollando respectivamente foliaciones miloníticas y estructuras semi-dúctiles S-C-C’. Procesos de recristalización dinámica, disolución-precipitación y deformación intracristalina conllevan la generación de orientaciones preferentes de forma en los granos minerales de calcita. Los principales indicadores cinemáticos (S-CC’, fracturas frágiles de Riedel, foliaciones oblícuas, sombras de presión en piritas...) son compatibles con la vergencia Sur del Cabalgamiento de Gavarnie, sin observarse componentes oblicuas relevantes en el desplazamiento. The Gavarnie Thrust shows a 30m thick fault zone developed in the ampelitic and calcareous Silurian rocks, with a record of ductile deformation (mylonites) close to the main thrust plane and a progressive increase of the brittle deformation towards the marginal areas of the fault zone. The analysis of thin-sections under reflected and transmitted light with optical microscope reveals that calcite and phyllosilicates control the strain distribution in the fault rocks, leading to generation of mylonitic foliations and ductile-brittle S-C-C’ structures, respectively. Dinamic recrystallization, solution-precipitation and intracrystalline deformation generate shape preferred orientation in calcite grains. The main shear indicators (S-C-C’, brittle Riedel fractures, oblique foliations, pressure-shadows on pyrites…) are compatible with the South vergence of the Gavarnie Thrust, and no relevant oblique component of displacement has been observed

Granitoides asociados a zonas de desgarre: modelos analógicos y aplicación al macizo de Lizio (zona de cizalla surarmoricana)

Granite intrusion in the upper crust along a crustal-scale shear zone has been modeled by injecting a Newtonian fluid (low-viscosity silicone putty) into a sandpack containing a ductile layer of silicone putty which acted as a potential décollement level along which the injected material could spread. The strike-slip regime was obtained using a mobile rigid basal plate sliding horizontally. Boundary conditions were chosen in order to analyze the influence of different rheologic profiles of the upper crust on the pattern of the intrusion. Experiments showed that: 1) intrusions are elongate and their long axis tends to track the principal stretching direction associated with the strike-slip regime, 2) intrusions are asymmetric shaped in horizontal view, with the development of a sheared tail trailing behind the intrusion, 3) the strike slip environment allowed local rising of the injected fluid along faults formed in the overburden, 4) when the crustal rheologic profile is similar in both sides of the shear zone, intrusions are asymmetric drop shaped, 5) when the viscosity of materials above the feeding pipe is higher that viscosity of materials of the other side of the shear zone, the asymmetric drop shape not appears. Lizio leucogranite of the South Armorican Shear Zone (South Brittany, France) emphasize that our experiments can explain the geometry of many syntectonic' granites emplaced along strike-slip zones. They further shed some light on mechanisms of pluton intrusion in the upper crust.El emplazamiento de granitoides en zonas de desgarre de la corteza superior se ha modelizado inyectando un fluido newtoniano en un paquete de arena en el cual se intercala una capa dúctil de silicona que actúa como un nivel de despegue potencial en el cual el material inyectado puede expandirse. El régimen de desgarre se obtiene utilizando una placa basal rígida y móvil que desliza horizontalmente. Se ha analizado la influencia de diferentes perfiles reológicos de la corteza superior en la forma de la intrusión. Los experimentos muestran que: 1) las intrusiones son alargadas y su eje mayor toma la dirección principal de elongación asociada al régimen de desgarre, 2) las intrusiones presentan forma asimétrica en planta, con el desarrollo de una cola en el sentido de cizalla, 3) el régimen de desgarre permite localmente la subida del fluido inyectado a lo largo de las fallas formadas en la cobertera, 4) cuando el perfil reológico de la corteza es igual a ambos lados de la zona de cizalla, las intrusiones presentan forma de gota asimétrica, 5) cuando la viscosidad de los materiales que están por encima del canal de alimentación es superior a la de los materiales del otro lado del accidente principal, no aparece la forma en gota asimétrica. El leucogranito de Lizio en la zona de cizalla surarmoricana (Sur de Bretaña, Francia) es un ejemplo de que la modelización analógica puede dar las claves para explicar la geometría de muchos granitos sintectónicos emplazados en zonas de desgarre

Aportaciones de la modelización analógica al estudio de la deformación intraplaca

Se han realizado modelos analógicos de sistemas frágil/dúctil dinámicamente dimensionados. Los experimentos consistieron en comprimir longitudinalmente un paquete de arena con un nivel basal de silicona que funciona como un nivel de despegue. Las condiciones en los límites se eligieron para analizar la influencia de la migración lateral del nivel dúctil, así como de la velocidad de deformación en el patrón de deformación resultante. Los resultados obtenidos indican que cuando el nivel dúctil migra lateralmente el mayor engrosamiento cortical no se produce en la zona más próxima al back-stop, sino que aparece desplazado hacia el interior del modelo. Dynamically scaled brittle/ductile analogue models have been performed. Experiments consisted of the compression of a sand-pack with a basal ductile layer of silicone putty acting as a décollement level. The boundary conditions were chosen to analyze the influence of the lateral migration of the ductile level and the strain rate on the deformational pattern. Results show that when the ductile level migrates laterally, the higher thickening is obtained far from the back-stop creating a high relief in the pro-wedge region

Unraveling Multiple Thermotectonic Events Accommodated by Crustal\u2010Scale Faults in Northern Iberia, Spain: Insights From K-Ar Dating of Clay Gouges

Large-scale faults in the continental crust are significant features that control the evolution of sedimentary basins and intraplate mountain chains. Deciphering their evolution is a significant task because faults slip and reactivate in a variety of geological settings. In this work, clay gouges of two major orogen-scale, long-lived faults in northern Iberia, the Río Grío and Vallès-Penedès Faults, were investigated by X-ray diffraction and K-Ar isotopic analysis. Illite polytype determinations of 44 subfractions (from <0.1 to 10 Œºm) allowed us to discriminate between authigenic/synkinematic illite crystals formed during faulting and detrital illite crystals inherited from the host rock. K-Ar dating provided a detailed set of ages corresponding to key stages of the thermotectonic evolution of the Iberian Plate: (a) the Permian to Late Triassic extensional/transtensional activity associated to the emplacement of Late Variscan magmatic bodies and hydrothermal mineralizations, (b) the opening of the Central Atlantic Rift during Late Triassic-Early Jurassic times, (c) the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rifting that led to the development of Mesozoic extensional/transtensional basins in northern Iberia, (d) the final stage of the anticlockwise rotation of the Iberian Plate with respect to Eurasia and the accommodation of the first Pyrenean compressional pulses in Campanian time, and (e) the positive inversion of Mesozoic extensional basins due to far-field stresses associated with the Alpine orogeny during the Paleogene. The results highlight that thermotectonic conditions characterized by high-geothermal gradients strongly favor fault movement and neoformation of clay minerals in fault gouges, regardless of the prevailing tectonic regime

Análisis de la fábrica magnética en modelos analógicos de arcillas

Este estudio presenta el análisis de la fábrica magnética en una serie de modelos analógicos realizados con arcillas rojas comerciales. A partir de la disgregación de la arcilla en agua y su posterior decantación conseguimos reproducir la adquisición de una fábrica magnética deposicional (geometría oblata del elipsoide magnético con el eje mínimo de susceptibilidad perpendicular al plano de depósito). En un modelo de deformación de desgarre (experimento de Riedel), la lineación magnética se dispone paralela a la dirección de estiramiento. En el modelo de acortamiento, la lineación magnética se orienta perpendicular a la dirección de acortamiento. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto el gran potencial de la arcilla roja comercial para ser utilizada en este tipo de modelos analógicos, así como su capacidad de registrar una fábrica magnética coherente en cada caso. This study shows the magnetic fabric analysis applied to several analogue models developed with common commercial red clays. By dispersing the clays in water and after allowing their subsequent decan-tation, we were able to reproduce the acquisition of a depositional magnetic fabric (oblate geometry of the magnetic ellipsoid with the minimum susceptibility axis perpendicular to the deposit plane). In a strike-slip deformation model (Riedel experiment), magnetic lineation is parallel to the stretching direction. In the shortening model, magnetic lineation orients perpendicular to the shortening direction. The obtained results illustrate the great potential of these commercial red clays to be used in this type of analogue models, as well as their capacity to register a coherent magnetic fabric in each case

Tethyan versus Iberian extension during the Cretaceous period in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula: insights from magnetic fabrics

This work investigates how anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) recorded the strain related to the Early Cretaceous extensional processes in synrift sediments of the Maestrat basin (eastern Spain). Forty-two sites, distributed throughout the Lower Cretaceous sequence with dominant gentle dips, were sampled. Minerals contributing to the AMS are mainly phyllosilicates. The parallelism between magnetic and sedimentary foliation seems to indicate that a primary (synsedimentary and early diagenetic) magnetic fabric was preserved at 84% of sites. Consequently, preferred orientations of magnetic lineations are interpreted to record the effect of extensional processes coeval with sedimentation and diagenesis during this period. At these 35 sites, two main magnetic lineation orientations are found, delimiting two large domains: a NE–SW orientation prevailing in the NW sector of the basin (parallel to the extension direction of the Iberian basin), and NW–SE to NNW–SSE orientations to the SE (parallel to the extension direction controlling the western Tethys margin). Directional variability demonstrates that the Maestrat basin is located at the boundary between two domains (Iberian and Tethyan) undergoing different plate-scale extensional processes. The subsequent Cenozoic tectonic inversion affected the synsedimentary magnetic fabrics at only a few sites at the borders of the basin, where compressive features are more developed

Response of alluvial systems to Late Pleistocene climate changes recorded by environmental magnetism in the Añavieja Basin (Iberian Range, NE Spain)

Environmental magnetic proxies were analyzed in a relatively monotonous, ~25.3m thick alluvial sedimentary sequence drilled in the Añavieja Basin (NE Spain). Results from the core AÑ2 suggest that the concentrationdependent magnetic parameters mainly reflect variations in the content of detrital magnetite, sourced in the catchment rocks and soils of the basin, via changes in the dynamics of alluvial fans due to temperature changes in the northern hemisphere during the Late Pleistocene. The correspondence between the magnetic proxies and the temperature variations in the North Atlantic region (NGRIP curve) indicates that higher (lower) concentrations and finer (coarser) magnetite grains coincide with warm (cold) periods. We propose that during cold periods, a sparser vegetation cover favored the incoming of higher energy runoff bearing coarser sediments to the basin that are relatively impoverished in magnetite. In contrast, during warm periods, the wider distribution of the vegetation cover associated with the lower runoff energy lead to finer, magnetite-richer sediment input to the basin. Maghemite, presumably of pedogenic origin, appears to be present also in the studied alluvial sediments. Further studies are necessary to unravel its palaeoclimatic significance

Primary vs. secondary curved fold axes: Deciphering the origin of the Aït Attab syncline (Moroccan High Atlas) using paleomagnetic data

The Aït Attab syncline, located in the Central High Atlas, displays a curved geometry in plan view, and is considered as one of the most spectacular fold shapes in the Central High Atlasic belt. We conducted a paleomagnetic study in Jurassic-Cretaceous red beds to investigate the origin of this geometry. The Natural Remanent Magnetization (NRM) is dominated by a secondary magnetization carried by haematite with unvarying normal polarity that has been dated at about 100 Ma. The regional fold test performed in both limbs of the syncline is positive and the paleomagnetic vectors (after tectonic correction) are parallel throughout the curvature, indicating a negative oroclinal bending test. These results are inconsistent with previous works that consider the bent geometry of this syncline to result from subsequent distortion of originally NE–SW trending structures by rotation about a vertical axis. We interpret the NRM data to demonstrate that the changing trend of the Aït Attab syncline is a primary feature, resulting from the influence of pre-existing, NE–SW and E-W-striking extensional faults that developed during a strike-slip regime. Paleomagnetic results also reveal that the tilting observed in the sampled red beds is post Albian, probably linked to the Cenozoic inversion of the High Atlasic belt

Tectonic fabrics vs. mineralogical artifacts in AMS analysis: A case study of the Western Morocco extensional Triassic basins

New magnetic fabric data from 48 sites in Upper Triassic red beds from the Argana, Asni and Tizi n''Tichka areas in the western High Atlas, in combination with rock magnetic analyses, SEM observations and qualitative chemical analyses, reveal that mineralization processes can affect the primary (extensional) or secondary (post-depositional) magnetic fabrics. Twenty out of the 48 analyzed sites show tectonic-related fabrics consistent with the rifting stage (primary). Their orientation suggests that the extensional Atlasic (for the Asni area) and Atlantic (for Argana area) distinct directions prevailing during Liassic times are already present in the Upper Triassic sediments. The other 28 sites show axes switching (including different possibilities, kmax-kmin or kint-kmin), indicating their secondary development related to mineralogical changes after deposition. However, orientation of magnetic susceptibility axes (without considering their relative value) is consistent with the main directions obtained for the rifting stage. This magnetic fabric study also suggests that (i) extension had a small transtensional component and (ii) there is a limited influence of compressional inversion tectonics

Multidisciplinary approach to constrain kinematics of fault zones at shallow depths: a case study from the Cameros–Demanda thrust (North Spain)

Determining transport direction in thrusts is one of the main issues to study deformation and to achieve reliable balanced cross-sections reconstruction of inverted basins and thrust systems. Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility provides a tool to study deformation in fault rocks through the relationships between the magnetic susceptibility ellipsoid and deformational structures. The Cameros-Demanda Thrust (N Spain) shows a relatively simple history, with an average N-directed movement during the Cenozoic, and provides the possibility of determining the relationships between magnetic fabrics and transport directions in thrusts. The outcropping rocks are Mesozoic limestones in the hangingwall of the main thrust and Cenozoic conglomerates and Albian sandstones and coal in its footwall. Illite crystallinity and organic matter maturity indicate P-T conditions on the order of....The study of AMS in fault rocks (more than 400 samples distributed in 25 sites with fault gouge, breccia and microbreccia) in the Cameros thrust and its comparison with kinematic indicators (foliation, S/C structures and slickenside striations) indicates, in spite of the a priori simple relationships inferred from thrust geometry, a complex history of movements, changing from top-to-the-NW to top-to-the-NE along the history of Cenozoic thrusting. The transport direction is either oblique to the magnetic lineation and perpendicular to the strike of magnetic foliation, and can be checked with shear structures observed in thin sections and other kinematic indicators. The results obtained indicate that AMS can give clues about the transport direction in thrusts depending on the particular structures developed in each studied area