Journal ArticleDOI
Extensional collapse of thickened continental lithosphere: A working hypothesis for the Alboran Sea and Gibraltar arc
TLDR
Several features of the Alboran Sea suggest that it may have been a high collisional ridge in Paleogene time that subsequently underwent extensional-collapse, driving radial thrusting around the Gibraltar arc.Abstract:
Several features of the Alboran Sea suggest that it may have been a high collisional ridge in Paleogene time that subsequently underwent extensional-collapse, driving radial thrusting around the Gibraltar arc. (1) The basin is underlain by thin (13-20 km) continental crust, has an east-west-trending horst and graben morphology, was the locus of Neogene volcanism, and has subsided 2-4 km since the middle Miocene. (2) Extension and subsidence in the basin coincided in time with outwardly directed thrusting in the surrounding mountain chains. (3) Africa and Europe were converging slowly during this period, so extension must have been driven by internally generated forces. (4) Onshore, rocks metamorphosed at 40 km depth are exposed beneath major low-angle normal faults that separate them from low-grade rocks above. (5) Emplacement of solid bodies of Iherzolite at asthenospheric temperature into the base of the collisional edifice in late Oligocene time suggests detachment of the lithospheric root beneath the collision zone. This would have increased the surface elevation and the potential energy of the system and would have favored extensional collapse of the ridge.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Subduction and Slab Detachment in the Mediterranean-Carpathian Region
M. J. R. Wortel,Wim Spakman +1 more
TL;DR: Seismic tomography models of the three-dimensional upper mantle velocity structure of the Mediterranean-Carpathian region provide a better understanding of the lithospheric processes governing its geodynamical evolution.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mediterranean extension and the Africa‐Eurasia collision
Laurent Jolivet,Claudio Faccenna +1 more
TL;DR: A number of tectonic events occurred contemporaneously in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East 30-25 Myr ago as discussed by the authors, which are contemporaneous to or immediately followed a strong reduction of the northward absolute motion of Africa.
Journal ArticleDOI
Lateral slab deformation and the origin of the western Mediterranean arcs
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the evolution of the western Mediterranean subduction zone (WMSZ) during the last 35 Myr by combining new and previous geological data, new tomographic images of the Western Mediterranean mantle, and plate kinematics.
Journal ArticleDOI
Origin of the Betic-Rif mountain belt
Lidia Lonergan,Nicky White +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a model for the Miocene evolution of the Betic-Rif mountain belts is proposed, which is compatible with the evolution of rest of the western Mediterranean.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evolution of retreating subduction boundaries formed during continental collision
TL;DR: Retreating subduction boundaries as mentioned in this paper are commonly formed by lateral ejection from zones of crustal shortening along the main collision boundary and are characterized by regional extension within the overriding plate and, at their leading edge, by thin-skinned arcuate thrust belts.