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Alpine Orogeny: Intraplate Deformation

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The Geology of Iberia: A Geodynamic Approach

Part of the book series: Regional Geology Reviews ((RGR))

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Abstract

The interior of the Iberian Peninsula contains two types of Variscan crust: (i) unaffected or slightly affected by the Mesozoic extensional events related to the breakup of Pangea, and (ii) stretched during the Mesozoic and eventually thickened during the Alpine orogenesis. The Iberian Massif, the largest outcrop of the European Variscides, as well as the Ebro Block, now hidden under the thick Tertiary cover of the Ebro basin, both belong to the first type of Variscan crust. The second type is identified in the Iberian Chain and the Catalan Coastal Ranges. A review of the various Alpine phases of deformation and the main structures formed in response to them in the two crustal domains is presented in this chapter, as well as a discussion on their timing, the tectonic model and their evolution to the Neogene extensional event that affected Eastern Iberia and during which the opening of the Gulf of Lions and the Valencia Trough occurred.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C. José Antonio Nováis 12, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Ramón Vegas & Gerardo de Vicente

  2. Grupo Geotransfer, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales (IUCA), Universidad de Zaragoza, C/Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Saragossa, Spain

    Antonio Casas-Sainz

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Sierd A. P. L. Cloetingh

Authors
  1. Ramón Vegas
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  2. Gerardo de Vicente
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  3. Antonio Casas-Sainz
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  4. Sierd A. P. L. Cloetingh
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramón Vegas .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME) and Faculty of Geological Sciences, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Cecilio Quesada

  2. Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, Amadora, Portugal

    José Tomás Oliveira

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Vegas, R., de Vicente, G., Casas-Sainz, A., Cloetingh, S.A.P.L. (2019). Alpine Orogeny: Intraplate Deformation. In: Quesada, C., Oliveira, J. (eds) The Geology of Iberia: A Geodynamic Approach. Regional Geology Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11295-0_12

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