- Email: [email protected]
Growth strata in foreland settings
Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1 – 9 www.elsevier.com/locate/sedgeo
Growth strata in foreland settings J. Verge´sa,*, M. Marzob, J.A. Mun˜ozc a Institute of Earth Sciences ‘‘Jaume Almera’’, CSIC, Lluı´s Sole´ i Sabarı´s s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Departament Estratigraf ´ıa i Paleontologı´a, Universitat de Barcelona, Martı´ i Franque`s s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain c Departament de Geodina`mica i Geof ´ısica, Universitat de Barcelona, Martı´ i Franque`s s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
b
Received 2 January 2001; accepted 18 June 2001
Abstract The accurate analysis of growth strata has revealed their significance to unravel both fold kinematics and timing of deformation in both compressive and extensive settings. The increasing acquisition of 3-D multichannel seismic lines (with few tens of meters of resolution) in complex tectonic areas reveals complex interplay between growing structures and deposition either in marine or continental environments. Interestingly, growth strata reveal similar relationships in both compressive folds linked to thrusts at depth and folds related to propagating normal faults in extensive regimes. To completely document the complete kinematic history of an individual fault or a group of faults, it is necessary to combine studies at different scales to integrate the findings revealed by field work (meters of resolution), and multichannel seismic lines results. The margins of the Ebro Basin to the south of the Pyrenees have been the focus of abundant studies of syntectonic deposits. This is because of its special long-term evolution from a foreland to an intermontane basin and a final open basin to the Mediterranean Sea in Neogene times. The complete comprehension of growth strata in these natural laboratories is essential for our present needs in both petroleum exploration and earthquake prediction. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Growth strata; Foreland settings; Fold kinematics
1. Introduction In the last decade, there has been a renewed interest in growth strata and their link with causative tectonic structures. This increasing interest on such strata has been triggered by the need to: (a) widen our understanding of the coupling mechanisms between syntectonic sedimentation and related folding and faulting, and (b) increase the accuracy of our geological models for hydrocarbon exploration, especially in regions where growth geometries can be very complex. The latter need is directly related to the increasing availability of a great amount of high-quality 3-D seismic *
Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Verge´s).
data obtained from different tectonic settings. In this context, the set of papers presented in this special issue are highly relevant in investigating the interplay between tectonics and coupled deposition through analysis of both growth strata at a relatively small scale (field examples at meters to hundreds of meters), and at a larger scale (from multichannel seismic data, tens of meters to kilometers). The principal goals of this introductory chapter are to: (a) review briefly the importance of growth strata, (b) introduce the papers in this special volume, and (c) highlight the special relevance of the Ebro Basin for the study of growth strata.
0037-0738/02/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 3 7 - 0 7 3 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 6 2 - 2
2
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
Fig. 1. Cartoon showing surficial and deep processes acting during syntectonic foreland basin infill development and the position of growth strata linked to the foreland fold-and-thrust belt.
2. Interest of growth strata Deposition in active tectonic settings is always controlled by growing structures at different scales. In both compressional and extensional contexts,
growth strata are linked to a particular structure at depth (Fig. 1). The inherent synchroneity of growth strata and coupled fold or fault activity makes growth strata crucial to interpret fold-and-thrust geometry and kinematics (see Suppe et al., 1992; Anastasio et al.,
Fig. 2. Folded sedimentary basins display different levels of growth strata preservation from buried at depth (typical of modern and still active fold-and-thrust belts) to uplifted and eroded examples (representative of old and inactive deformed belts).
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
1997). However, the study of growth stratal geometries is not always straightforward and largely depends on the complexity and duration of the tectonic activity, as well as on the degree of preservation. Deposition on top of pre-existing rocks, either basement or cover pre-growth-strata, is the main process occurring during foreland and intermontane basin development ahead of fold-and-thrust belts (Fig. 2). The migration of deformation involves the proximal parts of these sedimentary basins producing folds related to thrusting. Growth strata are deposited synchronously with growth folding. In subsiding areas of the foreland, the end of folding is characterised by deposition of post-growth strata, which conceal the final geometry of the fold. This is typical of both presently active and subsiding foreland basins, and of inactive and preserved foreland fold belts in which growth strata are buried (Fig. 2). In settings experiencing moderate erosion during fold evolution, the geometry of the fold and its associated growth strata can be partially destroyed, thus displaying poor exposures of growth strata. Older foreland basins or parts of them characterised by moderate bulk erosion, significant river incision, and notable local topographic relief may preserve good exposures of growth strata. A typical active foreland fold-and-thrust belt shows an inner and exposed domain and an outer, buried domain; inner and older domains within a belt (or older belts) show generally poor exposures of growth strata, whereas younger domains (or modern belts) involve usually buried growth strata. This principle also applies to growth strata related to normal faults and folds in extensional settings (e.g., Gawthorpe et al., 1997; Hardy and McClay, 1999; Sharp et al., 2000) (Fig. 3). Good examples of growth strata have been documented in the Pyrenees and Ebro Basin (e.g., Anado´n et al., 1986; Riba, 1989), the Alps (e.g., Artoni and Meckel, 1998; Lickorish and Ford, 1998), and the Apennines (e.g., Zoetemeijer et al., 1992; Butler and Lickorish, 1997). The western boundary of North and South America also provides significant examples of growth strata as in the Transverse Ranges in California (e.g., Medwedeff, 1989; Hummon et al., 1994; Shaw and Suppe, 1994; Schneider et al., 1996; Souter and Hager, 1997), and the frontal Andes in Argentina (e.g., Zapata and Allmendinger, 1996).
3
Fig. 3. Pictures of growth strata associated to both compression and extensional settings: (A) Growth strata of la Garriga in the front of the Pyrenean South Central Unit (see Verge´s et al., 1996); (B) Penyagalera growth syncline in the Catalan Coastal Ranges (see Burbank et al., 1996; Lawton et al., 1999); (C) Growth syncline related to extension in the Gulf of Suez rift, Egypt — photo by Rob Gawthorpe (see Gawthorpe et al., 1997).
4
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
The precise study of the geometries and sedimentological characteristics of growth strata associated with a particular structure are key to understanding the kinematics of folding and faulting, the sedimentological characteristics of these growth strata around the fold and the timing of deformation, all of which are crucial for petroleum exploration (see Mascle et al., 1998) (Fig. 4). Buried and well-exposed examples are required to resolve folding kinematics combining seismic and/or structural interpretation, balanced cross-section construction, unfolding techniques and forward modelling techniques (e.g., Mount et al., 1990; Novoa et al., 2000). The study of sedimentary facies, sediment provenance and paleocurrents provides information about the tectonic evolution of single fault-related folds. Well-preserved growth strata can furnish precise information on tectonics and depositional interactions; incompletely preserved and buried examples can also provide a remarkable amount of information on these relationships (e.g., Jordan et al., 1988; DeCelles, 1992; Williams et al., 1998). The 10 different papers included in this special issue cover most of the above-mentioned aspects of growth strata analysis. The first two papers deal with buried examples of growth strata investigated using multichannel seismic profiles. Masaferro et al. (2001) determine the evolu-
tion of the Santaren anticline in the Bahamas foreland, analysing the growth stratal geometries and solving the kinematics of folding and the rates of growth of the anticline. Casas et al. (2001) resolve the growth stratal geometries related to a basement monocline in the southern flank of the Almaza´n Basin determining complex folding kinematics (Fig. 5). The next four papers are based on numerical and analogue modelling of growth strata in both extensive and compressive settings. Gawthorpe and Hardy (this volume) document the control of extensional faultpropagation folding and base-level changes on growth stratal geometries with special emphasis on deltaic deposits infilling the graben across the normal fault. Salvini and Storti (2001) show how to differentiate kinematics of folding using three-dimensional information from total thickness contour maps, single layer contour maps and the first derivative of both. This information is observable in 3-D multichannel seismic cubes. Rafini and Mercier (this volume) propose a 2-D numerical forward kinematic model based on the observation that many growth folds display curved instead of kink-shaped hinges. They apply their model to examples from the Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys and Mediano anticlines (Fig. 5). In the next paper, Barrier et al. (2001) study the influence of thrust geometry of syntectonic deposition in front of an advancing thrust sheet using analogue models and
Fig. 4. Use of growth strata to unravel the evolution of compressive and extensive sedimentary basins.
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
5
Fig. 5. Map of the Ebro Basin showing the location of well constrained growth strata examples including the papers presented in this special volume: (1) Ripoll piggy back basin (Puigdefa`bregas et al., 1986; Ramos et al., 2001); (2) Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys (Riba, 1973; Ford et al., 1997; Suppe et al., 1997; Williams et al., 1998; Novoa et al., 2000; Rafini and Mercier, 2001); (3) Oliana anticline (Burbank et al., 1992; Burbank and Verge´s, 1994; Verge´s et al., 1996; Salvini and Storti, 2001); (4) Cretaceous basins (Drzewiecki and Simo´, 2001); (5) Tremp – Ainsa basin (Nijman and Nio, 1975; Nijman, 1998); (6) Mediano anticline (Holl and Anastasio, 1993; Poblet et al., 1998; Rafini and Mercier, 2001; Salvini and Storti, 2001); (7) Jaca piggy back basin (Puigdefa`bregas, 1975); (8) Pico del Aguila anticline (Milla´n et al., 1994; Poblet and Hardy, 1995; Novoa et al., 2000; Pueyo et al., 2001); (9) Sierras Exteriores and Riglos (De Paor and Anastasio, 1987; Hogan, 1993; Milla´n et al., 1995; Lloyd et al., 1998); (10) Miranda de Ebro Basin piggy back basin (Riba, 1989); (11) Sant Llorenc˛ del Munt and Montserrat (Lo´pezBlanco, 2001); (12) Beceite (Burbank et al., 1996; Lawton et al., 1999); (13) Montalba´n basin (Barrier et al., 2001); (14) Almaza´n basin (Casas et al., 2001); (15) Cameros (Jurado and Riba, 1996; Mun˜oz-Jime´nez and Casas-Sainz, 1997).
a well-exposed field example on the northern flank of the Montalba´n Basin (Fig. 5). The next three papers detail the analysis of poorly preserved growth strata, examining the tectonically driven changes of their sedimentological characteristics. Ramos et al. (2001) interpret the interplay between longitudinal rivers and transverse alluvial fans on top of a growing piggy-back syncline, the Ripoll syncline in the eastern Pyrenees (Fig. 5). Lo´pezBlanco (2001) outlines the tectono – sedimentary history of the simultaneous Montserrat and Sant Llorenc˛ del Munt fan-deltas attached to the Catalan Coastal Ranges in the SE margin of the Ebro Basin (Fig. 5). Drzewiecki and Simo´ (2001) investigate the signal of long-term tectonic activity using the sedimentological
characteristics of Cretaceous growth strata deposited in the hanging wall of a major normal fault in the south of the Pyrenees (Fig. 5). Finally, Pueyo et al. (this volume) study the wellcalibrated Arguı´s growth syncline to resolve its magnetotectonic evolution. This paper presents a detailed calculation of the amount, chronology, and magnitude of tectonic rotations of this southern Pyrenean example during some 3.5 Ma. (Fig. 5). The frequent occurrence of spectacular growth strata outcrops in the Ebro Basin and surroundings, some of them discussed in this special issue, is a consequence of its unique tectono-sedimentary and tectono-morphologic evolution during the last 50 Ma, particularly since middle – late Eocene time.
6
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
3. Ebro Basin evolution and growth strata preservation The southern side of the Pyrenees represents an interesting area to study growth strata because their good preservation and 3-D outcrop quality. Outcrops of growth strata were first noticed by geologists traversing the mountain chain in the 1930s (Ashauer, 1934; Birot, 1937). The first modern study of growth strata was done in the Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys area (Riba, 1973, 1976). The fairly continuous outcrops of the southern side of the Pyrenees permitted large-scale basin studies with particular emphasis on the relationships between tectonics and sedimentation during the 1970s and 1980s (Riba, 1973, 1989; Nijman and Nio, 1975; Puigdefa`bregas, 1975; Anado´n et al., 1986). The development and subsequent preservation of growth strata along the margins of the Ebro Basin is because the nature of its long-term geodynamic evolution, primarily controlled by the Pyrenean orogenic wedge to the north (e.g., Mun˜oz, 1992; Puigdefa`bregas et al., 1992; Beaumont et al., 2000) (Fig. 5). The Pyrenean evolution started at the end of the Late Cretaceous, and was composed of three primary stages: (a) an early foreland basin stage; (b) an intermediate intermontane basin stage; and (c) a final inactive basin in which erosion was the main surficial process. The special syn- and post-compressive conditions that favoured the preservation of the syntectonic deposits from the beginning of the foreland basin formation can be summarized as follows. Deformation on the southern side of the Pyrenees produced relatively large thrust sheets on top of de´collement levels, above which folding and thrusting took place in a broadly distributed form (single tectonic structures were active for short periods of time). Shortening rates were also relatively modest, varying from 4 mm/year during the early stages of compression to 2.5 mm/year during the final stages of compression when most of the growth strata formed (Verge´s et al., 1995). Distributed deformation, combined with relatively low rates of tectonic transport, prevented growth strata from being destroyed during shortening. The rates of vertical motion on particular tectonic structures were similar to the rates of growth
strata accumulation and specifically during the intermontane evolution of the Ebro Basin as observed in Fig. 6. Equivalent rates of vertical motion and sediment accumulation emphasized the growth strata geometries. After the cessation of compression, the Ebro Basin was characterised by a long period of quiescence during which the basin was slowly infilled and growth strata were buried and preserved from erosion (e.g., Coney et al., 1996). The final stage of the Ebro Basin evolution, still active at present, was characterised by denudation and river incision which shaped the present outcrops. The onset of denudation took place during the opening of the buried Ebro Basin to the Mediterranean Sea. This opening affected different parts of the Ebro Basin, particularly its NE region, since the early Miocene. Local topographic relief along the inactive thrust fronts of the Pyrenees and Catalan Coastal Ranges range is more than 1200 m (Lewis et al., 2000). The widely distributed deformation and the approximately equivalent rates of tectonic uplift and growth strata accumulation have therefore persisted for about 31 Ma during the marine foreland basin (57 – 37 Ma) and continental intermontane basin stages (37 – 25 Ma). These growth stages were fol-
Fig. 6. Plot showing rates of vertical crestal uplift vs. rates of growth strata accumulation of Pyrenean selected examples.
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
lowed by a post-growth stage during which burial and backfilling in the centre of the Ebro Basin existed during tectonic quiescence lasting from about 25 to 9 Ma in the centre of the basin. Denudation and river incision was active in the eastern part of the Ebro Basin since approximately 25 Ma (Verge´s et al., 1998; Lewis et al., 2000).
4. Future work We outline four possible lines of future work on growth strata analysis: (1) integration of different scales of work and different techniques of study (field work and analysis of 3-D multichannel seismic profiles); (2) to search for examples that exhibit both high and low rates of tectonic uplift with respect to growth strata accumulation, improving the use of tectonosedimentary and morphotectonic techniques (see Lo´pezBlanco and Marzo, in press); (3) integration of numerical and analogue models with field data (to investigate the bi-directional interactions of tectonics and sedimentation, and tectonics and landscape evolution); and (4) to better constrain the timing of wellstudied examples of growth strata in order to advance the understanding of processes governing the interaction between tectonics and sedimentation.
Acknowledgements Constructive reviews from R. Steel and P. Hogan improved the manuscript. This work was carried out in the frame of projects DGSIC PB97-0882-CO-03, 1999 SGR 00208 and 1999 SGR-00064, funded by the Comissionat per Universitats i Recerca of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Grups de Recerca Consolidats, II Pla de Recerca de Catalunya. References Anado´n, P., Cabrera, L., Colombo, F., Marzo, M., Riba, O., 1986. Syntectonic intraformational unconformities in alluvial fan deposits, eastern Ebro Basin margins (NE Spain). In: Allen, P.A., Homewood, P. (Eds.), Foreland Basins. International Association of Sedimentologists Special Publication, vol. 8. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 259 – 271. Anastasio, D.J., Erslev, E.A., Fisher, D.M. (Eds.), 1997. Fault-Re-
7
lated Folding. Journal of Structural Geology, Special Issue, vol. 19 (3 – 4), v – vi. Artoni, A., Meckel III, L.D., 1998. History and deformation rates of a thrust sheet top basin: the Barreˆme basin, western Alps, SE France. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publication, vol. 134. Geological Society, London, pp. 213 – 237. Ashauer, H., 1934. La terminacio´n oriental de los Pirineos. Traducc. espan˜ola por J.M. RI´OS en: Publ. Alem. Geol. Esp., 2, 236 – 336. Barrier, L., Naplas, T., Gapais, D., Proust, J.N., Casas, A., Bourquin, S., 2001. Influence of syntectonic sedimentation on thrust geometry. Field examples from the Iberian Chain (Spain) and analogue modelling. Sedimentary Geology 146, 91 – 104. Beaumont, C., Mun˜oz, J.A., Hamilton, J., Fullsack, P., 2000. Factors controlling the Alpine evolution of the central Pyrenees inferred from a comparison of observations and geodynamical models. Journal of Geophysical Research 105 (B4), 8121 – 8145. Birot, P., 1937. Recherches sur la morphologie des Pyre´ne´es Orientales franco-espagnoles, The`se Univ. Paris (Baillie`re et Fils, Ed. Paris), 311 pp. Burbank, D.W., Verge´s, J., 1994. Reconstruction of topography and related depositional systems during active thrusting. Journal of Geophysical Research 99, 20281 – 20297. Burbank, D.W., Verge´s, J., Mun˜oz, J.A., Bentham, P.A., 1992. Coeval hindward- and forward-imbricating thrusting in the central southern Pyrenees: timing and rates of shortening and deposition. Geological Society of America Bulletin 104 (1), 1 – 18. Burbank, D., Meigs, A., Brozovic, N., 1996. Interactions of growing folds and coeval depositional systems. Basin Research 8 (3), 199 – 224. Butler, R.W.H., Lickorish, W.H., 1997. Using high-resolution stratigraphy to date fold and thrust activity: examples from the Neogene of south-central Sicily. Journal of the Geological Society (London) 154, 633 – 643. Casas, A.M., Corte´s, A.L., Maestro, A., 2001. Sequential limb rotation and kink-band migration recorded by growth strata, Almaza´n Basin, North Spain. Sedimentary Geology 146, 25 – 45. Coney, P.J., Mun˜oz, J.A., McClay, K.R., Evenchick, C.A., 1996. Syntectonic burial and post-tectonic exhumation of the southern Pyrenees foreland fold-thrust belt. Journal of the Geological Society (London) 153, 9 – 16. DeCelles, P.G., 1992. A field test of foreland-basin models in the overfilled, nonmarine part of the Jurassic – Cretaceous Cordilleran foreland basin, central Wyoming. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Progress with Abstract, 24. De Paor, D.G., Anastasio, D.J., 1987. The Spanish External Sierra: a case history in the advance and retreat of mountains. National Geographic Research 3, 199 – 209. Drzewiecki, P., Simo´, T., 2001. Depositional processes, triggering mechanisms, and sediment composition of carbonate gravity flow deposits: examples from the Late Cretaceous of the South – Central Pyrenees, Spain. Sedimentary Geology 146, 155 – 189. Ford, M., Williams, E.A., Artoni, A., Verge´s, J., Hardy, S., 1997.
8
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
Progressive evolution of a fault-related fold pair from growth strata geometries, Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys, SE Pyrenees. Journal of Structural Geology, Special Issue on Fault-Related Folding 19 (3 – 4), 413 – 441. Gawthorpe, R., Hardy, S., 2001. Extensional fault-propagation folding and base-level change as controls on growth strata geometries. Sedimentary Geology 146, 47 – 56. Gawthorpe, R.L., Sharp, I., Underhill, J.R., Gupta, S., 1997. Linked sequence stratigraphic and structural evolution of propagating normal faults. Geology 25 (9), 795 – 798. Hardy, S., McClay, K., 1999. Kinematic modelling of extensional fault-progration folding. Journal of Structural Geology 21, 695 – 702. Hogan, P.J., 1993. Geochronologic, tectonic, and stratigraphic evolution of the southwest Pyrenean foreland basin, northern Spain. PhD Thesis, University of Southern California, 220 pp. Holl, J.E., Anastasio, D.J., 1993. Paleomagnetically derived folding rates, Southern Pyrenees, Spain. Geology 21 (3), 271 – 274. Hummon, C., et al., 1994. Wilshire fault: earthquakes in Hollywood? Geology 22, 291 – 294. Jordan, T.E., Flemings, P.B., Beers, J.A., 1988. Dating thrust-fault activity by use of foreland-basin strata. In: Kleinspehn, K.L., Paola, C. (Eds.), New Perspectives in Basin Analysis. SpringerVerlag, New York, pp. 307 – 330. Jurado, M.J., Riba, O., 1996. The Rioja Area (Westernmost Ebro Basin): a Ramp Valley with neighbouring piggybacks. In: Friend, P.F., Dabrio, C.J. (Eds.), Tertiary Basins of Spain the Stratigraphic Record of Crustal Kinematics. World and Regional Geology. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 173 – 179. Lawton, T.F., Roca, E., Guimera`, J., 1999. Kinematic-stratigraphic evolution of a growth syncline and its implications for tectonic development of the proximal foreland basin, southeastern Ebro basin, Catalunya, Spain. Geological Society of America Bulletin 111 (3), 412 – 431. Lewis, C.J., Verge´s, J., Marzo, M., 2000. High mountains in a zone of extended crust: insights into the Neogene-Quaternary topographic development of northeastern Iberia. Tectonics 19 (1), 86 – 102. Lickorish, W.H., Ford, M., 1998. Sequential restoration of the external Alpine Digne thrust system, SE France, constrained by kinematic data and synorogenic sediments. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publication, vol. 134. Geological Society, London, pp. 189 – 211. Lloyd, M.J., Nichols, G.J., Friend, P.F., 1998. Oligo – Miocene alluvial-fan evolution at the southern Pyrenean thrust front, Spain. Journal of Sedimentary Research 68 (5), 869 – 878. Lo´pez-Blanco, M., this volume. Sedimentary response to thrusting and fold growing on the SE margin of the Ebro basin (Paleogene, NE Spain). Sedimentary Geology. Lo´pez-Blanco, M., Marzo, M., in press. Low-amplitude, synsedimentary folding of a deltaic complex: detection, timing, rates, and sedimentologic implications (lower Eocene Roda Sandstone, South-Pyrenean foreland basin). Masaferro, J.L., Poblet, J., Blunes, M., Eberli, G.P., 2001. Episodic
folding inferred from syntectonic carbonate sedimentation: the Santaren anticline, Bahamas foreland. In: Marzo, M., Mun˜oz, J.A., Verge´s, J. (Eds.), Sedimentary Geology 146, 11 – 24. Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), 1998. Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, vol. 134. Geological Society, London, 427 pp. Medwedeff, D.A., 1989. Growth fault-bend folding at southeast Lost Hills, San Joaquin Valley, California. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 73 (1), 54 – 67. Milla´n, H., Aurell, M., Mele´ndez, A., 1994. Synchronous detachment folds and coeval sedimentation in the Prepyrenean External Sierras (Spain): a case study for a tectonic origin of sequences and systems tracts. Sedimentology 41 (5), 1001 – 1024. Milla´n, H., Pocovı´, J., Casas, A.M., 1995. El frente de cabalgamiento surpirenaico en el extremo occidental de las Sierras Exteriores. Revista Sociedad Geolo´gica Espan˜a 8 (1 – 2), 73 – 90. Mount, V.S., Suppe, J., Hook, S.C., 1990. A forward modeling strategy for balancing cross-sections. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 74 (5), 521 – 531. Mun˜ oz, J.A., 1992. Evolution of a continental collision belt: ECORS-Pyrenees crustal balanced section. In: McClay, K.R. (Ed.), Thrust Tectonics. Chapman & Hall, London, pp. 235 – 246. Mun˜oz-Jime´nez, A., Casas-Sainz, A.M., 1997. The Rioja Trough (N Spain): tectonosedimentary evolution of a symmetric foreland basin. Basin Research 9 (1), 65 – 85. Nijman, W., 1998. Cyclicity and basin axis shift in a piggyback basin: towards modelling of the Eocene Tremp – Ager Basin, South Pyrenees, Spain. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publications, London, pp. 135 – 162. Nijman, W., Nio, S.D., 1975. The Eocene Montan˜ana delta (Tremp – Graus Basin, provinces of Le´rida and Huesca, Southern Pyrenees, N. Spain). 9th International Sedimentological Congress, International Association of Sedimentologists, Nice, Excursion Guidebook, 19, part B, 1 – 18. Novoa, E., Suppe, J., Shaw, J.H., 2000. Inclined-shear restoration of growth folds. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 84 (6), 787 – 804. Poblet, J., Hardy, S., 1995. Reverse modelling of detachment folds: application to the Pico de Aguila anticline in the South Central Pyrenees (Spain). Journal of Structural Geology 17 (12), 1707 – 1724. Poblet, J., Mun˜oz, J.A., Trave´, A., Serra-Kiel, J., 1998. Quantifying the kinematics of detachment folds using three-dimensional geometry: application to the Mediano anticline (Pyrenees, Spain). Geological Society of America Bulletin 110 (1), 111 – 125. Pueyo, E.L., Milla´n, H., Pocovı´, A., 2001. Rotation velocity of a thrust: a magnetotectonic study in the Pico del Aquila anticlina (southern Pyrenees, Spain). Sedimentary Geology 146, 191 – 208. Puigdefa`bregas, C., 1975. La sedimentacio´n mola´sica de la cuenca de Jaca. Pirineos 104, 1 – 118. Puigdefa`bregas, C., Mun˜oz, J.A., Marzo, M., 1986. Thrust belt
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9 development in the Eastern Pyrenees and related depositional sequences in the southern foreland basin. In: Allen, P.A., Homewood, P. (Eds.), Foreland Basins Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 229 – 246. Puigdefa`bregas, C., Mun˜oz, J.A., Verge´s, J., 1992. Thrusting and foreland basin evolution in the Southern Pyrenees. In: McClay, K.R. (Ed.), Thrust Tectonics. Chapman & Hall, Suffolk, pp. 247 – 254. Rafini, S., Mercier, E., 2001. Forward modelling of foreland basins progressive unconformities. Sedimentary Geology 146, 75 – 89. Ramos, E., Busquets, P. and Verge´s, J., 2001. Interplay between longitudinal fluvial and transverse alluvial fan systems and growing thrusts in a piggyback basin (SE Pyrenees). Sedimentary Geology 146, 105 – 131. Riba, O., 1973. Las discordancias sintecto´nicas del Alto Cardener (Prepirineo catala´n), ensayo de interpretacio´n evolutiva. Acta Geo`logica Hispa`nica 8 (3), 90 – 99. Riba, O., 1976. Syntectonic unconformities of the Alto Cardener, Spanish Pyrenees: a genetic interpretation. Sedimentary Geology 15, 213 – 233. Riba, O., 1989. Las discordancias sintecto´nicas como elementos de ana´lisis de cuenca. Sedimentologia. Concejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientı´ficas, Madrid, pp. 489 – 522. Salvini, F., Storti, F., 2001. Three-dimensional architecture of growth strata associated to fault-bend, fault-propagation, and de´collement anticlines in non-erosional environments. Sedimentary Geology 146, 57 – 73. Schneider, C.L., Hummon, C., Yeats, R.S., Huftile, G.L., 1996. Structural evolution of the northern Los Angeles basin, California, based on growth strata. Tectonics 15 (2), 341 – 355. Sharp, I.R., Gawthorpe, R.L., Underhill, J.R., Gupta, S., 2000. Fault-propagation folding in extensional settings: examples of structural style and synrift sedimentary response from the Suez rift, Sinai, Egypt. Geological Society of America Bulletin 112 (12), 1877 – 1899.
9
Shaw, J.H., Suppe, J., 1994. Active faulting and growth folding in the eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 106, 607 – 626. Souter, B.J., Hager, B.H., 1997. Fault propagation fold growth during the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake? Journal of Geophysical Research 102, 11931 – 11942. Suppe, J., Chou, G.T., Hook, S.C., 1992. Rates of folding and faulting determined from growth strata. In: McClay, K.R. (Ed.), Thrust Tectonics. Chapman & Hall, Suffolk, pp. 105 – 121. Suppe, J., et al., 1997. Bed-by-bed fold growth by kink-band migration: Sant Llorenc¸ de Morunys, eastern Pyrenees. Journal of Structural Geology 19 (3 – 4), 443 – 461. Verge´s, J., et al., 1995. Eastern Pyrenees and related foreland basins: pre-, syn- and post-collisional crustal-scale cross-sections. In Cloetingh, Durand, Puigdefa`bregas, (Eds.), Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 12 (8), 903 – 916. Verge´s, J., Burbank, D.W., Meigs, A., 1996. Unfolding: an inverse approach to fold kinematics. Geology 24 (2), 175 – 178. Verge´s, J., et al., 1998. Quantified vertical motions and tectonic evolution of the SE Pyrenean foreland basin. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publications, London, pp. 107 – 134. Williams, E.A., Ford, M., Verge´s, J., Artoni, A., 1998. Alluvial gravel sedimentation in a contractional growth fold setting, Sant Llorenc¸ de Morunys, southeastern Pyrenees. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publications, London, pp. 69 – 106. Zapata, T., Allmendinger, R.W., 1996. Growth stratal records of instantaneous and progressive limb rotation in the Precordillera thrust belt and Bermejo basin, Argentina. Tectonics 15, 1065 – 1083. Zoetemeijer, R., Sassi, W., Roure, F., Cloetingh, S., 1992. Stratigraphic and kinematic modeling of thrust evolution, northern Apennines, Italy. Geology 20, 1035 – 1038.
Growth strata in foreland settings J. Verge´sa,*, M. Marzob, J.A. Mun˜ozc a Institute of Earth Sciences ‘‘Jaume Almera’’, CSIC, Lluı´s Sole´ i Sabarı´s s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Departament Estratigraf ´ıa i Paleontologı´a, Universitat de Barcelona, Martı´ i Franque`s s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain c Departament de Geodina`mica i Geof ´ısica, Universitat de Barcelona, Martı´ i Franque`s s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
b
Received 2 January 2001; accepted 18 June 2001
Abstract The accurate analysis of growth strata has revealed their significance to unravel both fold kinematics and timing of deformation in both compressive and extensive settings. The increasing acquisition of 3-D multichannel seismic lines (with few tens of meters of resolution) in complex tectonic areas reveals complex interplay between growing structures and deposition either in marine or continental environments. Interestingly, growth strata reveal similar relationships in both compressive folds linked to thrusts at depth and folds related to propagating normal faults in extensive regimes. To completely document the complete kinematic history of an individual fault or a group of faults, it is necessary to combine studies at different scales to integrate the findings revealed by field work (meters of resolution), and multichannel seismic lines results. The margins of the Ebro Basin to the south of the Pyrenees have been the focus of abundant studies of syntectonic deposits. This is because of its special long-term evolution from a foreland to an intermontane basin and a final open basin to the Mediterranean Sea in Neogene times. The complete comprehension of growth strata in these natural laboratories is essential for our present needs in both petroleum exploration and earthquake prediction. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Growth strata; Foreland settings; Fold kinematics
1. Introduction In the last decade, there has been a renewed interest in growth strata and their link with causative tectonic structures. This increasing interest on such strata has been triggered by the need to: (a) widen our understanding of the coupling mechanisms between syntectonic sedimentation and related folding and faulting, and (b) increase the accuracy of our geological models for hydrocarbon exploration, especially in regions where growth geometries can be very complex. The latter need is directly related to the increasing availability of a great amount of high-quality 3-D seismic *
Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Verge´s).
data obtained from different tectonic settings. In this context, the set of papers presented in this special issue are highly relevant in investigating the interplay between tectonics and coupled deposition through analysis of both growth strata at a relatively small scale (field examples at meters to hundreds of meters), and at a larger scale (from multichannel seismic data, tens of meters to kilometers). The principal goals of this introductory chapter are to: (a) review briefly the importance of growth strata, (b) introduce the papers in this special volume, and (c) highlight the special relevance of the Ebro Basin for the study of growth strata.
0037-0738/02/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 3 7 - 0 7 3 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 6 2 - 2
2
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
Fig. 1. Cartoon showing surficial and deep processes acting during syntectonic foreland basin infill development and the position of growth strata linked to the foreland fold-and-thrust belt.
2. Interest of growth strata Deposition in active tectonic settings is always controlled by growing structures at different scales. In both compressional and extensional contexts,
growth strata are linked to a particular structure at depth (Fig. 1). The inherent synchroneity of growth strata and coupled fold or fault activity makes growth strata crucial to interpret fold-and-thrust geometry and kinematics (see Suppe et al., 1992; Anastasio et al.,
Fig. 2. Folded sedimentary basins display different levels of growth strata preservation from buried at depth (typical of modern and still active fold-and-thrust belts) to uplifted and eroded examples (representative of old and inactive deformed belts).
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
1997). However, the study of growth stratal geometries is not always straightforward and largely depends on the complexity and duration of the tectonic activity, as well as on the degree of preservation. Deposition on top of pre-existing rocks, either basement or cover pre-growth-strata, is the main process occurring during foreland and intermontane basin development ahead of fold-and-thrust belts (Fig. 2). The migration of deformation involves the proximal parts of these sedimentary basins producing folds related to thrusting. Growth strata are deposited synchronously with growth folding. In subsiding areas of the foreland, the end of folding is characterised by deposition of post-growth strata, which conceal the final geometry of the fold. This is typical of both presently active and subsiding foreland basins, and of inactive and preserved foreland fold belts in which growth strata are buried (Fig. 2). In settings experiencing moderate erosion during fold evolution, the geometry of the fold and its associated growth strata can be partially destroyed, thus displaying poor exposures of growth strata. Older foreland basins or parts of them characterised by moderate bulk erosion, significant river incision, and notable local topographic relief may preserve good exposures of growth strata. A typical active foreland fold-and-thrust belt shows an inner and exposed domain and an outer, buried domain; inner and older domains within a belt (or older belts) show generally poor exposures of growth strata, whereas younger domains (or modern belts) involve usually buried growth strata. This principle also applies to growth strata related to normal faults and folds in extensional settings (e.g., Gawthorpe et al., 1997; Hardy and McClay, 1999; Sharp et al., 2000) (Fig. 3). Good examples of growth strata have been documented in the Pyrenees and Ebro Basin (e.g., Anado´n et al., 1986; Riba, 1989), the Alps (e.g., Artoni and Meckel, 1998; Lickorish and Ford, 1998), and the Apennines (e.g., Zoetemeijer et al., 1992; Butler and Lickorish, 1997). The western boundary of North and South America also provides significant examples of growth strata as in the Transverse Ranges in California (e.g., Medwedeff, 1989; Hummon et al., 1994; Shaw and Suppe, 1994; Schneider et al., 1996; Souter and Hager, 1997), and the frontal Andes in Argentina (e.g., Zapata and Allmendinger, 1996).
3
Fig. 3. Pictures of growth strata associated to both compression and extensional settings: (A) Growth strata of la Garriga in the front of the Pyrenean South Central Unit (see Verge´s et al., 1996); (B) Penyagalera growth syncline in the Catalan Coastal Ranges (see Burbank et al., 1996; Lawton et al., 1999); (C) Growth syncline related to extension in the Gulf of Suez rift, Egypt — photo by Rob Gawthorpe (see Gawthorpe et al., 1997).
4
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
The precise study of the geometries and sedimentological characteristics of growth strata associated with a particular structure are key to understanding the kinematics of folding and faulting, the sedimentological characteristics of these growth strata around the fold and the timing of deformation, all of which are crucial for petroleum exploration (see Mascle et al., 1998) (Fig. 4). Buried and well-exposed examples are required to resolve folding kinematics combining seismic and/or structural interpretation, balanced cross-section construction, unfolding techniques and forward modelling techniques (e.g., Mount et al., 1990; Novoa et al., 2000). The study of sedimentary facies, sediment provenance and paleocurrents provides information about the tectonic evolution of single fault-related folds. Well-preserved growth strata can furnish precise information on tectonics and depositional interactions; incompletely preserved and buried examples can also provide a remarkable amount of information on these relationships (e.g., Jordan et al., 1988; DeCelles, 1992; Williams et al., 1998). The 10 different papers included in this special issue cover most of the above-mentioned aspects of growth strata analysis. The first two papers deal with buried examples of growth strata investigated using multichannel seismic profiles. Masaferro et al. (2001) determine the evolu-
tion of the Santaren anticline in the Bahamas foreland, analysing the growth stratal geometries and solving the kinematics of folding and the rates of growth of the anticline. Casas et al. (2001) resolve the growth stratal geometries related to a basement monocline in the southern flank of the Almaza´n Basin determining complex folding kinematics (Fig. 5). The next four papers are based on numerical and analogue modelling of growth strata in both extensive and compressive settings. Gawthorpe and Hardy (this volume) document the control of extensional faultpropagation folding and base-level changes on growth stratal geometries with special emphasis on deltaic deposits infilling the graben across the normal fault. Salvini and Storti (2001) show how to differentiate kinematics of folding using three-dimensional information from total thickness contour maps, single layer contour maps and the first derivative of both. This information is observable in 3-D multichannel seismic cubes. Rafini and Mercier (this volume) propose a 2-D numerical forward kinematic model based on the observation that many growth folds display curved instead of kink-shaped hinges. They apply their model to examples from the Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys and Mediano anticlines (Fig. 5). In the next paper, Barrier et al. (2001) study the influence of thrust geometry of syntectonic deposition in front of an advancing thrust sheet using analogue models and
Fig. 4. Use of growth strata to unravel the evolution of compressive and extensive sedimentary basins.
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
5
Fig. 5. Map of the Ebro Basin showing the location of well constrained growth strata examples including the papers presented in this special volume: (1) Ripoll piggy back basin (Puigdefa`bregas et al., 1986; Ramos et al., 2001); (2) Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys (Riba, 1973; Ford et al., 1997; Suppe et al., 1997; Williams et al., 1998; Novoa et al., 2000; Rafini and Mercier, 2001); (3) Oliana anticline (Burbank et al., 1992; Burbank and Verge´s, 1994; Verge´s et al., 1996; Salvini and Storti, 2001); (4) Cretaceous basins (Drzewiecki and Simo´, 2001); (5) Tremp – Ainsa basin (Nijman and Nio, 1975; Nijman, 1998); (6) Mediano anticline (Holl and Anastasio, 1993; Poblet et al., 1998; Rafini and Mercier, 2001; Salvini and Storti, 2001); (7) Jaca piggy back basin (Puigdefa`bregas, 1975); (8) Pico del Aguila anticline (Milla´n et al., 1994; Poblet and Hardy, 1995; Novoa et al., 2000; Pueyo et al., 2001); (9) Sierras Exteriores and Riglos (De Paor and Anastasio, 1987; Hogan, 1993; Milla´n et al., 1995; Lloyd et al., 1998); (10) Miranda de Ebro Basin piggy back basin (Riba, 1989); (11) Sant Llorenc˛ del Munt and Montserrat (Lo´pezBlanco, 2001); (12) Beceite (Burbank et al., 1996; Lawton et al., 1999); (13) Montalba´n basin (Barrier et al., 2001); (14) Almaza´n basin (Casas et al., 2001); (15) Cameros (Jurado and Riba, 1996; Mun˜oz-Jime´nez and Casas-Sainz, 1997).
a well-exposed field example on the northern flank of the Montalba´n Basin (Fig. 5). The next three papers detail the analysis of poorly preserved growth strata, examining the tectonically driven changes of their sedimentological characteristics. Ramos et al. (2001) interpret the interplay between longitudinal rivers and transverse alluvial fans on top of a growing piggy-back syncline, the Ripoll syncline in the eastern Pyrenees (Fig. 5). Lo´pezBlanco (2001) outlines the tectono – sedimentary history of the simultaneous Montserrat and Sant Llorenc˛ del Munt fan-deltas attached to the Catalan Coastal Ranges in the SE margin of the Ebro Basin (Fig. 5). Drzewiecki and Simo´ (2001) investigate the signal of long-term tectonic activity using the sedimentological
characteristics of Cretaceous growth strata deposited in the hanging wall of a major normal fault in the south of the Pyrenees (Fig. 5). Finally, Pueyo et al. (this volume) study the wellcalibrated Arguı´s growth syncline to resolve its magnetotectonic evolution. This paper presents a detailed calculation of the amount, chronology, and magnitude of tectonic rotations of this southern Pyrenean example during some 3.5 Ma. (Fig. 5). The frequent occurrence of spectacular growth strata outcrops in the Ebro Basin and surroundings, some of them discussed in this special issue, is a consequence of its unique tectono-sedimentary and tectono-morphologic evolution during the last 50 Ma, particularly since middle – late Eocene time.
6
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
3. Ebro Basin evolution and growth strata preservation The southern side of the Pyrenees represents an interesting area to study growth strata because their good preservation and 3-D outcrop quality. Outcrops of growth strata were first noticed by geologists traversing the mountain chain in the 1930s (Ashauer, 1934; Birot, 1937). The first modern study of growth strata was done in the Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys area (Riba, 1973, 1976). The fairly continuous outcrops of the southern side of the Pyrenees permitted large-scale basin studies with particular emphasis on the relationships between tectonics and sedimentation during the 1970s and 1980s (Riba, 1973, 1989; Nijman and Nio, 1975; Puigdefa`bregas, 1975; Anado´n et al., 1986). The development and subsequent preservation of growth strata along the margins of the Ebro Basin is because the nature of its long-term geodynamic evolution, primarily controlled by the Pyrenean orogenic wedge to the north (e.g., Mun˜oz, 1992; Puigdefa`bregas et al., 1992; Beaumont et al., 2000) (Fig. 5). The Pyrenean evolution started at the end of the Late Cretaceous, and was composed of three primary stages: (a) an early foreland basin stage; (b) an intermediate intermontane basin stage; and (c) a final inactive basin in which erosion was the main surficial process. The special syn- and post-compressive conditions that favoured the preservation of the syntectonic deposits from the beginning of the foreland basin formation can be summarized as follows. Deformation on the southern side of the Pyrenees produced relatively large thrust sheets on top of de´collement levels, above which folding and thrusting took place in a broadly distributed form (single tectonic structures were active for short periods of time). Shortening rates were also relatively modest, varying from 4 mm/year during the early stages of compression to 2.5 mm/year during the final stages of compression when most of the growth strata formed (Verge´s et al., 1995). Distributed deformation, combined with relatively low rates of tectonic transport, prevented growth strata from being destroyed during shortening. The rates of vertical motion on particular tectonic structures were similar to the rates of growth
strata accumulation and specifically during the intermontane evolution of the Ebro Basin as observed in Fig. 6. Equivalent rates of vertical motion and sediment accumulation emphasized the growth strata geometries. After the cessation of compression, the Ebro Basin was characterised by a long period of quiescence during which the basin was slowly infilled and growth strata were buried and preserved from erosion (e.g., Coney et al., 1996). The final stage of the Ebro Basin evolution, still active at present, was characterised by denudation and river incision which shaped the present outcrops. The onset of denudation took place during the opening of the buried Ebro Basin to the Mediterranean Sea. This opening affected different parts of the Ebro Basin, particularly its NE region, since the early Miocene. Local topographic relief along the inactive thrust fronts of the Pyrenees and Catalan Coastal Ranges range is more than 1200 m (Lewis et al., 2000). The widely distributed deformation and the approximately equivalent rates of tectonic uplift and growth strata accumulation have therefore persisted for about 31 Ma during the marine foreland basin (57 – 37 Ma) and continental intermontane basin stages (37 – 25 Ma). These growth stages were fol-
Fig. 6. Plot showing rates of vertical crestal uplift vs. rates of growth strata accumulation of Pyrenean selected examples.
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
lowed by a post-growth stage during which burial and backfilling in the centre of the Ebro Basin existed during tectonic quiescence lasting from about 25 to 9 Ma in the centre of the basin. Denudation and river incision was active in the eastern part of the Ebro Basin since approximately 25 Ma (Verge´s et al., 1998; Lewis et al., 2000).
4. Future work We outline four possible lines of future work on growth strata analysis: (1) integration of different scales of work and different techniques of study (field work and analysis of 3-D multichannel seismic profiles); (2) to search for examples that exhibit both high and low rates of tectonic uplift with respect to growth strata accumulation, improving the use of tectonosedimentary and morphotectonic techniques (see Lo´pezBlanco and Marzo, in press); (3) integration of numerical and analogue models with field data (to investigate the bi-directional interactions of tectonics and sedimentation, and tectonics and landscape evolution); and (4) to better constrain the timing of wellstudied examples of growth strata in order to advance the understanding of processes governing the interaction between tectonics and sedimentation.
Acknowledgements Constructive reviews from R. Steel and P. Hogan improved the manuscript. This work was carried out in the frame of projects DGSIC PB97-0882-CO-03, 1999 SGR 00208 and 1999 SGR-00064, funded by the Comissionat per Universitats i Recerca of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Grups de Recerca Consolidats, II Pla de Recerca de Catalunya. References Anado´n, P., Cabrera, L., Colombo, F., Marzo, M., Riba, O., 1986. Syntectonic intraformational unconformities in alluvial fan deposits, eastern Ebro Basin margins (NE Spain). In: Allen, P.A., Homewood, P. (Eds.), Foreland Basins. International Association of Sedimentologists Special Publication, vol. 8. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 259 – 271. Anastasio, D.J., Erslev, E.A., Fisher, D.M. (Eds.), 1997. Fault-Re-
7
lated Folding. Journal of Structural Geology, Special Issue, vol. 19 (3 – 4), v – vi. Artoni, A., Meckel III, L.D., 1998. History and deformation rates of a thrust sheet top basin: the Barreˆme basin, western Alps, SE France. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publication, vol. 134. Geological Society, London, pp. 213 – 237. Ashauer, H., 1934. La terminacio´n oriental de los Pirineos. Traducc. espan˜ola por J.M. RI´OS en: Publ. Alem. Geol. Esp., 2, 236 – 336. Barrier, L., Naplas, T., Gapais, D., Proust, J.N., Casas, A., Bourquin, S., 2001. Influence of syntectonic sedimentation on thrust geometry. Field examples from the Iberian Chain (Spain) and analogue modelling. Sedimentary Geology 146, 91 – 104. Beaumont, C., Mun˜oz, J.A., Hamilton, J., Fullsack, P., 2000. Factors controlling the Alpine evolution of the central Pyrenees inferred from a comparison of observations and geodynamical models. Journal of Geophysical Research 105 (B4), 8121 – 8145. Birot, P., 1937. Recherches sur la morphologie des Pyre´ne´es Orientales franco-espagnoles, The`se Univ. Paris (Baillie`re et Fils, Ed. Paris), 311 pp. Burbank, D.W., Verge´s, J., 1994. Reconstruction of topography and related depositional systems during active thrusting. Journal of Geophysical Research 99, 20281 – 20297. Burbank, D.W., Verge´s, J., Mun˜oz, J.A., Bentham, P.A., 1992. Coeval hindward- and forward-imbricating thrusting in the central southern Pyrenees: timing and rates of shortening and deposition. Geological Society of America Bulletin 104 (1), 1 – 18. Burbank, D., Meigs, A., Brozovic, N., 1996. Interactions of growing folds and coeval depositional systems. Basin Research 8 (3), 199 – 224. Butler, R.W.H., Lickorish, W.H., 1997. Using high-resolution stratigraphy to date fold and thrust activity: examples from the Neogene of south-central Sicily. Journal of the Geological Society (London) 154, 633 – 643. Casas, A.M., Corte´s, A.L., Maestro, A., 2001. Sequential limb rotation and kink-band migration recorded by growth strata, Almaza´n Basin, North Spain. Sedimentary Geology 146, 25 – 45. Coney, P.J., Mun˜oz, J.A., McClay, K.R., Evenchick, C.A., 1996. Syntectonic burial and post-tectonic exhumation of the southern Pyrenees foreland fold-thrust belt. Journal of the Geological Society (London) 153, 9 – 16. DeCelles, P.G., 1992. A field test of foreland-basin models in the overfilled, nonmarine part of the Jurassic – Cretaceous Cordilleran foreland basin, central Wyoming. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Progress with Abstract, 24. De Paor, D.G., Anastasio, D.J., 1987. The Spanish External Sierra: a case history in the advance and retreat of mountains. National Geographic Research 3, 199 – 209. Drzewiecki, P., Simo´, T., 2001. Depositional processes, triggering mechanisms, and sediment composition of carbonate gravity flow deposits: examples from the Late Cretaceous of the South – Central Pyrenees, Spain. Sedimentary Geology 146, 155 – 189. Ford, M., Williams, E.A., Artoni, A., Verge´s, J., Hardy, S., 1997.
8
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9
Progressive evolution of a fault-related fold pair from growth strata geometries, Sant Llorenc˛ de Morunys, SE Pyrenees. Journal of Structural Geology, Special Issue on Fault-Related Folding 19 (3 – 4), 413 – 441. Gawthorpe, R., Hardy, S., 2001. Extensional fault-propagation folding and base-level change as controls on growth strata geometries. Sedimentary Geology 146, 47 – 56. Gawthorpe, R.L., Sharp, I., Underhill, J.R., Gupta, S., 1997. Linked sequence stratigraphic and structural evolution of propagating normal faults. Geology 25 (9), 795 – 798. Hardy, S., McClay, K., 1999. Kinematic modelling of extensional fault-progration folding. Journal of Structural Geology 21, 695 – 702. Hogan, P.J., 1993. Geochronologic, tectonic, and stratigraphic evolution of the southwest Pyrenean foreland basin, northern Spain. PhD Thesis, University of Southern California, 220 pp. Holl, J.E., Anastasio, D.J., 1993. Paleomagnetically derived folding rates, Southern Pyrenees, Spain. Geology 21 (3), 271 – 274. Hummon, C., et al., 1994. Wilshire fault: earthquakes in Hollywood? Geology 22, 291 – 294. Jordan, T.E., Flemings, P.B., Beers, J.A., 1988. Dating thrust-fault activity by use of foreland-basin strata. In: Kleinspehn, K.L., Paola, C. (Eds.), New Perspectives in Basin Analysis. SpringerVerlag, New York, pp. 307 – 330. Jurado, M.J., Riba, O., 1996. The Rioja Area (Westernmost Ebro Basin): a Ramp Valley with neighbouring piggybacks. In: Friend, P.F., Dabrio, C.J. (Eds.), Tertiary Basins of Spain the Stratigraphic Record of Crustal Kinematics. World and Regional Geology. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 173 – 179. Lawton, T.F., Roca, E., Guimera`, J., 1999. Kinematic-stratigraphic evolution of a growth syncline and its implications for tectonic development of the proximal foreland basin, southeastern Ebro basin, Catalunya, Spain. Geological Society of America Bulletin 111 (3), 412 – 431. Lewis, C.J., Verge´s, J., Marzo, M., 2000. High mountains in a zone of extended crust: insights into the Neogene-Quaternary topographic development of northeastern Iberia. Tectonics 19 (1), 86 – 102. Lickorish, W.H., Ford, M., 1998. Sequential restoration of the external Alpine Digne thrust system, SE France, constrained by kinematic data and synorogenic sediments. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publication, vol. 134. Geological Society, London, pp. 189 – 211. Lloyd, M.J., Nichols, G.J., Friend, P.F., 1998. Oligo – Miocene alluvial-fan evolution at the southern Pyrenean thrust front, Spain. Journal of Sedimentary Research 68 (5), 869 – 878. Lo´pez-Blanco, M., this volume. Sedimentary response to thrusting and fold growing on the SE margin of the Ebro basin (Paleogene, NE Spain). Sedimentary Geology. Lo´pez-Blanco, M., Marzo, M., in press. Low-amplitude, synsedimentary folding of a deltaic complex: detection, timing, rates, and sedimentologic implications (lower Eocene Roda Sandstone, South-Pyrenean foreland basin). Masaferro, J.L., Poblet, J., Blunes, M., Eberli, G.P., 2001. Episodic
folding inferred from syntectonic carbonate sedimentation: the Santaren anticline, Bahamas foreland. In: Marzo, M., Mun˜oz, J.A., Verge´s, J. (Eds.), Sedimentary Geology 146, 11 – 24. Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), 1998. Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, vol. 134. Geological Society, London, 427 pp. Medwedeff, D.A., 1989. Growth fault-bend folding at southeast Lost Hills, San Joaquin Valley, California. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 73 (1), 54 – 67. Milla´n, H., Aurell, M., Mele´ndez, A., 1994. Synchronous detachment folds and coeval sedimentation in the Prepyrenean External Sierras (Spain): a case study for a tectonic origin of sequences and systems tracts. Sedimentology 41 (5), 1001 – 1024. Milla´n, H., Pocovı´, J., Casas, A.M., 1995. El frente de cabalgamiento surpirenaico en el extremo occidental de las Sierras Exteriores. Revista Sociedad Geolo´gica Espan˜a 8 (1 – 2), 73 – 90. Mount, V.S., Suppe, J., Hook, S.C., 1990. A forward modeling strategy for balancing cross-sections. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 74 (5), 521 – 531. Mun˜ oz, J.A., 1992. Evolution of a continental collision belt: ECORS-Pyrenees crustal balanced section. In: McClay, K.R. (Ed.), Thrust Tectonics. Chapman & Hall, London, pp. 235 – 246. Mun˜oz-Jime´nez, A., Casas-Sainz, A.M., 1997. The Rioja Trough (N Spain): tectonosedimentary evolution of a symmetric foreland basin. Basin Research 9 (1), 65 – 85. Nijman, W., 1998. Cyclicity and basin axis shift in a piggyback basin: towards modelling of the Eocene Tremp – Ager Basin, South Pyrenees, Spain. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publications, London, pp. 135 – 162. Nijman, W., Nio, S.D., 1975. The Eocene Montan˜ana delta (Tremp – Graus Basin, provinces of Le´rida and Huesca, Southern Pyrenees, N. Spain). 9th International Sedimentological Congress, International Association of Sedimentologists, Nice, Excursion Guidebook, 19, part B, 1 – 18. Novoa, E., Suppe, J., Shaw, J.H., 2000. Inclined-shear restoration of growth folds. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 84 (6), 787 – 804. Poblet, J., Hardy, S., 1995. Reverse modelling of detachment folds: application to the Pico de Aguila anticline in the South Central Pyrenees (Spain). Journal of Structural Geology 17 (12), 1707 – 1724. Poblet, J., Mun˜oz, J.A., Trave´, A., Serra-Kiel, J., 1998. Quantifying the kinematics of detachment folds using three-dimensional geometry: application to the Mediano anticline (Pyrenees, Spain). Geological Society of America Bulletin 110 (1), 111 – 125. Pueyo, E.L., Milla´n, H., Pocovı´, A., 2001. Rotation velocity of a thrust: a magnetotectonic study in the Pico del Aquila anticlina (southern Pyrenees, Spain). Sedimentary Geology 146, 191 – 208. Puigdefa`bregas, C., 1975. La sedimentacio´n mola´sica de la cuenca de Jaca. Pirineos 104, 1 – 118. Puigdefa`bregas, C., Mun˜oz, J.A., Marzo, M., 1986. Thrust belt
J. Verge´s et al. / Sedimentary Geology 146 (2002) 1–9 development in the Eastern Pyrenees and related depositional sequences in the southern foreland basin. In: Allen, P.A., Homewood, P. (Eds.), Foreland Basins Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 229 – 246. Puigdefa`bregas, C., Mun˜oz, J.A., Verge´s, J., 1992. Thrusting and foreland basin evolution in the Southern Pyrenees. In: McClay, K.R. (Ed.), Thrust Tectonics. Chapman & Hall, Suffolk, pp. 247 – 254. Rafini, S., Mercier, E., 2001. Forward modelling of foreland basins progressive unconformities. Sedimentary Geology 146, 75 – 89. Ramos, E., Busquets, P. and Verge´s, J., 2001. Interplay between longitudinal fluvial and transverse alluvial fan systems and growing thrusts in a piggyback basin (SE Pyrenees). Sedimentary Geology 146, 105 – 131. Riba, O., 1973. Las discordancias sintecto´nicas del Alto Cardener (Prepirineo catala´n), ensayo de interpretacio´n evolutiva. Acta Geo`logica Hispa`nica 8 (3), 90 – 99. Riba, O., 1976. Syntectonic unconformities of the Alto Cardener, Spanish Pyrenees: a genetic interpretation. Sedimentary Geology 15, 213 – 233. Riba, O., 1989. Las discordancias sintecto´nicas como elementos de ana´lisis de cuenca. Sedimentologia. Concejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientı´ficas, Madrid, pp. 489 – 522. Salvini, F., Storti, F., 2001. Three-dimensional architecture of growth strata associated to fault-bend, fault-propagation, and de´collement anticlines in non-erosional environments. Sedimentary Geology 146, 57 – 73. Schneider, C.L., Hummon, C., Yeats, R.S., Huftile, G.L., 1996. Structural evolution of the northern Los Angeles basin, California, based on growth strata. Tectonics 15 (2), 341 – 355. Sharp, I.R., Gawthorpe, R.L., Underhill, J.R., Gupta, S., 2000. Fault-propagation folding in extensional settings: examples of structural style and synrift sedimentary response from the Suez rift, Sinai, Egypt. Geological Society of America Bulletin 112 (12), 1877 – 1899.
9
Shaw, J.H., Suppe, J., 1994. Active faulting and growth folding in the eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 106, 607 – 626. Souter, B.J., Hager, B.H., 1997. Fault propagation fold growth during the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake? Journal of Geophysical Research 102, 11931 – 11942. Suppe, J., Chou, G.T., Hook, S.C., 1992. Rates of folding and faulting determined from growth strata. In: McClay, K.R. (Ed.), Thrust Tectonics. Chapman & Hall, Suffolk, pp. 105 – 121. Suppe, J., et al., 1997. Bed-by-bed fold growth by kink-band migration: Sant Llorenc¸ de Morunys, eastern Pyrenees. Journal of Structural Geology 19 (3 – 4), 443 – 461. Verge´s, J., et al., 1995. Eastern Pyrenees and related foreland basins: pre-, syn- and post-collisional crustal-scale cross-sections. In Cloetingh, Durand, Puigdefa`bregas, (Eds.), Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 12 (8), 903 – 916. Verge´s, J., Burbank, D.W., Meigs, A., 1996. Unfolding: an inverse approach to fold kinematics. Geology 24 (2), 175 – 178. Verge´s, J., et al., 1998. Quantified vertical motions and tectonic evolution of the SE Pyrenean foreland basin. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publications, London, pp. 107 – 134. Williams, E.A., Ford, M., Verge´s, J., Artoni, A., 1998. Alluvial gravel sedimentation in a contractional growth fold setting, Sant Llorenc¸ de Morunys, southeastern Pyrenees. In: Mascle, A., Puigdefa`bregas, C., Luterbacher, H.P., Ferna`ndez, M. (Eds.), Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe. Geological Society Special Publications, London, pp. 69 – 106. Zapata, T., Allmendinger, R.W., 1996. Growth stratal records of instantaneous and progressive limb rotation in the Precordillera thrust belt and Bermejo basin, Argentina. Tectonics 15, 1065 – 1083. Zoetemeijer, R., Sassi, W., Roure, F., Cloetingh, S., 1992. Stratigraphic and kinematic modeling of thrust evolution, northern Apennines, Italy. Geology 20, 1035 – 1038.