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Basin Research. 2022;00:1–41.
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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bre
Received: 12 April 2022
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Revised: 4 August 2022
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Accepted: 10 August 2022
DOI: 10.1111/bre.12713
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Salt tectonics vs. inversion tectonics: The anticlines of
the western Maestrazgo revisited (eastern Iberian Chain,
Spain)
Carlos L.Liesa
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Antonio M.Casas- Sainz
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MarcosAurell
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José L.Simón
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Ana R.Soria
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original work is properly cited.
© 2022 The Authors. Basin Research published by International Association of Sedimentologists and European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers and John Wiley
& Sons Ltd.
Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra-
Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales
(IUCA), Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza,
Spain
Correspondence
Carlos L. Liesa, Departamento de
Ciencias de la Tierra- Instituto de
Ciencias Ambientales (IUCA), Facultad
de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza,
Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009,
Spain.
Email: carluis@unizar.es
Funding information
Agencia Estatal de Investigación,
Grant/Award Number:
AEI/10.13039/501100011033; Gobierno
de Aragón, Grant/Award Number:
LMP127_18 and E32_20R; Ministerio
de Ciencia e Innovación, Grant/Award
Number: PID2019- 108705- GB- I00,
PID2019- 108753GB- C22 and CGL2017-
85038- P
Abstract
Many works in the last decades underline the role of evaporites, not just as a con-
ditioning 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 intra-
plate Maestrazgo basin (eastern Iberian Chain, Spain) in which evidence to sup-
port 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 distribu-
tion 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 tecton-
ics 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 inter-
layered detachments in the structuring of sedimentary basins and their inversion
is also pondered. The observations in the eastern Iberian Chain reported here
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LIESA et al.
1
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INTRODUCTION
There is a general consensus that the western
Mediterranean alpine chains formed primarily in re-
sponse to the compression generated by the collision be-
tween the European and African plates in the Cenozoic
and were the result of inversion and deformation of
Mesozoic rift basins that developed in relation to the
fragmentation of Pangea (Ziegler,1987). These inverted
basins were developed at plate margins (Pyrenean and
Betic basins) or within the plates (Atlasic and Maestrazgo
basins). The importance of the Triassic evaporites as the
principal detachment layer for the Mesozoic extensional
rifting processes and the Cenozoic thrusts has since long
been recognized for these chains (e.g. Álvaro et al.,1979;
Cámara & Klimowitz, 1985; Guimerà, 1984; Salas &
Casas,1993; Séguret,1972). These evaporitic units were
responsible for the development of local diapirs and salt
walls, especially in the western Pyrenees, in its junction
with the Basque- Cantabrian basin (Quintà et al.,2012),
and in the Atlas (Saura et al.,2014; Teixell et al.,2017),
and forming salt sheets and nappes in the Betics (Flinch
& Soto,2017).
These western Mediterranean alpine chains are
being investigated revisiting the role of salt tectonics
(e.g. Granado et al., 2018; Labaume & Teixell, 2020;
López- Mir et al.,2015; Saura et al.,2014, 2016; Vergés
et al.,2017, 2020) because evaporite deposition, though
discontinuous, took place in the western Tethys basins
from the Permian to the Early Jurassic, especially during
the Triassic (Soto et al.,2017; Ziegler,1990). As in other
regions, these new studies have revealed details about
the mechanical control that the depositional configu-
ration of salt exerts on extensional and contractional
deformation, especially in the evolution of individ-
ual thrust systems (e.g. Burrel & Teixell,2021; Hudec
et al.,2021; Jackson et al.,1994, and references therein).
In some works, salt tectonics sometimes challenges
crustal tectonism associated with extension and inver-
sion/contraction stages as the main driving mechanism
of sedimentary basin formation and inversion, thus sub-
stituting horizontal tectonics with vertical mass move-
ments. Salt tectonics phenomena have been interpreted
to explain the formation of thrusts, unconformities
and growth strata that had been previously attributed
to extensional and subsequent compressional tecton-
ics. As a result, some sedimentary basins traditionally
regarded as formed by normal faulting are being alter-
natively explained as minibasins controlled by salt mi-
gration (Jackson & Hudec, 2017). It is true that both
end- member evolutionary models are not completely
opposite to each other and can interact indeed; for ex-
ample activation of extensional faults is able to trigger
gravitational instability leading to diapirism (Jackson &
Vendeville,1994; Koyi,1996; Koyi et al.,1993; Nalpas &
Brun,1993).
To which extent are salt tectonics and extensional
tectonics exclusive of one another or rather co- existing
mechanisms able to explain basin evolution? The east-
ern Iberian Chain is one of many examples in the west-
ern Mediterranean in which salt tectonics has been
applied to explain the origin of pre- compressional sedi-
mentary basins and their subsequent evolution (Vergés
et al.,2020). This mountain belt contains certain struc-
tural features that at first glance fit with the defini-
tion of a ‘diapiric province’: (i) numerous outcrops of
Triassic rocks containing evaporites (mainly gypsum,
Ortí et al., 2017, 2020) and sub- surface data docu-
menting salt (Lanaja,1987), (ii) complex folding direc-
tions interfering with the regional contractive trends
have implications to assess ongoing reinterpretations in terms of salt tectonics in
other alpine basins and ranges of the western Mediterranean.
KEYWORDS
basin evolution, driving mechanism, extensional tectonics, Iberia, salt tectonics, tectono–
sedimentary relationships
Highlights
• Mesozoic normal faults nucleated NW- SE to
N- S trending anticlines during the Cenozoic
contraction.
• Thickness changes of Lower Cretaceous units
are related to the activity of NNW- SSE normal
faults.
• Regional information and geometry of drag
folds suggest fold kinematics not compatible
with salt extrusion.
• We question the diapiric origin of anticlines
and the role of salt in the formation of the
Maestrazgo basin.
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LIESA et al.
(Simón, 2004, 2005), (iii) box- fold geometries (Liesa
et al.,2018; Simón, Arenas, et al.,1998), (iv) ‘welding’
of stratigraphical units (Vergés et al.,2020), (v) vary-
ing thickness of units associated with faulted anticlines
(Liesa et al., 2004, 2018; Vergés et al., 2020), (vi) in-
terruptions in sedimentation during successive basin
stages reflected by either paraconformities or angular
unconformities (Álvaro et al.,1979; Aurell et al.,2003;
Capote et al., 2002; Liesa, Soria, Casas, et al., 2019),
among others.
Recently, Vergés et al.(2020) provided an alternative
explanation for relatively well- known anticlines in the
eastern Iberian Chain with complex box geometries, stat-
ing that they were almost controlled by salt tectonics, es-
pecially during their Jurassic and Cretaceous evolution.
Conversely, previous works provided arguments sup-
porting the interpretation of these and similar structures
in the region as originated during Mesozoic extensional
rifting, being subsequently inverted during the Alpine
compression (e.g. Álvaro et al.,1979; Aurell et al., 2016,
2019; Casas et al.,2000; Cortés et al.,1999; Guimerà,1988,
2018; Liesa et al.,2004, 2018; Liesa & Simón,2004; Simón,
Arenas, et al.,1998; Simón & Liesa,2011; Simón- Porcar
et al.,2019).
The aim of this work is to review the inversion
model proposed for the eastern Iberian Chain, in
particular for the Maestrazgo Mesozoic basin, and
confront it with the salt model. In order to focus the
discussion as much as possible, the two anticlines pro-
posed by Vergés et al.(2020) as keystones for their in-
terpretation, the NW- SE to NNW– SSE striking Cañada
Vellida and Miravete box- folds are studied in detail.
Special attention is put on key features invoked for
supporting diapirism, such as (1) thickness and facies
variations and unconformities shown by the Jurassic
and Lower Cretaceous sequences in relation to anti-
clines, (2) flaps and related onlaps and hook geome-
tries, (3) thickness and facies of the Triassic evaporite
succession and (4) welding structures. Compilation
of previous observations, together with new data and
interpretations, have been the way to propose a spe-
cific tectono- sedimentary evolutionary model for these
structures, which clearly exemplifies and refines the
previously well- established model of inversion tecton-
ics in the Iberian Chain. Analysing the same structures
(and outcrops) under two different viewpoints allows
offering a critical review of the arguments supporting
the salt vs inversion tectonic hypotheses. Other re-
gional information, such as the varying thickness of
the salt- bearing and overlying sedimentary sequences
has been included to enrich the discussion about the
role played by salt tectonics in both the basinal and
contractional stages in the eastern Iberian Chain.
2
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GEOLOGICAL SETTING
2.1
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The Mesozoic and Cenozoic
tectono- sedimentary evolution of the
Iberian Chain
The NW- SE- trending Iberian Chain is an intraplate al-
pine mountain range, oblique to the northern (Pyrenean)
and southern (Betic) active margins of the Iberian
Plate (Figure1a). It is a double- vergence, fold- and-
thrust belt that resulted from positive inversion of the
Mesozoic Iberian Basin mainly from late Eocene to early
Miocene times (Álvaro et al., 1979; Capote et al., 2002;
Guimerà, 2018; Liesa et al., 2018; Salas & Casas, 1993;
among others). It shows a moderate total deformation,
with scarce magmatism, metamorphism and alpine folia-
tion (Álvaro et al.,1979; Julivert,1978).
After the episode of late- Variscan strike- slip frac-
turing postdating the Variscan orogeny (e.g. Aldega
et al.,2019; Álvaro et al.,1979; Arthaud & Matte, 1977),
the Mesozoic evolution of eastern Iberian has been linked
with the breakup of Pangea, the opening of the Central
and North Atlantic and the westward expansion of the
Tethys (Capote et al.,2002; Liesa, Soria, Casas, et al.,2019;
Peace et al.,2019; Salas & Casas,1993; Salas et al.,2001;
Soto et al.,2019). As indicated by subsidence analysis (e.g.
Salas & Casas,1993), Mesozoic subsidence was governed
by two stages of rifting (Late Permian– Hettangian and
Kimmeridgian– middle Albian), each followed by post-
rifting stages of relative tectonic quiescence (Sinemurian–
Oxfordian and late Albian– Campanian, respectively).
The Triassic of the Iberian Chain shows germanic-
type Triassic facies (i.e. Buntsandstein, Muschelkalk and
Keuper facies). During the Early Triassic rifting stage, sed-
imentation was mostly terrestrial, and the Buntsandstein
synrift succession shows abrupt changes in thickness,
from 0 to more than 1000 m (De Vicente et al., 2009;
García- Lasanta et al.,2015 and references therein). This
stage is characterized by thick- skin extensional tectonics
associated with the reactivation of previous Variscan con-
tractional structures. Geometries associated with rifting
are relatively simple: half- grabens dominating in some
areas, probably associated with deep detachments in the
Silurian shales (Marcén et al.,2018), and full grabens in
others, constrained by planar marginal faults on their
conjugate structures (Arche et al.,2007; García- Lasanta
et al.,2015; López- Gómez et al.,2019; Sopeña et al.,1988).
During the Middle and Late Triassic, rifting slowed
down and changes in the thickness of the Muschelkalk
and Keuper facies were less significant. Sedimentation
took place in coastal to shallow platform environments,
recording successive transgressive– regressive cycles,
with alternation of shallow marine carbonates and
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LIESA et al.
mudstone- dominate successions (e.g. López Gómez
et al.,1998, 2002; Meléndez et al.,1995). The successions
include sandstones, representing sedimentation in fluvial
and alluvial environments, and dolostones and evaporites
deposited in coastal plains (Ortí et al.,2017). The evapo-
rites are mainly gypsum/anhydrite and, to a lesser extent,
FIGURE Geological map of the Iberian Chain (a) and detail of the northwestern Mesozoic Maestrazgo basin (b). The three- digit
numbers and crosses in figure b in red indicate the number of sheet 1:50,000 of the National Geological Map and its limits, respectively.
Two- digit numbers indicate the 1:200,000 Geological Map sheet.
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LIESA et al.
halite (Lanaja,1987). In most of the central Iberian Chain,
the two main muddy- evaporitic successions (i.e. Middle
Muschelkalk and Keuper facies) are up to 200 m thick
each. The Middle and Upper Triassic successions thin to-
wards the western and southern margins of the Iberian
basin, progressively lapping onto the Palaeozoic Iberian
Massif (López Gómez et al.,2002; Meléndez et al.,1995).
Around the Triassic– Jurassic transition, intensification
of extensional tectonics favoured the localized deposi-
tion (up to 200 m) of alternating peritidal limestones and
evaporites (Aurell et al.,2007; Ortí et al.,2017, 2020; San
Román & Aurell, 1992) or evaporite- dominated units,
especially in the area situated close to the boundary
with the Cenozoic Ebro basin (Lecera Fm; Bordonaba &
Aurell, 2002). Diagenetic dissolution of evaporites con-
tributed to the development of carbonate breccia in most
parts of the region (San Román & Aurell,1992).
During most of the Jurassic, the post- rifting thermal
cooling stage resulted in the formation of a large, shallow
marine gulf located in the tropical fringe (20– 25°N). An
up to a 900- m- thick succession of shallow carbonate plat-
form limestones and marls was deposited, progressively
diminishing in thickness with the eventual onlap onto the
Iberian basement in the westernmost parts of the basin
(e.g. Aurell et al.,2003). The Jurassic sequence recorded
successive long- term transgressive– regressive stages that
nearly fit the Early, Middle and Late Jurassic epochs. The
Lower Jurassic sequence forms a relatively thick and ho-
mogeneous succession with the open marine areas located
to the north. The Middle Jurassic involved a major restruc-
turing of the platform, with the formation of local uplifted
and subsident areas in the central part of the basin. The
Upper Jurassic platforms were open to the south and re-
ceived significant, but local, siliciclastic inputs (e.g. Aurell,
Bádenas, et al.,2019; Aurell et al.,2003; Aurell, Fregenal-
Martínez, et al.,2019; Gómez & Fernández- López,2006;
Gómez & Goy,2005).
The sedimentary sequence deposited during the first
rifting– post- rifting stages provided a particular mechani-
cal stratigraphy, with a relatively thick weak- level (Middle
Muschelkalk and/or Keuper) overlain by a cover of com-
petent Jurassic rocks whose thickness can be more than
twice that of the detachment. This rheological frame inter-
acted with a complex pattern of basement normal faulting
during the latest Jurassic– Early Cretaceous rifting stage.
During this second rifting stage, two extension directions,
NE– SW (Iberian) and NW- SE (Tethysian, García- Lasanta
et al., 2016; Liesa, 2011a), acted on the already existing
fault pattern (NW- SE to N- S and NE– SW to E- W, Antolín-
Tomás et al.,2007; Liesa,2000, 2011a; Liesa et al.,2004;
Liesa, Soria, Casas, et al.,2019) in different parts of the
basin, thus conforming a complex pattern of horsts, gra-
bens and halfgrabens. Two opposed factors combined to
finally produce a variety of extensional basin geometries:
(i) the existence of a detachment (<10km deep in most
of the basinal domain) within the basement favoured the
formation of large listric faults, whereas (ii) the existence
of the Triassic shallow detachment level contributed to
the development of smaller- scale fault systems (see, e.g.
Rodríguez- López et al.,2007; Soto et al.,2007).
The latest Jurassic– Early Cretaceous rifting stage in-
volved the breakup of the Jurassic platforms and the for-
mation of an ensemble of basins (Cameros, Maestrazgo,
Valencia) and subbasins in the compartmentalized Iberian
Basin (Capote et al.,2002; Salas & Casas,1993). Two sets
of nearly perpendicular main faults (trending NW- SE to
NNW– SSE and NE– SW to ENE– WSW, respectively), reac-
tivated or newly formed, and affecting the basement rocks,
determined a complex extensional structure with up to
seven subbasins in the Maestrazgo area (Antolín- Tomás
et al., 2007; Liesa et al., 2004, 2006; Liesa, Soria, Casas,
et al.,2019; Salas et al.,2001; Soria,1997). Differential sub-
sidence driven by normal faults was encompassed by gen-
eral uplift related to doming processes in eastern Iberia,
especially during the Berriasian– Hauterivian (Antolín-
Tomás et al.,2007; Liesa, Soria, Casas, et al.,2019). As a
result, sedimentation was firstly restricted to depocen-
tral areas of sub- basins, dominated by shallow marine to
coastal environments during the latest Jurassic (Aurell,
Bádenas, et al., 2019; Aurell et al., 2016; Liesa, Soria,
Casas, et al.,2019) and mostly terrestrial ones during the
earliest Cretaceous (Aurell, Bádenas, et al.,2019; Aurell
et al.,2016; Meléndez et al.,2009; Soria,1997). Conversely,
the areas between basins and sub- basins experienced fault
block tilting and differential erosion. During the Early
Cretaceous, tectonic subsidence together with high sea
level gave rise to a progressive connection between sub-
basins, and the development of local and regional synrift
(and intrarift) angular unconformities (Liesa, Soria, Casas,
et al., 2019). Sedimentation took place firstly in transi-
tional settings (Navarrete,2015; Navarrete, et al.,2013a,
2013b; Soria,1997) and, then, in shallow marine environ-
ments (Bover- Arnal, 2010; Peropadre, 2012). The Early
Cretaceous synrift stage ended with an increase in exten-
sional activity and sedimentation of coastal mudstones
and sandstones with coal (Salas et al.,2001). The thick-
ness of the synrift series is highly variable between sub-
basins and within each sub- basin (Liesa et al.,2004, 2006;
Navarrete, et al.,2013b; Peropadre,2012; Soria,1997).
During the Albian and the Late Cretaceous, extensional
tectonics practically stopped and eastern Iberia became
dominated by post- rift thermal subsidence. Sedimentation
was extensive on both basin margins and intrabasin highs,
and a regional post- rift unconformity developed along
the Iberian Basin (Álvaro et al.,1979; Capote et al.,2002;
Salas & Casas,1993). The post- rift sequence starts with a
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LIESA et al.
succession (typically <300 m) of sands and shales from
a desert system and coastal plains (Rodríguez- López
et al., 2009) and continues with a thick marine carbon-
ate succession (~400 m), mainly consisting of dolostones,
limestones and marls (Canérot et al.,1982). This sequence,
very uniform in thickness and facies in the central- eastern
Iberian Chain, recorded two transgressive– regressive
cycles.
The scenario of convergence between the Eurasian,
Iberian and African plates mostly during the Paleogene
to Early Miocene resulted in a compressional stage,
producing the inversion of the extensional fault sys-
tems (e.g. Cameros and Maestrazgo), giving rise to the
complex fold and thrust pattern that conforms the in-
traplate Iberian Chain (Figure1a) (Álvaro et al.,1979;
Capote et al., 2002; Guimerà, 2018; Liesa et al., 2018;
Salas & Casas, 1993). Numerous intramountain basins
developed within the chain, bounded by major com-
pressional structures (e.g. Casas et al.,2000; González &
Guimerà,1993) (Figure1). Terrestrial Cenozoic sedimen-
tation includes alluvial fan conglomerates and clays, and
palustrine and lacustrine carbonates. Several tectono-
sedimentary units within the Paleogene- Neogene series
(T1 to T6) have been distinguished based on regional
angular unconformities and their sequential evolution
(Figure2), allowing to establish tectono- sedimentary
relationships and characterize the evolution of compres-
sional structures (González & Guimerà, 1993; Simón,
Arenas, et al.,1998).
The alpine deformation was dominated by the main
NE– SW to NNE– SSW compression during the Paleogene,
related to the oblique convergence between Iberia and
Europe (development of the Pyrenees), and by an NNW–
SSE to N– S compression during the Early Miocene, re-
lated to the Iberia- Africa convergence and the collision
forming the Betics in southern Iberia (Capote et al.,2002;
Liesa,2000). From the dynamic analysis of brittle struc-
tures, a more complex picture has been drawn for the
Iberian Chain, with three successive, partially overlap-
ping regional stress fields (Pyrenean- Iberian, Betic, and
Late Pyrenean), partially superposing over space and time
(Liesa,2000; Liesa & Simón,2007, 2009).
The main Middle Eocene to Late Oligocene NE– SW
compressional stage was responsible for the principal,
NW- SE trending system of folds and thrusts of the Iberian
Chain (Figure1a). Structures turn to nearly E- W direc-
tion in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the
chain (Cameros and eastern Maestrazgo, respectively)
and to NNW– SSE direction in specific areas of the eastern
Iberian Chain (northwestern Maestrazgo) (Figures1 and
2). Particularly, in the eastern part of the chain, the sec-
ond set of buckle folds (and thrusts) trending WSW– ENE
overprints the previous Alpine structures (Liesa, 2000;
Simón, 1980, 2004, 2005; Simón, Arenas, et al., 1998).
This second set of folds and thrusts, developed during
the early Miocene, has an irregular spatial distribution
and is mostly concentrated within narrow bands. Fault
propagation fold geometry dominates, related to the
positive inversion of inherited normal faults (Cortés
et al., 1999; Guimerà & Salas, 1996; Liesa et al., 2004,
2018; Simón, Arenas, et al., 1998). Their detachment
level is either in the Middle– Upper Triassic or, locally, in
the incompetent Lower Cretaceous levels (Simón,2004).
The mechanical stratigraphy favoured the formation of
thin- skinned structures that involved the basement, with
thrusts with displacements of up to 6– 11 km (Capote
et al.,2002; Casas et al.,2000; Guimerà,2018; Guimerà
& Alvaro, 1990; Izquierdo- Llavall et al., 2019; Liesa
et al.,2000, 2018; Nebot & Guimerà,2016b, 2018; Simón
& Liesa,2011).
2.2
|
A review of the Mesozoic
stratigraphy around the study area
The study area, located around the Cañada Vellida and
Miravete anticlines, exposes an almost- complete Mesozoic
series. The thickness of the successive Mesozoic sedimen-
tary sequences is generally homogeneous in the studied
region and around the central- eastern Iberian Chain for
the post- rift Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous sequences, at
least when compared with the Triassic and latest Jurassic–
Lower Cretaceous synrift sequences (Table1). However,
the individual thickness of the different formations may
change laterally much more than the total sedimentary
sequence due to lateral facies changes.
The Triassic succession crops out in the Montalbán
anticline and in Peña Parda, 30 km north and south, re-
spectively, of the studied area (see location in Figures1b
and 2). There, the Buntsandstein facies shows variable
thickness (50– 230 m) and mainly consists of continen-
tal sandstones and lutites (Godoy, Ramírez, Moissenet,
et al.,1983; Ferreiro et al.,1991; Soria et al., 2011). The
Muschelkalk facies crops out 2km southeast of Cañada
Vellida (Corral del Zancado section of A. Meléndez; in
Ferreiro et al.,1991; see location in Figure3 and a field
view in Figure4). This sequence rests on c. 20 m of red
clays and green marls with cm- scale intercalations of do-
lostones (Röt facies) and consists of 20 m of laminated
dolostones and marls, 10– 15 m of mudstones with thin
intercalations of dolostones, silts and sandstones, gyp-
sum appearing as isolated crystals or nodules (Middle
Muschelkalk) and 80– 100 m of tabular dolostones. The
Keuper facies crops out in the core of the Cañada Vellida
and Miravete anticlines (Figures2 and 3) and consist of
a c. 100- m- thick succession of red and green mudstones
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LIESA et al.
with interbedded levels of white, green and black gyp-
sum, brown dolostones and red sandstones. Similar facies
with equivalent thicknesses crop out along the limbs of
the Montalbán anticline, which includes c. 50 m of the
Middle Muschelkalk with the local presence of gypsum
levels, and up to 100– 120 m of clays interbedded with
gypsum of the Keuper facies (Marin, 1974). The upper-
most Triassic peritidal dolostones of the Imón Fm (up to
30 m) crop out discontinuously. It should be noted that
the Triassic evaporite- bearing units may form thick suc-
cessions in the region to the east of the study area, with up
to 600 m for the Keuper in the SE of the chain (Valencia
area; Figure1a; Ortí, 1973, 1974; Ortí et al., 2017). In
the Bovalar- 2 well (central Maestrazgo basin; Figure1b;
Table1), 1200 m of the Middle Muschelkalk were drilled
(Lanaja,1987), although, as discussed later, the structural
location of the borehole does not ensure that this rep-
resents its true stratigraphical thickness.
The eastern limb of the Galve syncline offers a com-
plete exposure to the Jurassic marine succession (Martín
Fernández et al.,1979) (Figures3 and 4, and Table1). The
Lower Jurassic is formed by a ca. 360 m thick succession
of peritidal to shallow marine carbonates, the Middle
Jurassic consists of a 30– 70 m succession dominated by
oolitic limestones, whereas the Upper Jurassic marine
carbonate sequence is ca. 160 m thick (Simón, Arenas,
et al., 1998). In the core of the investigated anticlines,
these Jurassic carbonates are cut by numerous extensional
faults, which explains why it is tectonically thinned and
even omitted in most of the region.
The three units deposited around the Jurassic–
Cretaceous transition (latest Kimmeridgian- lower
Valanginian) consist of mixed carbonate- siliciclastic
successions with strong changes in thickness (Figure4),
controlled by extensional tectonics, and bounded by
regional unconformities (Aurell et al., 2016; Aurell,
FIGURE Geological map of the
western Maestrazgo basin with the
location of the Cañada- Vellida and
Miravete anticlines (see location in
Figure1). The two geological cross-
sections cut key structures associated
with the NE– SW regional shortening
responsible for the main Cenozoic
structuring of the Iberian Chain (modified
from Simón & Liesa,2011).
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TABLE Thickness (in metres) of the Mesozoic sedimentary sequences in and around the studied area from stratigraphic and borehole information
Sedimentary
sequence (units)
Sheets of the National Geological Map Studied area Sheets of the National Geological Map
1:50,000 scale Cañada Vellida Miravete 1:50,000 scale 1:200,000 scale
590
SSW
567
SW 542 W
517
NW 518 N 543 SW GSb
NE
LPSb
WSW
GSb
ENE
Mhigh 568 S 569 SE 544 E 519 NE 40 NW 47 SW 48 E
Upper Cretaceous
(Mo, Bd, Om, LC
and F Fms)
>250 No No 440 >265 449 No 390 No ≈450 >400 ≈450 180 460 420 360– 430 330– 590 400
Albian (utrillas Fm) 40 No No 35– 100 80– 250 150– 180 No 200 No 200– 250 100– 200 60– 110 125 125– 150 50– 150 10– 250 120 150
SRS- 2b, Aptian (Mo,
Ch, Fo, Vp, Be
and E Fms. or
equivalents)
Hiatus No No 170 230– 350 450– 700 >350– 450 280– 380 550– 850 350– 400 370– 460 220– 260 035 280– 300 310– 405 0– 350 550– 630 100– 550
SRS- 2a, Hauterivian-
Barremian (Cas,
Ca and Ar Fms.
or equivalents)
Hiatus 325 520 30– 70 50– 175 390– 425 400– 520 65– 150 650– 1400 400– 700 390– 440 195– 220 0 162 180– 190 301 0– 300 590– 640 250– 900
SRS- 1, Upperm.
Jurassic- lowerm.
Cretac. (Ce, Ag
and Ga Fms, or
eq.)
=300 300 >120 0 - >50 Hiatus 265 200– 300 0– 100 0– 150 0– 100 260– 300 100– 150 658 369 629 616 280 105 0– 100 350 600– 1000
Upper Jurassic (Y,
So, Lo and Hi
Fms.)
245 305 285 230 >220 270 230 220 110– 130 100– 170 >120 >70 112 200 150 160– 220 265 450
Middle Jurassic (Ch
Fm)
145– 160 115 165 70 16 30– 50 50 50 30 30 50 No 52 89 91 No 25 15– 160 60– 150
Lower Jurassic (CL,
RP, C, B and Tu
Fms.)
215 232 165 95 75 160 270 230 125– 200 105 120 No 292 490 286 263 No 55 160– 290 120– 230 ?
Lowermost Jurassic
(Cortes de Tajuña
Fm)
30– 40 80 70– 90 100 150 100 80 80 90 80 50 No 158 156 No 150 73– 150 <145 100
Uppermost Triassic
(Imon Fm)
30– 35 20– 25 20 ? 25 20 20 20 ? ? ? No No ? 25– 35 35– 40 40
Upper Triassic
(Keuper facies)
≈150 0– 100 >100 50– 150 112 >100 ≈200 No No No >100 No 212 261 246 230 No ≈150 100– 200 20– 230 50– 100
Upper Muschelkalk
(M3)
100– 110 100 100 100 60– 70 No 100 No No No >40 No 128 137 163 178 No No 60– 95 120 100– 150
Middle Muschelkalk
(M2)
No 0 0 15 15– 20 No 15 No No No No No 828 624 447 1213 No No 10– 50 50 30
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LIESA et al.
Sedimentary
sequence (units)
Sheets of the National Geological Map Studied area Sheets of the National Geological Map
1:50,000 scale Cañada Vellida Miravete 1:50,000 scale 1:200,000 scale
590
SSW
567
SW 542 W
517
NW 518 N 543 SW GSb
NE
LPSb
WSW
GSb
ENE
Mhigh 568 S 569 SE 544 E 519 NE 40 NW 47 SW 48 E
Lower Muschelkalk
(M1)
No 0 0 20 55 No 20 No No No No No 222 92 No No 0– 50 75 65
Röt facies No ≈20 10 No ≈20 No No No No No >56 20 No No 10– 20 40 10– 20
Lower Triassic
(Buntsandstein
Fm)
No >230 >230 No 50– 150 No No No No No No No 144 No No 20– 250 550– 670 380
Ma- 2 Mi- 1 Bo- 1 Bo- 2
Borehole information
Note: Abbreviations of sedimentary units (first column) as in Figure5. Triassic detachment levels highlighted with purple background. Stratigraphic data compiled from sheets of the National Geological Map at
scales 1:200,000 (Anadón et al.,1985; Ferreiro et al.,1991; Hernández et al.,1985) and 1:50,000 (Canérot, Fernández- Luanco, et al.,1979; Canérot, Pignatelli, et al.,1979; Crespo- Zamorano et al.,1979; Gautier &
Barnolas,1980, 1981; Godoy, Moissenet, Ramírez, et al.,1983; Godoy, Ramírez, Moissenet, et al.,1983; Godoy, Ramírez, Olivé, et al.,1983; Martín- Fernández et al.,1979; Navarro- Vázquez et al.,1981), as well as
from Soria(1997), Vennin and Aurell(2001), Peropadre(2012) and Navarrete(2015). The geographic initials (N, S…) indicate the location of the sheet with respect to the studied area. Borehole information (vertical
thickness), shown with salmon background and italic number, is based on Lanaja(1987). Wells: Bo- 1– Bovalar 1; Bo- 2– Bovalar 2; Ma- 2– Maestrazgo 2; Mi- 1– Mirambel 1. The location of the geological sheets and wells
is shown in Figure1b. Key: (SRU) Syn- rift unit; (no) unit that does not crop out or has been eroded at present; (>) incomplete stratigraphic series normally due to erosion of its upper part; (?) unidentified unit; (GSb)
Galve sub- basin; (LPSb) Las Parras sub- basin; (Mhigh) Maestrazgo high.
TABLE (Continued)
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LIESA et al.
Fregenal- Martínez, et al.,2019). The first unit consists
of a well- bedded mixed succession of limestones, sand-
stones and claystones (Cedrillas Fm). Around Miravete,
its thickness is 20– 30 m, but it reaches 150 m west of
Cañada Vellida, in the Galve syncline (Val et al.,2019).
The second unit is made up of limestones, red lutites
and cross- bedded sandstones (Aguilar del Alfambra Fm)
and can reach more than 300 m around its type local-
ity (Bádenas et al.,2018) and up to 150 m close to the
Miravete village. The third unit is 0– 100 m thick and
consists of red lutites with cross- bedded and tabular-
burrowed sandstones (Galve Fm). These three units are
very reduced in thickness or even absent at the NE limbs
of the Cañada Vellida and Miravete anticlines (Figures3
and 4).
As shown by regional stratigraphic– structural works
(Navarrete,2015; Peropadre,2012; Soria,1997 among oth-
ers), the Lower Cretaceous lies on a well- defined regional
synrift angular unconformity, locally resting on Middle
Jurassic rocks, and shows high variability in thickness in
relation to normal faults. This sequence is totally exposed in
the Cañada Vellida and Miravete fold limbs, having a lower
thickness in the NE (Las Parras subbasin and Maestrazgo
high, respectively) than in the SW limb/block (Galve sub-
basin). Thickness changes are more pronounced in the
Hauterivian- Barremian sequence than in the Aptian se-
quence (Figure4 and Table1). The Hauterivian- Barremian
sequence in the SW (Galve subbasin) is 400– 1400 m thick
and consists of 50– 160 m of red lutites, brown sandstones
and grey lacustrine limestones and marlstones (El Castellar
FIGURE Cañada Vellida anticline (see Figure2 for location). Geological map of the normal fault, anticline and thrust of Cañada
Vellida, which separated two paleogeographical domains during the Late Jurassic– Early Cretaceous rifting stage, the Las Parras and Galve
sub- basins (Liesa et al.,2004, 2006; Liesa, Soria, Casas, et al.,2019; Soria,1997). Numbered lines are cross- sections shown in Figure5.
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LIESA et al.
FIGURE Local stratigraphy in Cañada Vellida area showing the differences in the Upper Jurassic- Lower Cretaceous units of the
Las Parras and Galve sub- basins as a result of the synsedimentary activity of the Cañada Vellida normal fault zone. The thickness of the
sedimentary units is based on stratigraphical sections logged in this area, except for the Buntsandstein facies, which are represented by their
cited in Se average regional thickness. Data from regional works are cited in Section 4.1 and Table1. Insets show a field view of the Middle-
Upper Triassic at the Corral del Zancado section (see location in Figure3 and in cross- sections 4– 4′ of Figure5). SRS1, SRS2a and SRS2b:
Synrift sequences 1, 2a and 2b, respectively (as in Table1).
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LIESA et al.
Fm; Liesa et al.,2006; Meléndez et al., 2009; Soria, 1997),
300– 900 m of red clays and white sandstones (Camarillas
Fm; Navarrete,2015; Soria,1997) and 100– 200 m of oyster-
bearing limestones and marls (Artoles Fm; Ibañez,2014,
2015; Ibañez et al.,2015; Soria, 1997). In the NE limb of
the Miravete anticline, the El Castellar Fm is recorded
only locally (40– 50 m, east of Peña de la Higuera), and
the Camarillas and Artoles formations are 170– 400 and
60– 110 m thick, respectively (Navarrete,2015; own data).
In the NE block of Cañada Vellida, the sedimentary gap is
more important (the El Castellar Fm was not deposited),
and the recorded sequence is much thinner (30– 65 and
20– 40 m for the Camarillas and Artoles formations, respec-
tively; Soria,1997).
The Aptian sequence at the SW block of Cañada Vellida
(Galve subbasin) is 550– 850 m thick (Peropadre, 2012;
Table1) and consists of 100– 110 m of red lutites, white
sandstones and grey limestones (Morella Fm), 100– 115 m
of calcareous sandstones and bioclastic limestones (Chert
Fm), 130– 250 m of marlstones and an intercalated lime-
stone bar (Forcall Fm), 55– 75 m of rudist and coral lime-
stones (Villarroya de los Pinares Fm) and 200– 310 m of
calcarenites, marlstones and limestones (Benasal Fm).
No information is available for the Escucha Fm due to
its subsequent erosion. Similarly, the Aptian sequence in
the NE blocks is much thinner, totalizing up to 280– 400 m
(Peropadre,2012; Vennin & Aurell,2001).
The post- rift Albian- Upper Cretaceous sequences
only crop out in the NE limbs of the Cañada Vellida and
Miravete anticlines (Figures2– 4). The Albian sequence
unconformably rests on the previous sequence and is made
up of 200– 250 m of white sandstones and pale- red and
ochre mudstones (Utrillas Fm). The Upper Cretaceous se-
quence consists of peritidal to shallow marine carbonates
totalizing a 390– 450- m- thick succession (Table1).
3
|
METHODS
The review and argumentation supporting salt tectonics or
inversion tectonics in the eastern Iberian Chain have in-
volved a detailed reconstruction of the evolutionary stages
of the Miravete and Cañada de Vellida anticlines as well
as the analysis and discussion of some other key outcrops
studied by Vergés et al.(2020). The folding model proposed
here is based on stratigraphic and structural data acquired
after extensive fieldwork and geological mapping, comple-
mented by a comprehensive review of published informa-
tion. The research workflow consisted of (1) stratigraphic
characterization of the involved sedimentary sequence;
(2) structural analysis and geological mapping with com-
bined fieldwork and analysis of high- resolution aerial im-
agery (1:5000 scale orthoimages from Instituto Geográfico
Nacional, Iberpix- IGN, and GoogleEarth) along the entire
trace of the studied structures; (3) construction of detailed
cross- sections and 3D outlines of folds and related faults
from field data (unfortunately, seismic data are not avail-
able in the region); (4) measurement and analysis with
Stereonet 8 software (Allmendinger et al., 2012) of fault
planes and kinematic indicators in selected outcrops in
order to understand timing, kinematics and evolution of
faults; (5) analysis of the tectono- sedimentary relationships
of faults and folds with the Mesozoic and Cenozoic strati-
graphic sequences and (6) review and integration of data
sets, that resulted in delineation of updated regional infor-
mation to reconstruct the evolutionary model for the anti-
clines. The data, interpretations and tectono- sedimentary
models proposed here are confronted with the observations,
data set and interpretations exposed by Vergés et al.(2020)
incorporating salt- tectonic concepts. Likewise, the discus-
sion is enriched by incorporating analysis of other relevant
regional information, such as (i) regional thickness varia-
tions of the salt- bearing sedimentary sequences and of the
overlying carbonate units, (ii) mechanical behaviour of the
stratigraphic sequence during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic
tectonic stages and (iii) kinematics and timing of fold inter-
ference structures.
4
|
RESULTS
4.1
|
The Cañada Vellida anticline
4.1.1
|
Description
The NW- SE to NNW- SSE trending Cañada Vellida anti-
cline is more than 14 km long and represents the western
boundary of the Cenozoic Aliaga basin (Figures3 and 5).
In the central part of its trace, the contractive structure is
mainly defined by a tight box anticline that in detail shows
an NE- directed, west- dipping thrust with overturned anti-
cline and syncline in its hanging- wall and footwall blocks,
respectively (cross- sections 2– 2′ and 3– 3′; Figure5). The
present- day topography allows recognizing the thrust, es-
pecially by the occurrence of two hectometre- scale klip-
pes in which overturned Middle and Upper Jurassic strata
lie onto overturned Barremian- Aptian units (Figures6a
and 7). In detail, the thrust is defined by a 1– 2 m wide
fault zone consisting of brown mudstones with embed-
ded boulders of Aptian sandstones and Jurassic brecci-
ated limestones, some of them showing striated facets
(Figure7b). In the core of the anticline, the Jurassic over-
turned beds are cut by hectometre- to kilometre- scale fault
planes, mostly parallel to the fold trend, shallowly dipping
(15– 20°) to the west and showing reverse decametric dis-
placements (cross- section 2– 2′, Figure5).
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LIESA et al.
Regarding the main thrust running along the anti-
cline core, its horizontal displacement increases from
southeast to northwest, from c. 300 m in section 2– 2′,
c. 600 m in section 3– 3′, up to >1100 m in section 4– 4′
(Figure5). In turn, the anticline shape changes from
box- fold geometry to an NE- verging overturned fold.
More to the northwest, the thrust displacement de-
creases again, so that north of the Cañada Vellida lo-
cality the structure represents a narrow, tight, faulted
anticline (Figure3).
FIGURE Detail of the Cañada Vellida structure in its central sector (see Figure3 for location). (a) Geological map of the NW- SE
trending anticline and thrust of Cañada Vellida on high- resolution (0.5m/pixel), colour aerial orthoimage (available on the SITAR web
page of the Aragón government; https://idear agon.aragon.es/desca rgas). Note the two hectometre- scale klippes of overturned Jurassic rocks
surrounded by overturned Barremian- Aptian formations. Sections 2– 2′ and 3– 3′ are shown in Figure5. (b) Detail of the eastern fold limb
showing hectometre- to kilometre- scale graben and half- graben structures affecting the Barremian- Aptian sequence, which are sealed by the
Albian Utrillas Formation (post- rift unconformity). The nearly vertical attitude of the beds allows the map to be viewed as a cross- section of
the Early Cretaceous extensional structure.
FIGURE (a) Enlarged view of the klippes shown in cross- section 3– 3′ of Figure5. (b) Above, field photograph showing the two
klippes of overturned Jurassic rocks associated with the main thrust and the geometrical relationships with the overturned Barremian-
Aptian formations of the footwall block. Below, detail of the northeastern klippe showing the relationships of the hanging- wall and footwall
beds with the fault plane, and the drag fold developed in the footwall block. Vergés et al.(2020) interpreted the truncation of beds by the
fault plane as an onlap of the Aptian sediments on the diapiric flap structure of the Jurassic sequences.
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LIESA et al.
The Upper Jurassic– Lower Cretaceous sedimentary
sequence is different in the two limbs of the anticline
(Figure4). The recorded sequence is thicker, about 3.5 times,
in the western block than in the eastern one. It is also more
complete so that the Tithonian- lowermost Barremian units
(Aguilar del Alfambra, Galve and El Castellar formations)
are only present in the western block. In the eastern block,
the Barremian series (Camarillas Fm) rests on the Upper
Jurassic sequence (Cedrillas Fm) through a low- angle un-
conformity, which truncates strata at an outcrop scale.
In the southern part, the incision of the Alfambra River
allows a closer examination of the core of the Cañada
Vellida anticline (Figure3). There, the folding structure is
not so tight and allows to recognize a set of faults (Cañada
Vellida fault system) that run parallel to the anticline
(Figure3, and cross- sections 1– 1′ in Figure5). The main
fault also strikes NNW– SSE and dips westwards, and jux-
taposes the Upper Triassic (Keuper) in the footwall and
the Upper Jurassic (Higueruelas Fm) strata in the hang-
ing wall. It exhibits a normal displacement of c. 1 km in
the Triassic– Lower Jurassic sequence, with a conspicuous
normal drag in the footwall block. A set of synthetic nor-
mal faults, but also antithetic ones, completes the exten-
sional structure. Only the northeasternmost fault shows
a c. 500 m net reverse dip- slip, using the Triassic to Lower
Jurassic strata as a reference.
FIGURE Fault zone vs. hook structure at the Cañada Vellida anticline (see Figure6a for location). (a) The controversial structure as
seen in the high- resolution (0.5m/pixel) colour aerial orthoimage (available at SITAR web page of the Aragón government; https://idear
agon.aragon.es/desca rgas), showing its southward continuity (60 m) to the fresh outcrop at the slope of the main road studied here. (b)
Field view of the road cut locating the structure under discussion. (c) Detail of the structure, which actually represents a narrow fault zone
separating two blocks with different bed attitudes (marked with green/yellow lines). Note that beds are overturned and that two different
fault sets (blue and red colour lines) occur within the fault zone and its vicinity. (d) Line drawing of the structure after the restoration to
the pre- compressional stage, showing the attitude of beds and fault zone, and the normal drag on the hanging- wall block. Insets in c and d
show stereoplots (lower hemisphere, Schmidt net) of fault planes (colours as in photograph) and bedding at the present day and after tilting
restoring, respectively. (e) Field view of the outcrop (dashed white line area) interpreted as a hook by Vergés et al.(2020) in the dirt road (see
a for location); lines and symbols in white colour show their interpretation.
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LIESA et al.
In the eastern limb of the Cañada Vellida anticline, the
vertical to overturned beds are crossed by numerous map-
scale faults with several orientations (N- S, E- W, WNW- ESE,
faults in blue in Figure6a). These faults produce changes
in the thickness of the Barremian- Aptian units and are re-
sponsible for the contrasting tilting between fault blocks, as
shown by map relationships. Most of the faults are sealed by
the unconformity of the post- rift Albian sandstones (Utrillas
Fm). In the image obtained by rotating to the horizontal,
this unconformity virtually represents a cross- section view
of the pre- folding structure (Figure6b). It shows the pres-
ence of graben and half- graben structures, probably with a
roughly NE– SW trend, that is, perpendicular or very oblique
to the section view. This normal fault system is therefore
roughly orthogonal to the NW- SE to NNW- SSE Cañada
Vellida master system. The faults are rooted in the red clays
of the Barremian Camarillas Formation. Some of these
faults show normal separation in the Lower Cretaceous
units but reverse in the Upper Cretaceous- Cenozoic units
(a fault with discontinuous blue and red trace in Figure6b).
A road exposure allows a more detailed analysis of
the deformation that occurs at the core of the main fold
(Figure8a– c). Two overturned sedimentary sequences
(I and II; Forcall and upper part of the Villarroya de los
Pinares to Benasal formations, respectively) are separated
by an NNW– SSE- trending (N160°E) narrow fault zone (blue
traces in Figure8c) with a steep dip (82– 86°) to the west,
and a normal slip component (pitch 77° to 83°S) (thick blue
great circles in stereoplots of Figure8c). Within the fault
zone, minor east- dipping faults currently show reverse slip
components (pitch 84°N), while west- dipping ones show
normal slip components (pitch 80– 83°N). All of them are
consistent with normal slip on the whole fault zone: accord-
ing to the usual nomenclature in semi- brittle shear zones,
west- dipping and east- dipping faults can be interpreted as
C planes and R (Riedel) planes, respectively. A second stri-
ation with a dextral slip component (pitch 6° S) overprints
the normal- slip striation on a west- dipping fault plane.
Other synthetic, shallower dipping faults with decimetre-
scale normal displacements also occur in the eastern block
(red traces in Figure8c). Some of the layers show apparent
thickness changes associated with these faults. This out-
crop can be correlated with the one investigated by Vergés
et al.(2020) on the unpaved road that runs just 50 m to the
north (Figure8a) and interpreted as a hook geometry in-
volving the same two Aptian sequences (Figure8e).
4.1.2
|
Remarks on the tectono- sedimentary
evolution
We interpret that the Cañada Vellida anticline resulted
from inversion during the Cenozoic of an NNW– SSE
trending, west- dipping major normal fault, the Cañada
Vellida fault, which runs through its core (see map and
cross- section 1 in Figures2 and 3). In detail, this exten-
sional structure consists of several, nearly parallel faults,
now folded together with the involved layers (Figures3
and 5). This normal fault system was active from the lat-
est Kimmeridgian to the middle Albian, as suggested by
conspicuous thickness variations of the stratigraphic se-
ries between different fault blocks (see Figures4 and 6),
the latter corresponding to the Galve (southwest) and
Las Parras (northeast) sub- basins (Aurell et al., 2016;
Casas, Cortés, Liesa, et al.,1998; Guimerà & Salas, 1996;
Liesa et al., 2004, 2006; Liesa, Soria, Casas, et al.,2019;
Navarrete, 2015; Peropadre, 2012; Soria, 1997). The
thickness of the Middle and Upper Triassic units in the
western, downthrown fault block is comparable to that
expected from regional information (Table1), and the
Lower– Middle Jurassic units have a similar thickness in
both blocks, so the structure was probably not active dur-
ing these periods. There is no information regarding the
Lower Triassic.
The present- day structure (in an NE– SW cross-
sectional view) is certainly complicated due to the de-
formation pattern of the Mesozoic Cañada Vellida fault
zone during shortening. Geometric reconstruction of
the Cañada Vellida anticline suggests that the main
thrust, forming the two klippes, represents the inversion
of a previous segment of the normal fault zone, while
the upward decrease in the dip of the thrust surface can
be probably due to a continuous folding after thrust-
ing. The geometric relationship between the Jurassic
limestones that overlie the Aptian sequence in these
outcrops was interpreted by Vergés et al.(2020) as repre-
senting a diapir- related overturned flap, lapped onto by
the Aptian beds. Inversion tectonics took place mainly
during the Cenozoic, since the lower Miocene conglom-
erates of the Aliaga Cenozoic basin are also folded. In
addition to the structural inversion, individual faults
are interpreted to have undergone differential tilting
and folding depending on their position in the fold
(Figure5). In the SW, back limb, the beds rotated to-
wards the SW, so that (i) synthetic (southwest- dipping)
normal faults have increased their dip, some of them
changing their dip sense, while (ii) antithetic faults have
decreased their dip (section 2– 2′ in Figure5). In the NE
forelimb, limb rotations result in an opposite effect, and
synthetic normal faults have decreased their dip favour-
ing their slip during inversion.
Regarding the complex fault zone described in the
road exposure in Cañada Vellida, several arguments
also point to the development of normal faults during
the Early Cretaceous and their subsequent deforma-
tion by compressional folding: (i) the general attitude
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LIESA et al.
of overturned strata, showing different dips at each side
of a near vertical fault zone; (ii) the occurrence of the
high- dip, normal- slip fault zone; (iii) the superposition
of a strike- slip (dextral) striation on the normal- slip
striation; (iv) the apparent change in thickness in some
of the layers displaced by these faults and (v) the nu-
merous synsedimentary extensional faults widely rec-
ognized in this area and elsewhere (Figure6b). After
restoring the folding (by backtilting the bedding of Unit
I, Figure8d), the faults cluster in an N- S to NNW- SSE
direction with an intermediate westwards dip, and all
of them show a normal slip component. This suggests a
prevailing E- W to ENE- WSW extension direction during
their formation. It is also interpreted that normal drag
occurred in the hanging wall of the fault (unit II). A
similar scenario can be envisaged for the hectometre-
to- kilometre scale faults cropping out in the core of the
anticline near the klippes involving Jurassic units.
Faults in the eastern limb/block are interpreted to
represent a second- order normal fault system trending
ENE- WSW, nearly perpendicular to the Cañada Vellida
structure, as suggested by the differential subsidence and
erosion of the Barremian- Aptian sequence and the seal-
ing of the faults by the Albian unconformity (Utrillas Fm,
Figure6b). Fault rooting in the Barremian Camarillas
Fm suggests that this unit was probably the detachment
FIGURE Views of the Miravete normal fault zone cropping out in the core of the Miravete anticline (see Figure9 for location). (a)
Detail of the structure at Barranco de las Suertes, where the upper Hauterivian- lower Barremian El Castellar Fm progressively decreases in
thickness from one fault block to another and finally disappears in the eastern block. (b) Detailed geological cross- section of the Miravete
anticline south of Miravete locality, showing its relationship with partial inversion of a near vertical, west- dipping normal fault zone
(Miravete fault). The latter controlled sedimentation and thickness variations during the Late Jurassic- Early Cretaceous rifting stage,
representing the eastern boundary of the Early Cretaceous Galve sub- basin. (c) Field view of the eastern limb of the periclinal domain of the
Campos anticline (located in Figure9), where two NW- SE to NNW– SSE striking normal ruptures belonging to the Mesozoic Miravete fault
zone offset Barremian to Aptian units.
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LIESA et al.
level for this fault system. Partial inversion of some faults
is indicated by the reverse slip of the Upper Cretaceous
markers and Cenozoic growth strata, while the pre- Albian
synrift sequence markers show normal slip. These reacti-
vations likely accommodated posterior shortening parallel
to the fold trend.
4.2
|
The Miravete anticline
4.2.1
|
Description
The Miravete anticline is a 20 km long complex fold show-
ing an NNW- SSE to N- S direction (Figures2 and 9). In
FIGURE The Miravete normal fault zone and its inversion structure obliterate the anticline hinge north of the Miravete locality
(see the location in Figure9). (a) High- resolution (0.5m/pixel), colour aerial orthoimage (available at SITAR web page of the Aragón
government; https://idear agon.aragon.es/desca rgas) with detailed mapping of the fold and other related structures north of Miravete
locality, as well as the location of Peña de la Higuera and Peña de la Zingla localities. Modified from Liesa et al.(2004, 2006, 2018), Liesa,
Soria, Casas, et al.(2019, Liesa, Soria, and Simón(2019). (b) Oblique view of the El Morrón box- fold anticline and its relation with the
inversion of a Mesozoic normal fault. (c) Geological cross- section of the Miravete anticline where the west- dipping Miravete fault has been
folded to an eastwards dip and inverted during the Cenozoic shortening (modified from Simón et al.,1998).
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LIESA et al.
most of its traces, it has a fairly tight box geometry (2–
2.5 km fold width at the Lower– Upper Cretaceous con-
tact), which contrasts with the smoother geometry of the
two flanking synclines, the Camarillas and Fortanete syn-
clines, at least twice the width of the anticline. In detail,
the anticline runs parallel and obliterates a first- order
fault (the Miravete fault zone; MFZ), which crops out dis-
continuously along the fold core (Figure9). The Jurassic
units cropping out in its limbs are cut by a dense network
of decametre- to- hectometre scale faults.
The hinge of the Miravete anticline is observed mainly
in the southern and northern parts of the fold trace. Near
the southern termination, at the Barranco de las Suertes
outcrop (c. 2 km south of Miravete), the anticline shows
a gentle hinge defined by the upper Hauterivian- lower
Barremian El Castellar Fm and the Barremian Camarillas
Fm (basal part). There, the fold hinge is cut by a perva-
sive set of mainly west- dipping, NNW– SSE to NNE– SSW
trending normal faults of different lengths. The main faults
have at present normal offsets of tens of metres, taking as
a reference a characteristic limestone bed in the middle
of El Catellar Fm (Figure10a). All in all, this layout de-
fines a stepped normal fault array in cross- section for the
Miravete fault zone. In this outcrop, as already described
by Liesa et al. (2004, 2006, 2018), the El Castellar Fm
shows abrupt changes in thickness due to normal faulting,
systematically decreasing towards the east. This unit dis-
appears in the footwall of the easternmost fault in which
only a centimetre- thick clay level with ferruginous piso-
lites is found between the Jurassic strata (mid- Tithonian-
lower Berriasian Aguilar del Alfambra Fm) and the lower
Barremian Camarillas Fm. In that fault, the El Castellar
Fm overthrusts the sandstones of the Camarillas Fm, but
the regional unconformity on top of the Jurassic shows a
normal offset (Figure10a,b). The upper Barremian- Aptian
sequence (Camarillas to Benasal formations) shows a sim-
ilar change in thickness from west to east, being twofold
or threefold thicker in the western limb of the Miravete
faulted anticline (Figure10b, Table1). Jurassic and Lower
Cretaceous strata and synrift and intrarift unconformities
usually display drag folds in the hanging- wall and footwall
blocks of Mesozoic normal faults.
At its northern termination (Aliaga- Campos segment),
the Miravete anticline has a typical box– fold geometry
(cross- section 2 in Figures2 and 9). Two kilometre- scale
faults running parallel to the fold axis crop out in the an-
ticline core and show a normal offset, with the Escucha
and the Benasal formations appearing in the hanging- wall
and footwall, respectively, at their northern tip, near the
locality of Campos (Figure9). The faults have an NW- SE
to NNW– SSE strike and a westwards dip (25 to 70°W),
depending on their position after folding (Figure10c). At
both fold limbs, minor normal faults affecting the Aptian
units (Chert, Forcall, Villarroya de los Pinares and Benasal
formations) stand out. This system of conjugate, E- W to
NE- SW striking normal faults is associated with changes
in thickness and lithology of Lower Cretaceous units, and
an unconformity located within the Escucha Fm clearly
seals them, as was described in detail by Simón, Arenas,
et al.(1998), Simón, Liesa, et al.,(1998). The fault system
cropping out in the western and eastern limbs of the anti-
cline shows a different asymmetry, with predominant dips
to the north and south, respectively.
Regarding the central part of the Miravete anticline,
the hinge is not observable in most cases because a major
fault runs through its core and juxtaposes different sed-
imentary units from the two limbs of the fold (Figures9
and 11). In this segment, the Miravete fault/thrust crops
out with a steep eastwards dip, and the almost continu-
ous Upper Triassic– Jurassic sequence of its eastern limb
is locally superposed on younger strata of the western
limb. This is the case in the Peña de la Higuera outcrop,
also studied by Vergés et al. (2020), and the Peña de la
Zingla outcrop, 2km northwards (Figure11a). The Early
Cretaceous sequence of the western block is also 2.5 times
thicker than that of the eastern one (Figure11c).
The sedimentary units cropping out at the core of
the anticline change along the trend, especially for
the western limb or fault block (Figures9 and 11a),
because a number of kilometre- scale normal faults
(Remenderuelas, Camarillas and El Batán faults), with
hectometre- scale displacements, juxtapose the Triassic–
Jurassic sequence on a thicker Lower Cretaceous series
(mainly the Camarillas Fm). The near vertical attitude of
the layers (75– 90°W dips) in this segment of the western
limb enables using the geological map as a cross- section
view of the pre- folding structure. These main faults form
a system of conjugate normal faults, trending ENE- WSW
(near perpendicular to the Miravete fault and anticline
trend), which define a structure of halfgraben and gra-
ben (Figure9), namely the Remenderuelas halfgraben
and Camarillas graben (e.g. Liesa et al.2004, 2006, 2018;
Navarrete, et al., 2013a, 2013b, 2014). Abrupt thick-
ness changes of the Hauterivian- lower Aptian units (El
Castellar, Camarillas and Artoles formations) are associ-
ated with these faults. The sedimentary sequence shows
fan- shaped geometries and thickening towards the fault
planes (Remenderuelas and El Batán faults) and local
unconformities, such as the one of the Camarillas Fm
recognized in the footwall block of the Camarillas fault
(Figure11a). On the contrary, the upper Aptian units
(Morella to, at least, Villarroya de los Pinares forma-
tions) show a progressive southward increase in thick-
ness, more pronounced in the vicinity of the Camarillas
fault (Peropadre, 2012). Furthermore, the ENE- WSW
striking, south- dipping Camarillas fault (CF) and the
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LIESA et al.
ENE- WSW striking, north- dipping Camarillas anti-
thetic fault (CaF) have normal offsets in the lower part
of their trace but reverse in the upper part, where they
affect the upper Aptian carbonate or the Cenozoic con-
glomerate (Figures9 and 11a). The ENE- WSW trending
Morrón anticline, showing a box– fold geometry, follows
the overall strike of the CaF and CF faults and is located
above them (Figure11a,b).
In the eastern limb of the Miravete anticline,
there is a similar fault arrangement, although less
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LIESA et al.
compartmentalized (Figures9 and 11a). At this segment,
a single major south- dipping normal fault (El Hocino
fault; Liesa, Soria, & Simón,2019; HF in Figure11a) cuts
the Jurassic- Lower Cretaceous sequence of the nearly
vertical limb (75– 85°E). Its displacement decreases up-
wards in the sequence, the fault plane being practically
sealed by the unconformity of the Albian Utrillas Fm.
The map shows that there is a change in thickness of the
Lower Cretaceous associated with the fault, especially
significant in the Barremian Camarillas and Artoles for-
mations (Ibáñez, 2015; Navarrete, 2015; Figure11a).
The Jurassic sequence crops out almost in its entirety
in the footwall (Peña de la Higuera outcrop), where it is
strongly affected by faults having various orientations and
scales (Figures11a and 12a). The sequence is strongly
tectonically thinned, and the Barremian Camarillas Fm
unconformably rests on different tilted blocks of the
upper Kimmeridgian– lower Tithonian Higueruelas and
Cedrillas formations (Figure9).
At the eastern side of the Peña de la Higuera outcrop,
the El Hocino system includes two main fault planes
(Figure11a). Both show clear bed truncation in the
hanging- wall and footwall blocks, with angles between
strata and discontinuity surfaces relatively high (15°–
40° in most cases) (Figures12– 14). The lower fault plane
(boundary B of Vergés et al.,2020, in Figure12b) juxta-
poses the lower to upper Jurassic sequence with the up-
permost Jurassic Cedrillas Fm (Figure13a,b). It shows at
present an NNE– SSW direction and a steep dip (60– 70°)
to the east and cuts at a high angle (>40°) practically all
the Jurassic sequence, which strikes N145- 155° E and
dips 75°E (Figure13a,d). The N- S striking, east- dipping
(75°) strata of the Cedrillas and the Aguilar de Alfambra
formations in the hanging wall block are also truncated
by the fault but at a smaller angle (25°– 30°), since these
units are affected by normal drag and become more par-
allel to the fault plane. Minor metre- to decametre- scale
antithetic faults cutting these layers converge into the
main fault plane. Striation indicates a (present- day) dex-
tral kinematics (pitch 12°S) of the main fault plane (F1 in
Figure13b,d), which also shows tectonic brecciation and
decimetre- scale shearing features affecting calcareous
rocks (Figure13c).
The upper fault plane (boundary C of Vergés
et al.,2020, in Figure12b) has an attitude similar to the
lower one, and juxtaposes the Barremian Camarillas Fm
in the hangingwall block and the Aguilar de Alfambra
and El Castellar formations in its footwall (Figures12
and 14a). The angle between the affected layers and the
fault plane is high (40°– 60°). There are normal drag folds
associated with the fault, one of them showing an ero-
sive truncation and an angular unconformity between
the Aguilar de Alfambra and El Castellar formations
(Figure14a). Along the fault surface, widespread metre-
scale striated fault planes associated with truncation of
the white sandstone layers of the Camarillas Fm can be
recognized (Figures12 and 14). The striae observed at
different sites show low pitch and dextral slip compo-
nentS (Figure14b– d).
4.2.2
|
Remarks on the tectono- sedimentary
evolution
Numerous evidences support the role of positive inver-
sion of the NNW– SSE Miravete Fault Zone (MFZ) in the
architecture of the Cenozoic Miravete anticline. At the
Barranco de la Suertes outcrop, changes in the thick-
ness of the El Castellar Fm associated with the stepped
normal fault array indicate that the Miravete fault zone
was active during its deposition, as remarked by Liesa
and Simón (2004) and Liesa et al. (2004, 2006, 2018).
The thickness change in the upper Barremian- Aptian
sequence between the two limbs of the anticline are in-
terpreted to occur progressively, in a similar way to that
described for the El Castellar Formation. The difference
in thickness thus probably represents the accumulated
throw in the MFZ during the Barremian- Aptian. Normal
drag in Jurassic rocks and synrift and intrarift uncon-
formities in Lower Cretaceous strata is interpreted to be
associated with the kinematics of these Mesozoic normal
faults. At Barranco de las Suertes only partial inversion
FIGURE Faults vs. unconformities in the eastern limb of the Miravete anticline at the Peña de la Higuera locality (see location in
Figure11a). (a) Field photograph showing our interpretation of the supposed ‘unconformities’ B and C by Vergés et al.(2020, see b), which
actually are tilted normal fault surfaces. These and other minor fault planes define an extensional fault system (El Hocino) that has been
tilted during folding and locally reactivated as thrusts. The salt weld actually represents a fault slip lock between the Upper Triassic– Jurassic
and the Lower Cretaceous units, each of them belonging to one of the fold limbs (Jurassic: CT– Cortes de Tajuña, CL– Cuevas Labradas,
RP + Bh– Río Palomar and Barahona, Tu– Turmiel, Ch– Chelva, Lo– Loriguilla, Hi– Higueruelas). (b) Drone image with the Jurassic and Lower
Cretaceous unconformities (surfaces A, B and C) and salt weld interpreted by Vergés et al.(2020) (letters and lines in yellow were included
by us). Note that the interpretation proposed in this work for surfaces A, B and C overrides the progressive restitution carried out by Vergés
et al.(2020) in this locality because the orientation of beds is affected by faults and associated dragging. (c) The ‘erosional unconformity
A’ (contact between units 3 and 5) of Vergés et al.(2020) is interpreted here as a boundary of a shallowing upward sequence (sensu
James,1984); A– inter- to supratidal- laminated micritic limestone, B– flat pebble breccia (i.e. transgressive lag of the overlying sequence).
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LIESA et al.
occurred in the easternmost fault, where the El Castellar
Fm overthrusts the Camarillas Fm, while the Jurassic-
Early Cretaceous regional unconformity still has a normal
offset (Figure10a,b).
At the Aliaga- Campos segment, the typical box- fold
geometry of the Miravete anticline has been related to
the inversion of the MFZ (Simón, Arenas, et al.,1998;
Simón, Liesa, et al., 1998; Simón & Liesa, 2011). Two
FIGURE Main fault vs. unconformity B of Vergés et al.(2020) in Peña de la Higuera locality (see Figure12b for location). (a) Main
normal fault juxtaposing Lower- Upper Jurassic with uppermost Jurassic- lowermost Cretaceous rocks. Minor synthetic and antithetic faults
affecting the Cedrillas Fm and the basal beds of the Aguilar del Alfambra Fm and probably rooted at the main fault (see also Figure5a,b).
Note that the beds of the eastern block (hanging- wall block) tend to be arranged at a low angle to the main fault, suggesting extensional drag
folding. (b) Detail of the main fault plane (see location in A) here juxtaposing Lower Jurassic limestones (Río Palomar Fm) and uppermost
Jurassic limestones (Cedrillas Fm). (c) Detail of fault breccia (see A for location). (d) Stereoplot (lower hemisphere, Schmidt net) showing
the orientation of faults and bedding at present and after restoring the dip of the eastern limb of the Miravete anticline (150, 70 E).
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LIESA et al.
west- dipping normal faults, which are responsible for
changes in thickness and block tilting of the Lower
Cretaceous sequence, run along the anticline core
(Figure9). The different asymmetry of the nearly per-
pendicular fault system affecting the Aptian sequence in
the western and eastern limbs of the anticline (predomi-
nant dips to the north and south, respectively) also points
to the coeval activity of the MFZ. Geometric reconstruc-
tion of the perpendicular fault system suggests that it
detached in the red clays of the Barremian Camarillas
Fm (Simón, Liesa, et al.,1998). Sealing of this fault sys-
tem by an intra- Escucha Fm unconformity and of major
faults by the Albian unconformity (Utrillas Fm) clearly
demonstrate the Mesozoic extensional activity of the
MFZ.
The areal distribution and angular unconformities in
syn- inversion deposits filling the Cenozoic Aliaga basin at
both fold limbs of the Miravete anticline indicate a positive
FIGURE Main fault vs. unconformity C of Vergés et al.(2020) in Peña de la Higuera locality (see Figure12b for location). (a)
General outcrop view, indicating the location of the close images shown in B and C. Note the normal drag fold on the footwall block and
the associated angular unconformity subsequently developed between the Aguilar de Alfambra and El Castellar formations indicating the
Mesozoic activity of this normal fault. (b) Outcrop view and detail of the minor synthetic fault plane showing smeared red clay. (c) Minor
fault plane with striae and calcite fibre steps, indicating a dextral- normal slip (the red arrow represents the movement of the removed block).
(d) Stereoplots (lower hemisphere, Schmidt net) of faults and bedding planes, at present (in red) and restored to their original orientation
after bedding backtilting (in blue), in sites 1, 2 and 3. Note the original ENE- WSW trend, southeast dip and normal slip (high pitch) of the
fault planes during the synrift stage.
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LIESA et al.
inversion of the Miravete fault system in two stages to
form the box anticline, as interpreted by González and
Guimerà(1993) and Simón, Arenas, et al.(1998). Firstly,
the eastern limb developed, probably associated with the
upward propagation of the Miravete normal fault itself
and the coeval deposition of tectonosedimentary units
(TSU) T2 and T3 (Eocene- Early Oligocene) in the eastern
part of the Cenozoic Aliaga basin (Figures2 and 9). The
western limb was formed during a second, short stage last-
ing until the Oligocene- Miocene transition, the sedimen-
tation being then mostly transferred to the western Aliaga
basin (unit T4).
The onset of the western limb has been related to the
inversion of the upper segment of the Miravete normal
fault (Simón, Arenas, et al., 1998). This initially west-
dipping surface underwent passive rotation during the
first inversion episode, changing the dip sense from west
to east (Figure11c). At the Peña de la Higuera section,
the west- verging Miravete thrust is interpreted to primar-
ily represent such an upper segment. After rotation, a net
reverse slip could also have occurred on it, as suggested
by the thrust of the Keuper facies of the eastern limb over
the Jurassic series of the western one occurring north of
Peña de la Zingla (Figure11a). In this way, such reacti-
vation does not represent a true structural inversion be-
cause the relative slip of fault blocks is the same during
the Mesozoic extension and the Cenozoic shortening
(Liesa et al.,2018).
The difference in rock units that crop out along the
western and eastern fault blocks of the MFZ in the an-
ticlinal core is interpreted to be associated with the
action of a system of conjugate, ENE- WSW striking nor-
mal faults (Remenderuelas, Camarillas, El Batán and
El Hocino faults). These faults formed half- graben and
graben structures that were also responsible for differ-
ential tectonic subsidence, fan- shaped geometries and
thickness changes in the Lower Cretaceous sequence,
especially during the Hauterivian– early Aptian, as also
stated by Soria (1997), Capote et al. (2002) and Liesa
et al.(2004, 2006, 2018). The progressive southward in-
crease in thickness of the upper Aptian units (more
evident in the neighbourhood of the Camarillas fault;
Figure9) has been interpreted as a result of the activity
as blind structures during deposition (Peropadre,2012).
Tectono- sedimentary relationships show that exten-
sional tectonics was accompanied by block tilting, ero-
sional truncation of layers and development of angular
unconformities, such as those described between the El
Castellar and Aguilar de Alfambra formations associated
with the normal drag fold in the El Hocino fault. Based
on its synsedimentary activity, back tilting of structures
measured in the El Hocino fault shows how this structure
had an ENE- WSW trend, a southwards dip (50°– 60°), and
a normal slip during the latest Jurassic- early Cretaceous
rifting stage (Figures13d and 14d).
The Camarillas fault and the Camarillas antithetic
fault (CF and CaF, respectively) underwent partial in-
version during the Cenozoic, as indicated by the folds
associated with them, and the deformation of Paleogene
conglomerates in the footwall of the upper thrust
(Figures9 and 11a,b). Such inversion was probably as-
sociated with the NNW– SSE or NNE– SSW compressions
that affected the region during the early Miocene time
(Late Betic and Late Pyrenean stress fields, respectively;
Liesa,2000; Liesa & Simón, 2007, 2009; Simón,2006).
The box- fold geometry of the ENE- WSW Morrón anti-
cline and the thrust planes related to it are interpreted as
the result of the two- stage CaF reactivation (Figure11b):
Firstly, the normal fault was partially inverted, nucleat-
ing an SSE- directed thrust in the Aptian sequence and
developing its southern limb. Subsequently, an NNW-
directed thrust was formed, developing the northern
limb of the fold. The geometry and kinematics of this
box fold also reveal the different behaviour during the
shortening of differentially stretched sedimentary pack-
ages. In the most stretched pre- and synrift sequences,
shortening appears to be responsible only for recovery
of the previous extension and for partial inversion of
faults. In the less stretched upper sequence, the shorten-
ing is however capable of producing important contrac-
tive structures without continuity at depth.
5
|
INVERSION TECTONICS
EVOLUTIONARY MODEL FOR THE
INVESTIGATED ANTICLINES
The stratigraphic study, geological mapping and struc-
tural analysis and synthesis carried out in the Cañada
Vellida and Miravete anticlines have revealed that (i)
these complex folds run parallel to major faults or fault
zones (the Cañada Vellida and Miravete fault zones;
Figures3 and 9, respectively), (ii) these fault zones rep-
resented major west- dipping extensional structures dur-
ing the latest Jurassic- Early Cretaceous rifting stage, as
indicated by their kinematics and the change in thickness
of the involved sedimentary units (Figure4) and (iii) the
fault zones nucleated and controlled the evolution of the
narrow and complex box- geometry anticlines during the
Cenozoic shortening stage in which folding and partial
inversion of fault planes controlled the present- day struc-
ture (Figures5, 10b, and 11b).
The arguments summarized above support the evolu-
tionary model depicted in Figure15a. Major fault zones in
this model are mainly defined by several associated fault
planes showing a stepped arrangement in cross- section.
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LIESA et al.
This arrangement involves a progressive but staggered
pattern of thickness changes of the uppermost Jurassic–
Lower Cretaceous synrift successions from one basement
fault block to another. The folding of this arrangement
was also responsible for the varied geometry and lateral
change of the resulting inversion structure. The upward
propagation of basement faults during the Mesozoic was
probably controlled by incompetent layers within the
cover such as the Upper Triassic mudstone and gypsum
Keuper facies. Frequently, these ductile layers have hin-
dered fault propagation and nucleated splay faults that
widen upwards the fault zone.
The evolutionary model (Figure15a) also takes into
account regional information about the Mesozoic history
of the region summarized in previous sections. The avail-
able information on the Triassic sequence, with a homo-
geneous distribution of facies and thickness on a regional
scale, suggests that the first Mesozoic rifting stage was
not very significant in this area (Capote et al.,2002). Also,
the Jurassic and the Upper Cretaceous post- rift carbonate
platform sequences show the uniform thickness and fa-
cies distribution, with no significant coeval synsedimen-
tary tectonic structures (e.g. Alonso et al., 1993; Aurell
et al.,2003).
FIGURE Confrontation of salt tectonics and extensional tectonics as the driving mechanism for the formation and evolution of
the Maestrazgo basin exemplified in the structure of the Miravete anticline. (a) The extensional tectonic model and subsequent inversion
proposed here, also applicable to the Cañada Vellida structure (the latter representing a more evolved compressional stage). (b) Diapiric
model with salt remobilization building a salt anticline and salt wall during the Mesozoic, and a stage of rejuvenated diapir during the
Cenozoic (after Vergés et al.,2020).
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6
|
DISCUSSION
6.1
|
Inversion tectonics vs salt tectonics
for the western Maestrazgo anticlines
The model proposed to explain the evolution of the
Cañada Vellida and Miravete anticlines is consistent with
most structural and stratigraphic features of the Iberian
Chain and other western Mediterranean chains, which
can be explained by a Mesozoic extensional stage and a
strong Cenozoic inversion, within the context of the kin-
ematics of the Iberian, African and European plates (e.g.
Álvaro et al., 1979; Capote et al., 2002; Guimerà, 2018;
Liesa et al.,2018; Liesa, Soria, Casas, et al.,2019; Salas &
Casas,1993; among others). This model contrasts with the
interpretation of these structures recently made by Vergés
et al.(2020) using salt- tectonic concepts.
Based on their evolutionary model proposed for the
Miravete anticline, Vergés et al. (2020) distinguish three
salt tectonics stages in its Mesozoic evolution and a fourth
stage during the Cenozoic (Figure15b). During stage 1
(Jurassic), the mobilization of Triassic salt would have
been responsible for the initial development of a salt an-
ticline, involving the formation of an Early Jurassic ero-
sional surface (surface A in Figure12b), an Early Jurassic
karst breccia (Cortes de Tajuña Fm) and a significant
change in thickness of the Jurassic sequence. In stage 2
(latest Jurassic– earliest Barremian), an increase in salt
mobility developed a salt wall, with flank collapse, normal
faulting and salt extrusion, resulting in the development
of the regional Tithonian- Hauterivian unconformity, and
changes in thickness, onlaps and internal unconformi-
ties (surfaces B and C) in the El Castellar and Camarillas
formations. During stage 3 (early Barremian– middle
Aptian), the salt wall continued developing at lower
rates due to primary welding reduced the salt flow feed-
ing the salt structure and controlling the progradation of
the carbonate platforms (Villarroya de Los Pinares Fm),
producing a supposed Jurassic flap lapped onto by the
Barremian- Aptian units, and a halokinetic hook structure
in the Cañada Vellida anticline. These authors interpret a
discontinuous diapiric activity until the Late Cretaceous,
which would be responsible for changes in thickness as-
sociated with the salt wall. In Stage 4 (Cenozoic), regional
shortening promoted squeezing and secondary welding
(rejuvenated diapir).
Significant postulations in the model by Vergés
et al. (2020) are (1) the great thickness of the Triassic
salt sequence (thicker than the Jurassic sequence) and
its sharp variations, cause and consequence, respectively,
of salt tectonics; (2) the negligible contribution of exten-
sional tectonics during the Jurassic- Cretaceous evolu-
tion, as indicated by the very small displacement of the
basement faults, in contrast to its significant role during
the shortening stage and (3) the disconnection between
the infra- and supra- salt deformation structures. In the
following sub- sections, some remarks are provided based
on the available stratigraphic and structural data in order
to make a critical review of the salt tectonics vs. inversion
tectonics model for the investigated anticlines.
6.1.1
|
The detachment level and salt volume
The evaporitic- rich units of the Middle and Upper Triassic
(Middle Muschelkalk and Keuper facies, respectively)
are considered the main source of salt flow during the
Mesozoic. In previous works, these evaporite- rich units
have been proposed to have significant control in the de-
velopment of structures in the central- eastern part of the
chain during the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic (e.g. Álvaro
et al., 1979; Capote et al., 2002; Cortés- Gracia & Casas-
Sainz, 1996; Guimerà & Álvaro, 1990; Izquierdo- Llavall
et al.,2019).
The two alternative models presented in Figure15
are based on different estimates of available salt vol-
umes. As explained above, around the Cañada Vellida-
Miravete area and the surrounding region, the Middle
Muschelkalk and Keuper facies are relatively thin (<50 m
and <150 m, respectively; Table1). They also show a
somewhat varied lithological composition, mainly mud-
stones with interbedded levels of gypsum, dolostones
and sandstones, as also happens in most of the Iberian
Chain. Evidence of the high thickness of the Middle
and Upper Triassic units containing anhydrite and ha-
lite are found in subsurface data ca. 35– 40 km eastwards
of the study region (i.e. the Bovalar anticline, where up
to 1200 m of Middle Muschelkalk materials have been
drilled in the Bovalar 2 well, Lanaja,1987). Nevertheless,
the structure at depth is not yet well known because of
chaotic seismic facies (Nebot & Guimerà,2016b), and
if the drilling actually cut its frontal limb (with dips up
to 70° E at the surface) the real stratigraphic thickness
could be much lower.
The salt tectonics model involves the idea of an al-
most flat and rigid pre- Late Triassic substratum, which
only is cut and displaced by either normal or reverse
basement faults in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic stages,
respectively (Vergés et al.,2020; Figure15b). Numerous
examples along the Iberian Chain show, however, how
the Palaeozoic basement and the Early– Middle Triassic
cover are involved in major folds and thrusts (e.g. Casas
et al., 2000; Guimerà et al., 2004; Liesa & Casas, 1994;
Nebot & Guimerà,2018; Simón & Liesa,2011). This be-
haviour is also observed around the study area, in the
Middle Triassic dolostones and marlstones (Muschelkalk
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LIESA et al.
facies) cropping out in the upper block of the Cañada
Vellida thrust (Corral del Zancado section; Ferreiro
et al.,1991; Martín- Fernández et al.,1979) (Figures3 and
4, and cross- section 4– 4′ in Figure5). In localities where
the basement and the Triassic cover are exposed, as in the
NW- SE- trending Montalbán anticline (ca. 15 km to the
North; Figure2), both units are involved in overturned
limbs together with the Jurassic- Cretaceous cover, asso-
ciated with thrusts also affecting Cenozoic strata (Aurell
et al.,2017; Casas et al.,2000; Liesa et al.,2004).
In conclusion, although the role of Middle- Upper
Triassic rich- evaporitic facies as an effective low- strength
detachment is clear, given the thickness and lithology of
the Keuper facies in the area around the Miravete and
Cañada de Vellida anticlines, its capability as a possible
source of diapiric salt ascent is debatable. In the case an-
alysed here, the Triassic stratigraphy is well known from
outcrop observation, and this provides a solid framework
to control the local thickness variations of the mudstone- /
evaporitic- rich units. The suggestion that the salt could
have disappeared due to migration is not supported by the
observed thickness distribution of salt- bearing and supra-
salt units.
6.1.2
|
Remarks on the Jurassic carbonate
successions
In the salt tectonics model, it is assumed that there are
significant thickness variations and segmentation of
the Jurassic carbonate platforms related to synsedimen-
tary salt migration (Vergés et al.,2020; see Figure15b).
However, review of the numerous studies dealing with
the stratigraphy and sedimentary evolution of the Middle
Triassic and Jurassic platforms around the study area in-
dicates a relatively uniform distribution of thicknesses
and facies on a regional scale (Table1). In particular, the
post- rift Jurassic sequences do not show significant thick-
ness variation in the eastern and western limbs of the
Miravete and Cañada Vellida anticlines. It is true that a
significant thickness reduction of the Middle Jurassic car-
bonates occurs from west to east in the study area (70 m
in Cañada Vellida vs. 30 m in Miravete), but it is satis-
factorily explained by the progressive proximity to the
Middle Jurassic Maestrazgo High (e.g. Aurell et al.,2003;
Gómez & Fernández- López,2006). This basin- scale thick-
ness distribution pattern indicates subsidence processes
related to the thermal cooling during a post- rift stage
(e.g. Álvaro, 1987; Salas & Casas, 1993; Sánchez Moya
et al.,1992; Van Wees et al.,1998).
To support the hypothesis of salt mobilization and ex-
trusion during the Jurassic, Vergés et al. (2020) indicate
the existence of thick Lower Jurassic breccia deposits with
karstic overprint. However, this Hettangian breccia de-
posit, the Cortes de Tajuña Fm, is not exclusively found
in this area but is rather recognized in a large part of the
Iberian Chain (e.g. Gómez & Goy,2005). Diagenetic disso-
lution of evaporite sequences (probably including anhy-
drite levels) provided ideal conditions for the formation
of the widespread Hettangian collapse- breccia (e.g. Aurell
et al.,2007; Bordonaba & Aurell,2002; Gómez et al.,2007;
Hernández et al.,1985; Ortí et al.,2017, 2020).
6.1.3
|
Remarks on the ‘Jurassic- Early
Cretaceous unconformities related to diapiric
uplift’
The interpretation of Mesozoic evolution of the salt-
related structures provided by Vergés et al. (2020) is
largely based on the inference of the absence of several
sedimentary units towards the crest of the Miravete anti-
cline (Figure15b). These authors indicate the presence of
three unconformities related to diapir uplift in the crest
of the Miravete anticline (Peña de la Higuera outcrop; see
dashed lines A, B, and C in Figure12b).
The close view of the discontinuity A of Vergés
et al.(2020) (see the spot indicated as 6d in Figure12b)
is reproduced here in Figure12C. This discontinuity is
located close to the transitional boundary between the
massive carbonates of the Cortes de Tajuña Fm and the
well- bedded peritidal carbonates of the Cuevas Labradas
Fm (Figure12a). This surface represents in fact a facies
boundary between a micritic level with fenestral poros-
ity (level A) and an intraformational breccia (flat- pebble
conglomerates with clast imbrication, level B). These are
typical features associated with the boundaries between
the peritidal shallowing- upward carbonate sequences (e.g.
James, 1984). Such shallowing- upward sequences and
bounding surfaces are common in the Sinemurian Cuevas
Labradas Fm (e.g. Bádenas et al.,2010), which is exposed
elsewhere in the Iberian Chain and also in both the limb
and the crest of the Miravete anticline, and they do not
therefore represent a tectonic unconformity (see CL in
Figure12a).
Vergés et al.(2020) relate the presence of two uncon-
formities (see dashed lines B and C in Figure12b) with
the uplift of the salt- related structure previous to the
sedimentation of the uppermost Jurassic unit (i.e. for-
mer Villar del Arzobispo Fm or the new Cedrillas and
Aguilar del Alfambra formations) and to the Barremian
Camarillas Fm, respectively. However, in the mentioned
work these unconformities have been misinterpreted be-
cause they correspond to fault planes indeed (Figures12a,
13 and 14). Normal drag folds in the hanging- wall and
footwall blocks and related unconformities (Figures13a
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LIESA et al.
and 14a) indicate that they developed during the Late
Jurassic– Early Cretaceous rifting stage, and they actually
were south- dipping, E- W to NE– SW striking normal faults
(Figures13d and 14b– d), as Liesa et al.(2004, 2006) also
pointed out.
Another argument provided by Vergés et al.(2020) is the
unambiguous halokinetic geometry, that is a hook geometry
of two lower Barremian continental sequences, described
in the Cañada Vellida thrust and anticline (see the inter-
pretation by Vergés et al.,2020 in Figure8e in this paper).
However, detailed mapping (see Section 4.2) shows fault
planes with different orientations (including planes par-
allel to the ‘hook related unconformity’), not only in the
previously figured outcrop (Figure8e) but also in the ex-
ceptional road exposure that cuts the same structure 50 m
to the South (Figure8a– d). The relationship between the
two sequences is clearly different to the unconformable
relationship that would be expected for a hook structure.
Instead, the sequences are separated by a narrow fault zone
and are also affected by other minor faults synthetic with
the main fault zone (Figure8c). As explained above, the
different dip of both sequences can be explained by normal
dragging associated with the rift stage (Figure8d).
The uppermost Jurassic- lower Cretaceous sequences
are frequently bounded by synrift angular unconformities
(e.g. Aurell et al.,2016, 2018, 2019; Liesa et al.,2004; Liesa,
Soria, Casas, et al.,2019). However, these are not local un-
conformities associated with the crest of major anticlines
but are rather widespread along the western Maestrazgo
basin (i.e. the Galve sub- basin), indicating the existence of
regional extensional tectonic processes. These synrift un-
conformities, as in other extensional basins and analogue
models, are commonly associated with bed thinning and
onlap geometries of the synrift series towards basin mar-
gins and other fault- controlled local structural highs, for
example roll- over anticline crests (e.g. Aurell et al.,2016;
Moore,1992; Liesa et al.,2006; Soto et al.,2007; Tilmans
et al.,2021; Williams,1993; Withjack et al.,2002). In addi-
tion, normal dragging in hanging- wall and footwall blocks
of Mesozoic normal faults, such as in the Barranco de las
Suertes (Figure10a), Peña de la Higuera (Figures13a and
14a) or Cañada Vellida (Figures5 and 8d), is a common
process affecting both Jurassic and lower Cretaceous strata
and synrift and intrarift unconformities. This feature, espe-
cially the downward drag of Jurassic strata in the footwall
block, is difficult to reconcile with upward diapiric flow.
6.1.4
|
Remarks on the ‘variable thickness of
units in relation to anticlines’
An additional set of arguments that have been invoked to
underline the role of Mesozoic salt tectonics is the thinning
of Cretaceous units towards the Miravete and Cañada
Vellida anticline hinges and, especially, the change in
thickness (sometimes twofold or threefold) from one limb
to the other (Vergés et al.,2020). However, such thickness
changes can be better explained by the Early Cretaceous
synrift extensional faults. The Barranco de las Suertes out-
crop in the anticline core clearly illustrates that the thick-
ness changes of the El Castellar Fm occurred in relation
to the evolving Miravete normal fault zone and not to a
developing salt anticline (Figure10a). The role of exten-
sional tectonics as the driving mechanism is supported by
the increase in thickness associated with each fault, the
non– deposition of this unit to the east of the fault system
(eastern limb), and the normal drag developed in both the
underlying Jurassic layers and the unconformity located
between them (Liesa et al., 2004, 2006). The Mesozoic
normal faults, folded and partially inverted, shown in the
northern sector (Campos- Aliaga) of the Miravete faulted
anticline, as well as in the core of the central and southern
parts of the Cañada Vellida anticline, reinforce the primary
role of extensional tectonics in the changes in the thickness
of the uppermost Jurassic– Lower Cretaceous sequences.
When considering the thickness changes between the
limbs of a fold, the interpretation of their origin should
be made with caution. When an anticline results from the
positive inversion of a normal fault and there is no phys-
ical continuity between both limbs (such as the Miravete
and Cañada Vellida anticlines), thinning in the uplifted
fault block could be misinterpreted as associated with the
current anticline hinge. Knowing which structure was ac-
tive during sedimentation (normal fault or fold) is crucial
to make a correct interpretation.
6.1.5
|
Flaps vs. klippes
At the Cañada Vellida anticline, a particular controver-
sial point is the claimed presence of an Upper Jurassic
overturned flap, lapped onto by upper Barremian– Aptian
units (Figure11b of Vergés et al.2020 vs. our Figure7).
However, this geological structure is better explained
by coalescence of two klippes of Jurassic rocks, with a
hanging- wall anticline and a footwall syncline sharing an
overturned limb (Figures6a and 7).
Symmetry or asymmetry of structures can provide a clue
for distinguishing flaps and klippes because diapirs can be
rather related to symmetric flaps (centrifugal in the case
of rounded diapirs; symmetric in 2D view), whereas over-
turned beds (commonly found in recumbent synclines at
the footwall block) can be ascribed to compressional, thrust
structures. If none of the previous criteria is conclusive,
the age criterion of synkinematic sediments can be used in
those basins in which there is a clear separation between
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LIESA et al.
the period of diapiric activity (usually coinciding with ex-
tensional activity) and the inversion stage. The structure of
the Cañada Vellida anticline shows a marked asymmetry
and NE- directed vergence (e.g. cross- section 4– 4′; Figure5),
and the Jurassic- Cretaceous contact is a narrow fault zone.
The upper Barremian- Aptian units are not lapping onto the
overturned flap of Jurassic rocks, as indicated by Vergés
et al.(2020), but are actually truncated by the thrust plane
and dragged in its proximity, as indicated by the striated and
brecciated blocks observed in the fault zone (Figure7).
In the case of the Cañada Vellida anticline, syntec-
tonic deposits are key to distinguish between Aptian dia-
piric (flap) and Cenozoic compressional (klippe) origins.
Mass- wasting deposits (debris flow or lentils) and abrupt
facies changes, common in halokinetic sequences and
indicators of diapiric flow (e.g. Giles & Lawton, 2002;
Giles & Rowan,2012; Rowan et al.,2003, 2016), have not
been observed in the Aptian sedimentary sequence that
Vergés et al.(2020) assume to be onlapping the ‘Jurassic
overturned flap’. In contrast, the Aptian succession rather
shows stacked shallow marine strata (Peropadre, 2012).
Local abrupt thickness changes of the Aptian succes-
sion occur but are associated with normal growth faults,
which in their turn are sealed by the upper Albian post-
rift unconformity (base of the Utrillas Fm; Figure6b).
Furthermore, the Upper Cretaceous post- rift sequence is
overturned in the limb of the Cañada Vellida anticline,
and folding also affects the moderately E- dipping (45°)
Cenozoic syn- inversion conglomerates (Figure5).
6.1.6
|
Remarks on the orientation of
contractional structures
According to the salt tectonics interpretation, the last
stage of diapiric growth would be related to Alpine N- S
shortening during which the described salt- related struc-
tures were squeezed, welded and thrust (Figure15b). In
this context, the complex fold patterns of the area, con-
sisting of sets of anticlines and synclines with different,
sometimes orthogonal trends, are considered to provide
additional support to the diapiric model. However, as ex-
plained in Section 2, multiple compression directions (and
an inherited pattern of basement faults) explain the oc-
currence of multiple fold directions. The perpendicular-
ity of the fold directions and the steep dip of many fold
limbs result in a spectacular map pattern of buckling fold
interference (Simón,2004, 2005). Although diversely ori-
ented folds can be found in diapiric areas, in this case, we
interpret that the tectonic frame explains better most of
the structures found, both at the map and at the outcrop
scale (Liesa,2000, 2011b; Simón,1980, 2004, 2005). Fold
interference is far from being unsystematic: each fold set
results from a particular compression direction, active
during a well- constrained time- lapse, which produced in-
version of adequately oriented extensional faults.
The nearly N– S trending folds (such as the Miravete
anticline) could be regarded as not consistent with the
regional N- S to NNE– SSW shortening direction, orthog-
onal to the Pyrenean plate margin (e.g. Guimerà,1988;
Guimerà & Alvaro, 1990). Nevertheless, the earlier
stages of intraplate deformation, characterized by ESE-
WNW (Eocene) and NE– SW to ENE- WSW (Eocene– Late
Oligocene) compressions, were suitable to form NNW– SSE
to N- S folds (Liesa & Simón,2009). The age of such folds
strictly coincides with the time in which those paleostress
directions were recorded in Cenozoic syn- inversion con-
glomeratic units (Simón,2006). The hinge of the Miravete
anticline is not observable in most parts of its trace, as in
the Peña de la Higuera section, because the normal fault
or its Cenozoic inversion juxtaposes different sedimentary
units from the two- fold limbs (Figures9 and 11c). In such
a scenario, welding or locking in relation to normal fault
slip or during inversion instead of the secondary (salt)
welding proposed by Vergés et al. (2020) is the most re-
liable interpretation (Figure12a vs. b) (see Section 5.3).
The most conspicuous interference structures found in
the studied western Maestrazgo area (Aliaga, Camarillas-
Jorcas, La Cañadilla, Los Olmos, and Sierra de El Pobo;
Liesa,2011b; Simón,1980, 2004, 2005) result from super-
position of E- W trending folds, Early Miocene in age, on
NW- SE to NNW– SSE trending ones, Eocene– Oligocene
in age (Figures2, 3 and 9). Also, in this case, fold timing
is robustly established in the Aliaga area on the basis of
tectono– sedimentary relationships with synorogenic
units of the Cenozoic Aliaga basin (Simón, 2004, 2005),
while their contemporaneity with later, nearly N- S trend-
ing compressions has been evinced from paleostress anal-
ysis (Simón,2006).
In summary, the NW- SE to NNW– SSE trending folds,
as the Cañada Vellida and Aliaga- Miravete anticlines, de-
veloped during the main orogenic period in the Iberian
Chain, under the Pyrenean- Iberian compressional stress
field (compression trajectories roughly trending NE– SW,
evolving or being locally deflected to ENE- WSW or E- W;
Liesa,2000; Liesa & Simón,2007, 2009; Simón,2006). Fold
trend variations are mainly due to structural inheritance,
since many folds nucleated on previous extensional faults
during positive inversion of the Iberian basin. In particular,
the nearly N- S trend of the Miravete anticline, belonging
to this older fold set, is easily explained by its genetic rela-
tionship with the extensional Miravete fault, as explained
above. The E- W trending folds developed during a much
shorter late- orogenic stage under the Late Betic and Late
Pyrenean stress fields (compression trajectories trending
NNW– SSE and NNE– SSW, respectively; Liesa,2000; Liesa
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LIESA et al.
& Simón,2007, 2009; Simón,2006). Most of these fold in-
terference structures are located within the Utrillas thrust
sheet, and their sequential development is fully consistent
with the displacement history of the thrust itself (Simón
& Liesa,2011).
6.2
|
Mechanical stratigraphy: Dragging,
welding and detachment levels
The Mesozoic of the Iberian Chain is a good example of
the alternation of viscous and less viscous rock successions
that conditioned the evolution of the basin during the ex-
tensional and inversion– contractional stages (Figure4).
In addition to the aforementioned main regional detach-
ments (the Triassic mudstone and gypsum sequences of the
Middle Muscheskalk and Keuper), two other thick incom-
petent mudstone and sandstone units stand out in the study
region: the Barremian Camarillas Fm (~300 m thick, locally
up to 900 m in the Galve sub- basin; Navarrete et al.,2013a;
Navarrete, 2015), and the Aptian- Albian Escucha and
Utrillas formations (300– 500 m thick), both sandwiched be-
tween thick competent calcareous sequences (Table1).
Drag folds are very common where rock sequences
with significantly different mechanical properties are
subjected to shear, the incompetent layers being stretched
and smeared in the vicinity of faults (Aydin & Eyal,2002;
Schmatz et al.,2010). Drag folds develop by frictional slid-
ing during faulting (e.g. Davis,1984; Becker,1995; Ramsay
& Huber,1987) or by folding at the tip of a propagating
fault, conditioned by mechanical stratigraphy (e.g., Ferrill
et al.,2012; Gross et al.,1997), regardless of their having
normal, reverse or strike- slip component. Drag folds as-
sociated with salt mobilization strongly differ from those
resulting from slip- on faults. As a general rule, the con-
vexity of the drag folds will point in a different direction in
each fault block, whereas they will point towards the same
domain in diapir- drag folds (Figure16).
Due to its particular mechanical stratigraphy, drag folds
are very common in the Iberian Chain. They are associated
with Mesozoic and Neogene- Quaternary normal faults
(e.g. Casas- Sainz & Gil- Imaz, 1998; Cortés et al., 1999;
Ezquerro et al., 2020; Rodríguez- López et al., 2007) as
well as linked to Cenozoic high- angle reverse faults and
thrusts (Casas et al.,2000; Simón & Liesa,2011). Around
the Miravete and Cañada Vellida anticlines, there are nu-
merous drag folds associated with faults, favoured by the
proximity of the incompetent Keuper facies. The kine-
matic indicators evidence that the drag folds have a tec-
tonic origin and are mainly related to the displacement of
normal faults (normal drag) during the Early Cretaceous
basinal stage, as suggested by their relationship with local
synrift and intrarift unconformities. At Peña de la Higuera
locality, the Keuper facies has been strongly smeared
during Cenozoic thrusting, practically locking the verti-
cal to overturned, Lower Cretaceous limestone beds (El
Castellar Fm) against the Hettangian breccia (Cortes de
Tajuña Fm) (Figure12a). Instead of the salt weld proposed
by Vergés et al. (2020) (Figure12b), the geometrical re-
lationship between these units, which in turn represents
the connection of the western and eastern limbs of the
Miravete anticline, was produced during fault movement,
that is it represents a case of fault slip locking during the
tectonic inversion (Figures11b and 12a).
On the other hand, both the particular mechanical
stratigraphy of the Mesozoic cover and the deep detach-
ment in the basement is primarily responsible for the re-
gional and local deformation geometry. During the basin
stage, different scales of extensional deformation may be
related to the role of each ductile level and the size of the
involved structures. Major faults or fault zones, more than
20 km long (e.g. the Miravete or Cañada Vellida high- angle
normal faults), likely rooted at a deep basal detachment
and controlled differential tectonic subsidence and sedi-
mentation on a sub- basin scale during the latest Jurassic–
Early Cretaceous (Capote et al.,2002; Liesa et al., 2006;
Soria,1997). Shallower detachments in the basement (e.g.
the Silurian shales) and Mesozoic incompetent layers,
especially the Keuper clays and gypsum, probably repre-
sented barriers to upward propagation of deformation,
nucleating splay faults above the major faults that evolved
forming complex fault zones. Ductile deformation on
these upper layers gave rise to the formation of graben
and half- graben systems at different scales depending on
the detachment depth: structures developed above a shal-
lower detachment level, that is in a thinner cover, were
smaller. These intermediate- to minor- scale structures
controlled differential subsidence on an intrabasinal to
local scale. As examples of intermediate, kilometre- scale
structures, the ENE- WSW striking Remenderuelas and
Camarillas faults (Figures9 and 11a) were likely rooted in
the Silurian shales, whereas other associated faults with
pronounced listric geometry (El Batán Fault) detached in
the Upper Triassic (Liesa et al.,2006). Some ENE- WSW
trending graben and half- grabens, 100 m to a few kilo-
metres in size, developed in the younger Aptian units in
Cañada Vellida (Figure6) and the northern sector of the
Miravete anticline (Figure9), very likely detached in the
mudstones of the Barremian Camarillas Fm.
6.3
|
Overview and implications for the
Maestrazgo basin
Review of the arguments supporting Mesozoic salt tecton-
ics as the main mechanism responsible for the formation
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33
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LIESA et al.
of the Miravete and Cañada Vellida anticlines shows nu-
merous inconsistencies, including the claimed Jurassic
and Lowe Cretaceous salt- related unconformities and
onlaps (Figures12- 14), the hook (Figure8) and flap
(Figure7) structures or the change in thickness between
the anticline limbs. Piercement has also not been observed
or described in the region, which is the crucial observation
to define a diapir (Jackson & Talbot,1986). The arguments
presented and discussed above show that the Cañada
Vellida and the Miravete anticlines formed during the
Cenozoic shortening stage by reactivation of extensional
fault zones that developed during the Late Jurassic– Early
Cretaceous rifting stage. The nucleation of these folds on
previous faults is responsible for their anomalous trend
(around NNW– SSE) in relation to the general NW- SE
orientation of the folds and thrusts in the Iberian Chain.
The nearby Ababuj and Cañada de Benatanduz anticlines
(Figure1b) have also been interpreted in the same way
(Gautier,1980; Simón- Porcar et al.,2019).
Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic evaporite- bearing suc-
cessions shows limited thickness in the eastern Iberian
realm. In most cases, Middle Muschelkak and Keuper
facies are <150 m thick, and thin evaporitic beds (mostly
<10– 15 m thick gypsum beds) are intercalated between
FIGURE Drag folds as kinematic criteria to decipher processes (diapirism, tectonics) involved in the deformation. (a) Oblique shear
(faulting). Drag folds associated with normal (A.1) and reverse (A.2) faults in layers of different competencies. Incompetent layers (mainly
shales and mudstones, maybe including gypsum and a small amount of salt) are smeared on fault planes enabling dragging. In faults,
regardless of having normal or reverse kinematics, the convexity of drag folds and the polarity of beds point to the same direction in both
fault blocks. (b) Vertical shear (gravity). Kinematic criteria of drag folds and (secondary) salt welds formed by mobilization of large volumes
of salt. In salt welds, regardless of whether the salt structure is symmetric or asymmetric, the convexity of drag folds and the polarity of beds
point to opposite directions in both fault blocks.
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LIESA et al.
thick peritidal red mudstones (Table1; Marín,1974; Ortí
et al., 2017, 2020; Pérez- López et al., 2021). However,
within the Maestrazgo basin, a vertical, apparent thickness
of evaporites up to 1200 m has been drilled (i.e. Middle
Muschelkalk in the Bovalar anticline; Figure1b and
Table1). It should be noted, however, that this area only
shows minor evidence of diapiric flow. From the study of
seismic reflection profiles, Nebot & Guimerà(2016a, 2016b,
2018) identified very gentle ‘domes’ (NW- SE Mirambel
and Monchén anticlines) or anticlines (NNW– SSE to N- S
Bovalar anticline) that could partly be the result of salt mi-
gration. These authors state that Triassic extensional faults
affect the Middle Triassic evaporite unit that fills the relief
generated by the system of horsts, grabens and half- grabens
and shows thickening and wedge geometries towards the
normal faults and fan- shaped reflectors against them. The
Middle Muschelkalk evaporitic unit is thinner upon the
structural highs of the basement (Monchen and Iglesuela
highs), which are also located in the upthrown blocks of
NW- SE- trending Triassic normal faults (see Figure7 of
Nebot & Guimerà, 2016b). The supra- salt cover, from
the Middle Triassic (Upper Muschelkalk) to the Lower
Cretaceous, overlaps these structures lying nearly horizon-
tal in most seismic profiles, indicating that there were no
significant changes in the thickness of the salt units after
deposition (Nebot & Guimerà,2016b). Based on some ex-
amples of onlaps over the Upper Muschelkalk in gentle an-
ticlines, these authors interpret a limited salt flow during
deposition of the Upper Triassic (Keuper), triggered by the
resumption of extensional tectonics.
Other lines of evidence also suggest either limited
salt migration during the basinal stage or tectonics as a
driving mechanism for the development of domes and
anticlines in the Maestrazgo region. Due to the cha-
otic seismic facies appearing at depth (see figure7c of
Nebot & Guimerà, 2016b) and the 1200 m of Middle
Muschelkalk evaporitic unit in its core, the origin of the
N- S trending, 40 km long, Bovalar box anticline is open to
discussion. It has been interpreted as (i) the result of salt
migration (Bartrina & Hernández, 1990; ; Lanaja, 1987;
Nebot & Guimerà,2016a, 2016b; Vergés et al.,2020), (ii)
a fold detached in the Triassic evaporites (Antolín- Tomás
et al.,2007) or (iii) a propagation fold involving the base-
ment (Nebot & Guimerà, 2016b, 2018). In our opinion,
based on the geometrical parallelism and location with
respect to the Cañada Vellida and Miravete box anticlines
(Figure1), a similar kinematic history for the Bovalar an-
ticline cannot be ruled out. That is, the present- day struc-
ture can result from the Cenozoic positive inversion of a
Mesozoic extensional fault involving the basement, in this
case dipping to the east, which was probably active during
the Permian- Middle Triassic and Late Jurassic- Early
Cretaceous rifting stages.
Although thick salt levels have been locally detected in
the Middle Muschelkalk evaporites, salt tectonics does not
seem to have played a significant role in the eastern Iberian
Chain during the Mesozoic basinal and Cenozoic com-
pressional stages. The presence of successive detachment
levels with significant thickness in the Iberian Chain in-
fluences many geometrical features of structures at basin
borders, but their gravitational migration does not seem to
be the primary driving factor controlling the tectonic evo-
lution. The feasible figures for extension and compression
in the central- eastern Iberian Chain (Guimerà et al.,1996;
Seillé et al., 2015) do not leave much space for vertical
movements. Crustal thinning and associated basement
faulting can account for subsidence during the Mesozoic,
while recovery of such thinning piling up an extra crustal
thickness (Casas- Sainz & De Vicente,2009) would corre-
spond to the Cenozoic shortening stage.
Noticeably, the basal and intermediate detachment
levels are of prime importance for the development of
subsurface tectonic structures, but not less important is
the geometry of structures in relation to the paleotopog-
raphy, that is the ramps cutting the cover competent rocks
during extension. In the central- eastern Iberian Chain,
fault ramps, apart from the basement, are mainly linked
to the thick limestone series of the Jurassic, Aptian and
Upper Cretaceous. This competent cover exerted a major
control during the subsequent compressive deformation,
determining the location of anticlines that show the typi-
cal box- fold geometry related to fault- propagation folding
(e.g. Casas et al.,1998b; Cortés et al.,1999; Cortés- Gracia &
Casas- Sainz,1996; Simón, Arenas, et al.,1998) or footwall
shortcut thrusts (Casas et al.,2000; Liesa et al.,2000; Liesa
& Simón,2004; Simón & Liesa, 2011). In fact, the most
representative and spectacular structures in the eastern
Iberian Chain, which stand out in the present- day land-
scape due to the Quaternary differential river incision, are
the La Olla vertical anticline (Figure9) in Aliaga (Gibbons
& Moreno,2002; Simón,2004; Simón, Arenas, et al.,1998),
and the basement- involved Utrillas thrust (Figure2) in
Utrillas and Castel de Cabra (e.g. Casas et al.,2000; Simón
& Liesa,2011). Both are related to Cenozoic inversion of
Mesozoic normal faults. These and many other structures,
such as the Miravete and Cañada Vellida anticlines, are
specifically linked to the deformation of the Mesozoic
limestones related to fault ramps.
7
|
CONCLUSIONS
The Cañada Vellida and Miravete anticlines in the east-
ern Iberian Chain (Maestrazgo basin, Spain), reinter-
preted by Vergés et al.(2020) as examples of salt- tectonic
features during Jurassic- Cretaceous basin formation and
|
35
EAGE
LIESA et al.
evolution, are true folds resulting from positive inversion
tectonics, in full coherence with the geologic history of the
region indeed. Our careful 4D study of these structures has
been crucial not only for their geometric characterization
but also for the interpretation of processes driving their
formation and evolution. According to our interpretation,
the Mesozoic evolution of these structures, especially dur-
ing the latest Jurassic– Early Cretaceous times, was char-
acterized by the development of major extensional fault
zones detached within the basement, which controlled
subsidence and thickness distribution at local and re-
gional scales. The Triassic clay and gypsum (Keuper) and
other incompetent clay and marlstone sequences (mainly
the Barremian Camarillas Fm) provide detachments for
other minor scale fault systems controlling subsidence
and deposition from intrabasinal to local scale. During
the Cenozoic shortening, differential inversion along fault
zones first nucleated and then developed major anticlines
with complex box geometries, in which pre- existing nor-
mal faults were folded and inverted to a different degree.
Other pieces of evidence point to a negligible role of salt
migration in the tectonic evolution of the central- eastern
Iberian Chain (Maestrazgo): (i) the preferential accumu-
lation of thick salt- bearing units in relation to Triassic
graben and half- graben structures, lacking evidence of
significant lateral migration and (ii) the relatively uniform
thickness of Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic carbonate
units covering the salt- bearing units. In summary, the no-
tion of a Triassic diapiric province in the Maestrazgo basin
is, in our view, not supported by the observation and inter-
pretations summarized here.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could
have appeared to influence the work reported in this
paper. We thank Laura Burrel, Alex Peace, Juan I. Soto
and two anonymous reviewers and editor Craig Magee
for constructive reviews of earlier versions of this manu-
script. This research was supported by the Agencia Estatal
de Investigación (AEI/10.13039/501100011033) of the
Spanish Government (grant numbers PID2019- 108705-
GB- I00, PID2019- 108753GB- C22 and CGL2017- 85038- P)
and the Aragon Regional Government (grant numbers
LMP127_18 and E32_20R: Geotransfer research group).
PEER REVIEW
The peer review history for this article is available at
https://publo ns.com/publo n/10.1111/bre.12713.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available
from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
ORCID
Carlos L. Liesa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9130-117X
Antonio M. Casas- Sainz https://orcid.
org/0000-0003-3652-3527
Marcos Aurell https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2430-7424
José L. Simón https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1412-5245
Ana R. Soria https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2963-8422
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How to cite this article: Liesa, C. L., Casas-Sainz,
A. M., Aurell, M., Simón, J. L., & Soria, A. R. (2022).
Salt tectonics vs. inversion tectonics: The anticlines
of the western Maestrazgo revisited (eastern Iberian
Chain, Spain). Basin Research, 00, 1– 41. https://doi.
org/10.1111/bre.12713
