Middle Miocene extensional tectonics in Southeast Mallorca Island (Western Mediterranean)
- Lluís Moragues 1
- Guillermo Booth Rea 12
- Patricia Ruano 12
- José Miguel Azañón 12
- Seiffedine Gaidi 1
- José Vicente Pérez Peña 1
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1
Universidad de Granada
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2
Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra
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ISSN: 0214-2708
Year of publication: 2018
Volume: 31
Issue: 2
Pages: 101-110
Type: Article
More publications in: Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España
Abstract
Mapping and structural analysis of the south of the Serres de Llevant in Mallorca, shows that great part of the contacts between different lithological formations are Low-Angle Normal Faults (LANFs). These faults have strongly thinned the previous thrust stack producing omissions in the stratigraphic sequence. Extensional structures are observed at all scales and are especially evident in the Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic pelagic formations that have a rather penetrative S0-C´ fabric. Extension shows two orthogonal directions with NE-SW and NW-SE-directed transport. Extensional denudation of the Serres de Llevant occurred during the Middle Miocene, after the end of WNW-directed thrusting that lasted up to the Langhian, and before the deposition of flat-lying Tortonian marine sediments. This Middle Miocene extensional phase in the Balearic promontory suggests that the formation of the Algero-Balearic basin probably occurred at this time, later than usually considered. This process contributed to the westward displacement of the Betic internal zones since the Langhian, leaving the Mallorca foreland thrust belt stranded from its corresponding hinterland.