1887
Volume 15, Issue 1
  • E-ISSN: 1365-2117

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The South‐Pyrenean Foreland Basin is a sedimentary trough developed during Palaeogene times in response Pyrenean orogenesis. The structural development of the chain progressively involved the foreland basin deposits resulting in synsedimentary thrusting and growth of folds through the basin. The lower Eocene Roda Sandstone was deposited in a shallow‐marine environment whose topography (bathymetry) was modified by a series of growing gentle folds. This synsedimentary folding is evidenced in the field (i) thickening of sedimentary units above synclinal structures and thinning over anticlines; (ii) carbonate platform deposits growing on top of anticlines; (iii) the areal distribution of benthic foraminifera in transgressive facies assemblages determined by an irregular, fold‐influenced palaeobathymetry; (iv) variation of sandstone palaeocurrents related to the presence of a sedimentary trough formed by the synsedimentary growth of a syncline. In addition, synsedimentary folding has been evidenced from seismic data. In the Roda Sandstone example, the growth of gentle folds occurred in an area with high sedimentation rates (∼0.21 ± 0.06 mm y−1). Due to the high sedimentation rates, exceeding the folds uplift rate (∼0.10 ± 0.01 mm y−1), there are no noticeable unconformities in the growth strata at outcrop scale. However, the effects on the sedimentation are very significant, because the sediments were deposited close to sea level, and thus were very sensitive to fauna and facies distribution.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1046/j.1365-2117.2003.00193.x
2003-02-28
2024-04-25
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Anadón, P., Cabrera, L., Colombo, F., Marzo, M. & Riba, O. (1986) Syntectonic intraformational unconformities in alluvial fan deposits, eastern Ebro Basin margins (NE Spain). In: Foreland Basins (Ed. by P.Allen & P.Homewood ), Spec. Publ. Int. Ass. Sediment. , 8, 259–271.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anastasio, D.J., Fisher, D.M., Messina, T.A., Holl, J.E. (1997) Kinematics of décollement folding in the Lost River Range, Idaho. Journal of Structural Geology, 19, 355–368.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Arbués, P., Pi, E. & Berástegui, X. (1996) Relaciones entre la evolución sedimentaria del Grupo de Areny y el cabalgamiento de Boixols. Geogaceta, 20, 446–449.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Barberà, X. (1995) Estratigrafía de l'Ilerdià de la Conca de Tremp. Msc Thesis. Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
  5. Barberà, X., Marzo, M., Reguant, S., Samsó, J.M., Serra‐Kiel, J. & Tosquella, J. (1997) Estratigrafía del Grupo Figols (Paleógeno, cuenca de Graus‐Tremp, NE de España). Rev. Soc. Geol. España, 10 (1–2), 67–81.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Beaumont, C., Muñoz, J.A., Hamilton, J. & Fullsack, P. (2000) Factors controlling the Alpine evolution of the central Pyrenees inferred from a comparison of observations and geodynamical models. J. Geophys. Res., 105 (B4), 8121–8145.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bentham, P. & Burbank, D.W. (1996) Chronology of Eocene foreland basin evolution along the western oblique margin of the South Central Pyrenees. In: Tertiary Basins of Spain. The Stratigraphic Record of Crustal Kinematics (Ed. by P.F.Friend & C.Dabrio ), pp. 144–152. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Bond, R.M.G. & McClay, K.R. (1995) Inversion of a Lower Cretaceous extensional basin, south central Pyrenees, Spain. In: Basin Inversion (Ed. by J.G.Buchanan & P.G.Buchanan ). Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. , 88, 415–431.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Burbank, D.W. & Vergés, J. (1994) Reconstruction of topography and related depositional systems during active thrusting. J. Geophys. Res., 99 (B10), 20281–20297.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Cande, S.C. & Kent, D.V. (1992) A new Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Journal of Geophysical Research, 97, (B10), 13917–13951.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Cande, S.C. & Kent, D.V. (1995) Revised calibration of the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Journal of Geophysical Research, 100, 6093–6095.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Caus, E. & Serra‐Kiel, J. (1984) Distribución ambiental de los macroforaminíferos. Cretácico superior y Eoceno. Comunicaciones I Congreso Español Geología, Salamanca, T., 1, 399–406.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Caus, E. & Serra‐Kiel, J. (1992) Macroforaminífers: Estructura, Paleoecologia I Bioestratigrafia. Publicació del Servei Geològic de Catalunya. Monografía núm. 2, Barcelona, Spain.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Colombo, F. & Vergés, J. (1992) Geometría del margen SE de la Cuenca del Ebro: discordancias progresivas en el Grupo Scala Dei. Serra de la Llena (Tarragona). Acta Geológica Hispanica, 27, 33–53.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Crumeyrolle, Ph, Soudet, H.J. & López‐Blanco, M. & Roda Team (1990) Partitioning of a deltaic reservoir controlled by base level changes. A case study: the Roda Deltaic Complex (NE Spain). In: Abstracts 13th International Sedimentological Congress. IAS, pp. 114–115. Nottingham, UK.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Cuevas‐Gozalo, M., Donselaar, M.E. & Nio, S.D. (1985) Eocene clastic tidal deposits in the Tremp‐Graus Basin (provs. of Lérida and Huesca). In: Abstracts 6th European Regional Meeting. IAS (Ed. by M.D.Milá & J.Rosell ), pp. 215–286. Lérida.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. De Boer, P.L., Pragt, J.S.J. & Oost, A.P. (1991) Vertically persistent sedimentary facies boundaries along growth anticlines and climate‐controlled sedimentation in the thrust‐sheet‐top South Pyreneean Tremp‐Graus Foreland Basin. Basin Res., 3, 63–78.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Déramond, J., Souquet, P., Fondecave‐Walez, M.J. & Spetch, M. (1993) Relationships between thrust tectonics and sequence stratigraphy surfaces in foredeeps: Model and example from the Pyrenees (Cretaceous‐Eocene, France, Spain). In: Tectonics and Seismic Sequence Stratigraphy (Ed. by G.D.Williams & A.Dobb ), Geol. Soc. London. Spec. Publ. , 71, 0193–219.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Dewey, J.F., Helman, M.L., Turco, E., Hutton, D.H.W. & Knott, S.D. (1989) Kinematies of the western Mediterranean. In: Alpine Tectonics (Ed. by M.P.Coward & D.Dietrich & R.G.Park ), Geol. Soc. London. Spec. Publ. , 45, 265–283.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Dreyer, T., Corregidor, J., Arbués, P. & Puigdefábregas, C. (1999) Architecture of the tectonically influenced Sobrarbe deltaic complex in the Ainsa Basin, northern Spain. Sediment. Geol., 127, 127–169.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Eichenseer, H. (1988) Facies geology of late Maetrichtian to early Eocene coastal and shallow marine sediments, Tremp‐Graus Basin, northeastern Spain, Arb. Institute Mus. Geol. Pal. University Tübingen, Germany.
  22. Fitzgerald, P.G., Muñoz, J.A., Coney, P.J. & Baldwin, S.L. (1999) Asymmetric exhumation across the Pyrenean orogen: implications for the tectonic evolution of a collisional orogen. Earth Planetary Sci. Lett., 173, 157–170.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Fleuty, M.J. (1964) The description of folds. Proc. Geol. Assoc., 75, 461–492.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Fonnesu, F. (1983) Estratigrafia física y análisis de facies de la Secuencia de Figols entre el Rio Noguera Pallaresa e Iscles. (Provs. de Lérida y Huesca), PhD Thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
  25. Ford, M., Williams, E.A., Artoni, A., Vergés, J. & Hardy, S. (1997) Progressive evolution of a fault related fold pair from growth strata geometries, Sant Llorenç de Morunys, SE Pyrenees. J. Struct. Geol, 19, 413–441.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. García‐Senz, J. (2002) Cuencas extensivas del Cretácico inferior en los Pirineos centrales, formación y subsecuente inversión. PhD Thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, 310p.
  27. Garrido‐Megias, A. & Rios Aragüès, L.M. (1972) Síntesis geológica entre los ríos Cinca y Segre. Bol. Geol. Min., LXXXIII, 1–47.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Harland, W.B., Armstrong, R.L., Cox, A.V., Craig, L.E., Smith, A.G. & Smith, D.G. (1990) A Geologic Time Scale 1989. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Holl, J.E. & Anastasio, D.J. (1993) Paleomagnetically derived folding rates, southern Pyrenees, Spain. Geology, 21, 271–274.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Lanaja, J.M., Querol, R. & Navarro, A. (1987) Contribución de la Exploración Petrolífera Al Conocimiento de la Geología de España. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. Madrid.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Lawton, T.F., Roca, E. & Guimerá, J. (1999) Kinematic‐stratigraphic evolution of a growth syncline and its implications for tectonic development of the proximal foreland basin, southeastern Ebro Basin, Catalunya, Spain. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 111 (3), 412–431.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. López‐Blanco, M. (1996a) Estratigrafia Secuencial de Sistemas Deltaicos en Cuencas de Antepais: Ejemplos de Sant Llorenç del Munt, Montserrat y Roda (Paleogeno, Cuenca de Antepais Surpirenaica), Unpublished PhD Thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
  33. López‐Blanco, M. (1996b) Estratigrafia Secuencial de Sistemas Deltaicos en Cuencas de Antepais: Ejemplos de Sant Llorenç del Munt, Montserrat y Roda (Paleogeno, Cuenca de Antepais Surpirenaica). Acta Geológica Hispánica, 31 (4), 91–95.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. López‐Blanco, M. (2002) Sedimentary response to thrusting and fold growing on the SE margin of the Ebro Basin (Paleogene, NE Spain). Sediment. Geol., 146 (1–2), 133–154.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. López‐Blanco, M. & Marzo, M.& Roda Team (1990) Fourth order sedimentary cycles of the Roda Deltaic Complex (southern Pyrenees, Spain). In: Abstracts13th International Sedimentological Congress. IAS, pp. 316–317. Nottingham.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Luterbacher, H.P., Eichenseer, H., Betzler, C. & Van Den Hurk, A.M. (1991) Carbonate‐siliclastic depositional systems in the Paleogene of the South‐Pyrenean Foreland Basin: a sequence‐stratigraphic approach. In: Sedimentation, Tectonics and Eustasy: Sea‐Level Changes at Active Margins (Ed. by D.I.M.Macdonald ), Spec. Publ. Int. Ass. Sediment. , 12, 391–407.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Marzo, M., Muñoz, J.A., Vergés, J., López Blanco, M., Roca, E., Arbués, P., Barberà, X., Cabrera, L., Colombo, F. & Serra‐Kiel, J. (1998) Sedimentation and tectonics: case studies from Paleogene continental to deep water sequences of the South‐Pyrenean Foreland Basin (NE Spain). In: '15th International Sedimentological Congress. Field Trip Guidebook′, pp. 199–251.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Medwedeff, D.W. (1992) Growth fault‐bend folding at southeast Low Hills, San joaquin Valley, California. AAPG Bull., 73, 54–67.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Meigs, A.J. (1997) Sequential development of selected Pyrenean thrust faults. J. Struct. Geol, 19, 481–502.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Mellere, D. (1993) Thrust‐generated back‐fill stacking of alluvial fan sequences, South Central Pyrenees, Spain (La Pobla de Segur Conglomerates). In: Tectonic Controls and Signatures in Sedimentary Successions (Ed. by L.Frostick & R.J.Steel ), Spec. Publ. Int. Ass. Sediment. , 20, 67–88.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Millán, H., Aurell, M. & Melendez, A. (1994) Synchronous detachment folds and coeval sedimentation in the Prepyrenean External Sierras (Spain): a case study for a tectonic origin of sequences and system tracts. Sedimentology, 41, 1001–1024.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Molenaar, N. & Martinius, A.W. (1990) Origin of nodules in mixed siliciclastic‐carbonate sandstones, the Lower Eocene Roda Sandstone Member, southern Pyrenees, Spain. Sediment. Geol, 66, 277–293.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Molenaar, N., Van de Bilt, G.P., Van den Hoeck Ostende, E.R. & Nio, S.D. (1988) Early diagenetic alteration of shallow marine mixed sandstones: an example from the Lower Eocene Roda Sandstone Member, Tremp‐Graus Basin, Spain. Sediment. Geol., 55, 295–318.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Muñoz, J.A. (1992) Evolution of a continental collision belt: ECORS‐Pyrenees crustal balanced cross‐section. In: Thrust Tectonics (Ed. by K.McClay ), pp. 235–246. Chapman & Hall, London.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Muñoz, J.A. (2002) The Pyrenees. In: Geology of SpainAlpine Tectonics I: the Alpine System North of the Betic Cordillera (Ed. by W.Gibbons & T.Moreno ), pp. 370–385. Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. London.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Mutti, E. & Sgavetti, M. (1987) Sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Aren strata in the Orcau‐Aren region, south‐central Pyrenees, Spain: distinction between eustatically and tectonically controlled depositional sequences. Annali Dell'università Di Ferrara. Nuova Serie. Sezione: Scienze Della Terra, 1 (1), 1–22.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Nijman, W. (1998) Cyclicity and basin axis shift in a piggy‐back basin: towards modelling of the Eocene Tremp‐Ager Basin, South Pyrenees, Spain. In: Cenozoic Foreland Basins of Western Europe (Ed. by A.Mascle , C.Puigdefabregas & H.P.Luterbacher & M.Fernández ). Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. , 134. 135–162.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Nijman, W. & Nio, S.D. (1975) The Eocene Montañana Delta (Tremp‐Graus Basin, provinces of Lérida and Huesca, southern Pyrenees, Spain). In: The Sedimentary Evolution of the Paleogene South‐Pyrenean Basin. Part B, pp. 1–20. IX. IAS Congress, Nice.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Nio, S.D. & Yang, C.S. (1991) Sea‐level fluctuations and the geometric variability of tide‐dominated sandbodies. Sediment. Geol., 70, 161–0193.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Olivet, J.L. (1996) La cinématique de la plaque Ibérique. Bull. Cent. Rech. Explor. Prod. Elf Aquitaine, 20, 131–195.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Pascual, J.O. (1992) Magnetoestratigrafía del estratotipo y paraestratotipo del Ilerdiense, secciones de Tremp y Campo (Cuenca de Tremp‐Graus), Unpublished PhD Thesis, University Barcelona, Spain.
  52. Peper, T. & De Boer, P.L. (1995) Intrabasinal thrust‐tectonic versus climate control on rhythmicities in the Eocene South‐Pyrenean Tremp‐Graus foreland basin: inferences from forward modelling. Tectonophysics, 249, 93–107.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Poblet, J. & Hardy, S. (1995) reverse modelling of detachment folds; application to the Pico del Aguila Anticline in the south central Pyrenees (Spain). J. Struct. Geol, 17, 1707–1724.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Poblet, J., Muñoz, J.A., Travé, A. & Serra‐Kiel, J. (1998) Quantifying the kinematics of detachment folds using three‐dimensional geometry: application to the Mediano Anticline (Pyrenees, Spain). Geol Soc. Am. Bull., 110, 111–125.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Puigdefàbregas, C. (1975) La sedimentación molásica en la cuenca de Jaca. Pirineos, 104, 1–188.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Puigdefàbregas, C., Samsó, J.M., Serra‐Kiel, J. & Tosquella, J. (1985) Facies analysis and faunal assemblages of the Roda Sandstone Formation, Eocene of the southern Pyrenees. Abstracts 6th Reg. Meet. Sedimentol. International Assoc. Sedimentol., pp. 639–642, Lleida.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Puigdefàbregas, C. & Souquet, P. (1986) Tectosedimentary cycles and depositional sequences of the Mesozoic and Tertiary from the Pyrenees. Tectonophysics, 129, 173–203.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Riba, O. (1973) Las discordancias sintectónicas del Alto Cardener (Prepirineo catalán), ensayo de interpretación evolutiva. Acta Geológica Hispánica, 8, 90–99.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Riba, O. (1976) Syntectonic unconformities of the Alto Cardener, Spanish Pyrenees: a genetic interpretation. Sediment. Geol, 15, 213–233.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Roest, W.R. & Srivastava, S.P. (1991) Kinematics of the plate boundaries between Eurasia, Iberia and Africa in the North Atlantic from the Late Cretaceous to the present. Geology, 19, 613–616.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Rowan, M.G. (1997) Three‐dimensional geometry and evolution of a segmented detachment fold, Mississippi Fan foldbelt, Gulf of Mexico. J. Struct. Geol, 19, 463–480.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Samsó, J.M. (1988) Estudi sedimentològic i biostratigràfic de la Formació St. Esteve del Mall. (Eocé, conca Tremp‐Graus). Msc Thesis. Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
  63. Samsó, J.M., Tosquella, J. & Serra‐Kiel, J. (1990) Los géneros Alveolina y Nummulites (macroforaminíferos) del Ilerdiense Medio‐Cuisiense Medio de la cuenca de Graus, Huesca. I. Sistemática. Bol. Geol. Min., 101 (2), 219–252.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Serra‐Kiel, J., Canudo, J.I., Dinarés, J., Molina, E., Ortiz, N., Pascual, J.O., Samsó, J.M. & Tosquella, J. (1994a) Cronoestratigrafia de los sedimentos marinos del Terciario inferior de la Cuenca de Graus‐Tremp (Zona Central Surpirenaica). Rev. Soc. Geol. España, 7, 273–297.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Serra‐Kiel, J., Tosquella, J., Samsó, J.M. & Fernández, C. (1994b) Distribución ambiental de los macroforaminíferos del Paleoceno de la cuenca Pirenaica. Comunicaciones de Las X Jornadas de Paleontologia, pp. 189–191, Madrid.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Simó, A. (1985) Secuencias deposicionales del Cretácico superior de la Unidad del montsec (Pirineo Central). Unpublished PhD Thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
  67. Simó, A. (1989) Upper Cretaceous platform‐to‐basin depositional sequence development, Tremp Basin, south‐central Pyrenees, Spain. In: Controls on Carbonate Platform and Basin Development SEPM, Spec. Publications, 44, 365–378.
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Srivastava, S.P., Roest, W.R., Kovacs, L.C., Oakey, G., Lévesque, S., Verhoef, J. & Macnab, R. (1990) Motion of Iberia since the Late Jurassic: results from detailed aeromagnetic measurements in the Newfoundland Basin. Tectonophysics, 184, 229–260.
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Suppe, J., Chou, G.T. & Hook, S.C. (1992) Rates of folding and faulting determined from growth strata. In: Thrust Tectonics (Ed. by K.McClay ), pp. 105–121. Chapman & Hall, London.
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Suppe, J., Sábat, F., Muñoz, J.A., Poblet, J., Roca, E. & Vergés, J. (1997) Bed‐by‐bed fold growth by kink‐band migration: Sant Llorenç de Morunys, eastern Pyrenees. J. Struct. Geol, 19, 443–461.
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Tosquella, J. (1988) Estudi Sedimentològic i Biostratigràfic de la Formació Gresos de Roda (Eocè, Conca Tremp‐Graus). Msc Thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
  72. Tosquella, J. (1995) Els Nummulitinae del Paleocè‐Eocè Inferior de la Conca Sudpirenenca. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
  73. Tosquella, J., Samsó, J.M. & Serra‐Kiel, J. (1990) Los géneros Alveolina y Nummulites (macroforaminíferos) del Ilerdiense Medio‐Cuisiense Medio de la cuenca de Graus, Huesca. II. Sistemática de Nummulites . Bol. Geol. Min., 101 (3), 351–403.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Vergés, J., Burbank, D.W. & Meigs, A. (1996) Unfolding: an inverse approach to fold kinematics. Geology, 24, 175–178.
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Vergés, J., Marzo, M. & Muńoz, J.A. (2001) Growth strata in foreland settings. Sediment. Geol, 146 (1–2), 1–10.
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Vincent, S.J. (1993) Fluvial paleovalleys in mountain belts: an example from the south central Pyrenees. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
  77. Vincent, S.J. (1999) The role of sediment supply in controlling alluvial architecture: an example from the Spanish Pyrenees. J. Geol. Soc., London, 156, 749–759.
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Vincent, S.J. & Elliot, T. (1997) Long‐lived transfer‐zone paleovalleys in mountain belts: an example from the Tertiary of the spanish Pyrenees. Sediment. Res., 67 (2), 303–310.
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Weltje, G.J., Van Ansenwoude, S.O.K.J. & De Boer, P.L. (1996) High‐frequency detrital signals in eocene fan‐delta sandstones of mixed parentage (South‐central Pyrenees, Spain): a reconstruction of chemical weathering in transit. Sed. Res., 66 (1), 119–131.
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Yang, C.S. & Nio, S.D. (1985) The estimation of palaeohydrodynamic processes from subtidal deposits using time series analysis methods. Sedimentology, 32, 41–57.
    [Google Scholar]
  81. Yang, C.S. & Nio, S.D. (1989) An ebb‐tide delta depositional model – a comparison between the modern Eastern Scheldt tidal basin (southwest Netherlands) and the Lower Eocene Roda Sandstone in the southern Pyrenees (Spain). Sediment. Geol., 64, 175–196.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1046/j.1365-2117.2003.00193.x
Loading
/content/journals/10.1046/j.1365-2117.2003.00193.x
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article

Most Cited This Month Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error