Deciphering tectonic‐ and erosion‐driven exhumation of the Nevado–Filábride Complex (Betic Cordillera, Southern Spain) by low temperature thermochronology

Abstract

Terra Nova, 23, 257–263, 2011AbstractNew apatite (U‐Th)/He and fission‐track data from the Nevado–Filábride complex in the Sierra Nevada of southern Spain are used to constrain the Neogene exhumation history. Apatite (U‐Th)/He ages are close to fission‐track ages in western Sierra Nevada indicating that rapid cooling occurred at 8–6 Ma, consistent with exhumation due to extension along the Mecina Fault. The western Sierra de los Filabres cooled rapidly at c. 12 Ma, while the central Sierra de los Filabres experienced less rapid cooling at 8 Ma. The age distribution in the Sierra de los Filabres can be explained by exhumation due to flexural uplift to the south‐west of the footwall of the Mecina Fault. The lower cooling rates in the central Sierra de los Filabres suggest that folding and erosion were the main exhumation processes during the Late Tortonian.Terra Nova, 00, 1–7, 2011