Geology of the Cotiella thrust sheet, southern Pyrenees (Spain)

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a geological map and cross-sections of the Cotiella thrust sheet at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scale, respectively. The map covers an area of 225 km2 in the southern Pyrenees. The structure of the studied area is dominated by an upper Santonian – lower Miocene thrust system, which transported a middle Coniacian-lower Santonian extensional basin, the Cotiella Basin, 10 s of kilometres southwards during the Pyrenean orogeny. The map focuses on the internal structure of the Cotiella Basin, its partially inverted extensional faults and its up to 6.5 km of upper Albian – lower Santonian sediments that unconformably overlie Upper Triassic salts. The map and cross-sections, together with outcrop-scale observations, have led us to interpret the rising of passive diapirs in the area. This newly recognized salt tectonic event in the Cotiella Basin is important because of the insights it can provide for the paleogeographic reconstruction of the Upper Cretaceous paleomargin of the northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula.