Temporal aspects of genetic stratigraphic units in continental sedimentary basins: Examples from the Ebro basin, Spain

Abstract

The utility of genetic stratigraphy lies with the fundamental relationship between genetic stratigraphic units and correlative intervals of geologic time. While high-resolution studies may reveal varying degrees of diachroneity that are associated with their bounding surfaces, genetic stratigraphic units are generally viewed as chronostratigraphic in nature, representing specific periods of basin fill. Despite the vast literature on basin analysis, an evaluation of the temporal character of the boundaries between genetic stratigraphic units, particularly in cases where they are conformable, has not yet been undertaken. The Cenozoic Ebro basin is a foreland basin on the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula that provides a case for assessing the temporal character of the boundaries between genetic stratigraphic units. These units are termed “tecto-sedimentary units”, following the method of tecto-sedimentary analysis that is used in some continental basins. In the Ebro basin tecto-sedimentary analysis is based on direct field observations. In this work, magnetostratigraphic data from four tecto-sedimentary units (units T4 to T7) that span rocks of lower and middle Miocene age (ca. 1000 m thick) in the central and western areas of the basin are analysed. The study area contains alluvial, fluvial and lacustrine deposits that were sourced from Pyrenean and Iberian areas, whose catchments were structured during the collision of Iberia and Eurasia. New magnetostratigraphic data from this study and previously published magnetostratigraphic data enable us to determine the ages of these tecto-sedimentary unit boundaries throughout a 200-km-long, east–west transect that extends from the basin centre to the southwestern margin. The results indicate that the diachrony of the three boundaries between the Miocene tecto-sedimentary units through the central Ebro basin is less than 0.3 Ma where they are conformable. This low degree of diachroneity may be attributed to the effects of allogenic, largely tectonic processes that operate in the catchment areas and methodological inaccuracies. These results provide empirical support to the idea that genetic stratigraphic units are bounded by surfaces that exhibit low amounts of diachroneity where they are conformities.