The Yunquera and Saucillo Units in the western Betic Internal Zone: regional significance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/egeol.44076.592Keywords:
Betic Cordillera, Betic Internal Zone, Alpujarride Complex, thrust, transpressionAbstract
In order to gain in the understanding of the evolution of the Betics, particularly in its Alpine front, is important to know better its western tectonic Alpujarride units.
For this reason the Yunquera unit has been studied by analyzing its stratigraphic and tectonic context. This unit is a tectonic slice thrust by the Alpujarride Complex, to which it belongs. In turn, this tectonic slice was thrust over the Dorsal, and the latter was thrust over the Subbetic. During this thrusting, the bottom of the Yunquera unit was beveled, so that in its northern part only the higher stratigraphic levels remain, while to the south also lower levels are preserved. Part of this basal cut could also happen, during the later oblique thinning occurred in the Dorsal, which appears totally laminated in an area of this sector. These deformations happened during the progressive westward drift of the Internal Zone, whose advance was not homogeneous, but as segments, with greater displacement in the more southern ones. Although these deformations can be separated in several stages, actually they correspond to a continuous process spanning from the end of the Oligocene to the Burdigalian. According to its lithological characteristics, the Yunquera unit must be integrated in the upper Alpujarride unit, generally known as Jubrique or Los Reales, whose outcrops practically include all the western sector of this complex. This correlation allows for a better understanding of the structure and the tectonic evolution of this complex. In turn, the Saucillo unit, also present in this area, is clearly linked with the Intermediate units, tectonically situated between the Alpujarride and Malaguide Complexes. This unit is strongly affected by a fault zone formed during the stretching of the Dorsal. In this fault zone, tectonic rests of other units also can be found.
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