Deformación reciente y control tectónico del relieve de la Cuenca del Guadalquivir entre las Béticas Centrales y Occidentales

Resumen

This work tests the existence of recent deformation in a sector of the Betics foreland basin by both interpreting seismic profiles and applying geomorphic indices (Smf, Vf, Ebulk, SLk y HI). The basin infill is deformed in its southern half by thrusts and folds involving the contact between pliocene and quaternary rocks. Some of these structures propagate closer to the foreland limit. Conversely, most of the structures developed in both the basement and the infill of the northern basin boundary are high angle normal faults, often associated with the sharp topographic drop at the boundary between basin and foreland. The geomorphic indices values indicate recent tectonic uplift of the foreland in the basin northern boundary. The age of the basin infill which has been deformed by shortening structures points to the recent migration of the orogenic wedge toward the foreland. This agrees with the uplift and northward tilting of the older terraces of the Guadalquivir River, as well as with the asymmetric position of this river inside its basin. The normal faults developed in the basin northern boundary, which affect Upper Miocene rocks, may be associated with active flexural extension in the forebulge.