ALBERT

Description: New magnetostratigraphic results from a 3300 m-thick section across the syntectonic fluvial sediments of the Campodarbe Formation (Upper Eocene–Oligocene) in the Ebro foreland basin (NE Spain) are presented. The new data allow the top of the Campodarbe Formation to be correlated to Chron 7r (Chattian), younger than previously stated (C10r), therefore shifting the age of significant palaeogeographical changes in the foreland basin. The deformation in the southern front produces the cannibalization in the piggyback basin of 1300 m of sediments spanning c. 3.7 Myr. Average accumulation rates are lower in the Ebro foreland basin than in the piggyback basin and decrease from 35 to 27 cm kyr –1 by the time the San Felices thrust sheet activity decelerates (at c. 28 Myr). Shifts of accumulation rates result from accommodation space changes, which occur locally and are linked to the activity of the San Felices thrust, while the sediment supply occurs at orogenic scale (source of sediments is c. 200 km to the NE). Finally, sequence boundaries previously considered isochronous in the continental record of the Cenozoic Pyrenean basins are revealed to be 1.8–1 Myr older in the piggyback basin than in the Ebro foreland basin.

Description: Providing that a primary and reliable record of the magnetic field and its reference in a deformed area exists, the incorporation of palaeomagnetic constraints in restoration methods reduces uncertainty of rotation because such constraints can be applied both before and after deformation. In this paper, we utilize palaeomagnetic data to improve an unfolding algorithm based on the parameterization of the surface using isometric constraints. This method is more robust than others based on piecewise restoration of a triangulated surface, which are dependent on the meshing and, especially, on the pin-element. A disadvantage of this approach is that parametric restoration is sensitive to the initial solution, which hampers results for complex non-coaxial or non-cylindrical structures. We show that the use of palaeomagnetism as the initial gradient of one of the parameters improves the results of the method. We use analogue models to test the method because the expected restoration result can be stated, since the initial surface is known. We study the restoration sensitivity to surface meshing and the initial palaeomagnetic orientation. All in all, the use of palaeomagnetic vectors in the studied analogue models achieves the best restoration results. The implementation of palaeomagnetic vectors is crucial to obtain reliable 3D restorations of complex structures.

Description: Extract Palaeomagnetism, that is, the study of the ancient magnetic field recorded in rocks, is the only vectorial indicator in the Earth sciences that is capable of associating geological bodies with their original location (primary vectors) or with intermediate locations (secondary vectors) during their geological history. For this reason, palaeomagnetism has played a key role in supporting continental drift theory. Beyond tectonic plate-scale applications, palaeomagnetism has become a fundamental tool for assessing the evolution of mountain ranges owing to its unique potential for quantifying vertical axis rotations (VAR). Since the pioneering applications of authors such as Norris & Black (1961) and Tarling (1969), palaeomagnetism has been applied to problems at a variety of scales in many orogenic systems (e.g. Elredge et al. 1985; Kissel & Laj 1989; Weil & Sussman 2004; Elmore et al. 2012). In particular, palaeomagnetic data have been increasingly used as key quantitative information for determining the timing, distribution and magnitude of vertical axis rotations (Van der Voo & Channell 1980; McCaig & McClelland 1992; Allerton 1998). ... This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract.

Description: The application of palaeomagnetism in fold and thrust belts is a unique way to obtain kinematic information regarding the evolution of these systems. However, since many potential problems can affect the reliability of palaeomagnetic datasets and their interpretations, such data should be used with caution. In this paper, we thoroughly review the sources of error from palaeomagnetism with a particular focus on deciphering vertical-axis rotations and the assumptions behind the method. Recent investigations have demonstrated that the age of the magnetization and syn-folding results from the fold test must also be carefully examined: factors such as internal deformation, deficient isolation of components (i.e. overlapping) or incorrect restoration procedures may produce apparent syn-folding results. In fact, the restoration procedure used to return the palaeomagnetic signal to the palaeogeographic coordinate system may itself inhibit accurate estimations of vertical-axis rotations when complex deformation histories induce different, non-coaxial, deformation axes. We recommend the auxiliary use of the inclination v. dip diagram as an efficient tool for identifying many errors. Finally, to determine accurate vertical axis rotations, the reference direction should honour standard reliability criteria and would ideally be measured within the undeformed foreland of the thrust system. In this paper, we review five decades of palaeomagnetic research in fold and thrust belts by concentrating on maximizing standard reliability criteria procedures to reduce uncertainty and increase confidence when applying palaeomagnetic data to unravel the tectonic evolution of fold and thrust belts.

Description: Pico del Aguila anticline is a transverse décollement fold located at the Pyrenean thrust front. The anticline is a synsedimentary structure buried during growth by delta front mudstones and sands of the Eocene Arguis and Belsué-Atares formations. Both the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility measured at 77 K and 294 K and the anisotropy of anhysteretic remanence show that susceptibility is dominated by paramagnetic clay minerals and can be used as a proxy for depositional and tectonic fabric orientations. In general, the maximum and intermediate principal susceptibilities ( k 1 and k 2 ) of the AMS lie in bedding and the minimum principal susceptibility ( k 3 ) is oriented nearly normal to bedding. Layer-parallel shortening (LPS) produced a c.  north–south-trending magnetic intersection lineation in bedding on anticline limbs and in the adjacent Belsué and Arguis synclines by deforming the depositional and diagenetic compaction fabric. The degree of magnetic anisotropy is higher along axial surfaces than on limbs. At the anticline hinge, oblate magnetic ellipsoids with an east–west-aligned lineation and a bedding-parallel magnetic foliation demonstrate the overprinting of the LPS magnetic fabric during the emplacement of the underlying thrust sheet. AMS data record fold kinematics characterized by constant-length limb rotation about pinned hinges and are compatible with kinematics recorded by growth strata geometries. This study emphasizes that AMS is a very sensitive measure of depositional, compaction and tectonic fabrics in marine clastic rocks in the diagenetic realm. Supplementary material: Data tables including specimen locations, orientation, and AMS matrix elements for new samples and AMS data from Pueyo et al. (1997). Bulk susceptibility at 77 K and 294 K for representative specimens is available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18842

Description: New magnetostratigraphic results from a 3300 m-thick section across the syntectonic fluvial sediments of the Campodarbe Formation (Upper Eocene–Oligocene) in the Ebro foreland basin (NE Spain) are presented. The new data allow the top of the Campodarbe Formation to be correlated to Chron 7r (Chattian), younger than previously stated (C10r), therefore shifting the age of significant palaeogeographical changes in the foreland basin. The deformation in the southern front produces the cannibalization in the piggyback basin of 1300 m of sediments spanning c. 3.7 Myr. Average accumulation rates are lower in the Ebro foreland basin than in the piggyback basin and decrease from 35 to 27 cm kyr –1 by the time the San Felices thrust sheet activity decelerates (at c. 28 Myr). Shifts of accumulation rates result from accommodation space changes, which occur locally and are linked to the activity of the San Felices thrust, while the sediment supply occurs at orogenic scale (source of sediments is c. 200 km to the NE). Finally, sequence boundaries previously considered isochronous in the continental record of the Cenozoic Pyrenean basins are revealed to be 1.8–1 Myr older in the piggyback basin than in the Ebro foreland basin.