Geologica Acta, Vol.1, Nº2, 2003, 177-200
178
Marine and transitional Middle/Upper Eocene units in NE Spain
J. SERRA-KIEL et al.
(1972), Pallí (1972), Estévez (1973), Anadón (1978a),Colombo (1980), Busquets (1981) and Taberner (1983-84),together with the biostratigraphic studies by Ruíz de Gaona(1952), Ruíz de Gaona and Colom (1950), Hottinger(1960), Reguant (1967), Colom (1971), Ferrer (1971),Caus (1975), Schaub (1981),Serra-Kiel (1984) andTosquella (1995), allowed the drawing of the first schemat-ic stratigraphic correlations between the marine and transi-tional deposits of the Ebro Foreland Basin (Kromm, 1968;Gich, 1972; Rosell et al., 1973; Riba, 1975).Despite these numerous stratigraphic, sedimentologic,and biostratigraphic studies carried out on the autochtho-nous Paleogene deposits of the South Pyrenean ForelandBasin, few authors have attempted an analysis based onthe differentiation of stratigraphic units limited by allo-cyclic events, and thus identifiable throughout the basin.The difficulty in undertaking such an analysis lies in theimportant influence of tectonic activity on the sedimenta-tion of the basin, especially in the northern part of the area,and in the effects of tectonic processes which subsequen-tly truncated the physical continuity of the deposits. In thissense, the studies by Puigdefàbregas et al. (1986)andBarnolas (1992)use sequential analysis to divide thePaleogene marine deposits of the South Pyrenean Basininto depositional sequences, genetically related to thedevelopment of thrust sheets on the active margin(allochthonous Pyrenean units).In this paper we use term ‘sedimentary cycles’in thesense of Johnson et al. (1985) and Bates and Jackson(1987), used in the previous works on the Ebro ForelandBasin by López-Blanco (1996) and López-Blanco et al.(2000). These cycles comprise all deposits laid down in abasin between the beginning of two transgressive systems.These cycles are equivalent to the depositional sequencesof Vail et al. (1984), Posamentier and Vail (1988) andPosamentier et al. (1988), without lowstand diposits thatdo not outcrop in the marginal parts of the basin, such asthose studied here. In a marginal context, the transgressiveand regressive systems are easy to identify from the sharpcontacts found at lithologic changes, reflected both atstratigraphic and cartographic levels. Thus, we have dif-ferentiated six cycles. Four cycles are Lutetian in age andtwo are from the Bartonian.The aim of this paper is to offer a synthesis of thestratigraphic (including lithostratigraphic and biostrati-graphic) features of the marine deposits of the MiddleEocene (Lutetian and Bartonian) in the eastern sector of the South Pyrenean Foreland Basin (Ebro Basin). Thechronostratigraphic results obtained from the correlationbetween the planktic foraminifer biozones, the largerforaminifers andthe magnetostratigraphy were used todefine the larger foraminifer biozones (Shallow BenthicZones) published by Serra-Kiel et al. (1998a, b).However, the synthesis presented here is not only based ona compilation of the existing bibliography. It also draws on themap and stratigraphic information included in the 1:25.000scale maps produced by the Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya-
Servei Geològic de Catalunya-
(Saula et al., 1994a; Mató etal., 1995a, b; Picart et al., 1995; Mató et al., 1996; Pi et al.,1997; Pi et al., 2000; Puig et al., 1997a, b; Saula et al. 1997;Losantos et al., 2000, 2001; Martínez et al., 2000)
,
and on thelithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic work of the members of the Spanish Working Group of the IGCP393.The list of genera and species cited in this issue isincluded as Appendix II at the end of the volume.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
Structure
The Pyrenees correspond to the western termination of an orogenic belt formed during the Tertiary due to clousureof the Tethyan Sea located between the converging Africanand European plates (Fig. 1). The relatively straight and E-W-trending Pyrenean orogen developed because of thenorthward subduction of the Iberian lithosphere beneathEurope as imaged by the deep seismic reflection ECORS-Pyrenees profile (Choukroune et al., 1989). The Pyreneesmerge eastward with the highly arcuate Alps, which formedabove a southward European lithospheric subduction under-neath Adria, the northern promontory of the African plate(ECORS-CROPD
EEP
S
EISMIC
S
OUNDING
G
ROUP
,1989).Both orogens are doubly sided with a major foreland basinon top of the lower plate (e.g. Muñoz, 1992; Pfiffner, 1992).The Ebro Foreland Basin and the Molasse Basin representthe latest evolutionary stage of the flexural foreland basin.Earlier foreland-basin strata are preserved in piggybackbasins on top of thrust sheets. The Aquitaine Foreland Basindeveloped on the northwestern side of the Pyrenees and rep-resents a retro-foreland basin.The southeastern side of the Ebro Basin displays anirregular shape bounded by the Pyrenees to the north andthe Catalan Coastal Ranges to the southeast (Fig. 2). Thisirregular geometry is due to both the oblique trend of theCatalan Coastal Ranges with respect to the Pyrenean chainand the succession of frontal and oblique segments of thePyrenean front, inherited from the Mesozoic extensional-basin geometry (Puigdefàbregas et al., 1992; Vergés andBurbank, 1996). The Southeastern Pyrenean ForelandBasin developed almost entirely over pre-Mesozoic base-ment and stands in contrast to the more westerly JacaBasin which developed on top of a detached Mesozoicsection (e.g. Séguret, 1972; Teixell, 1996).The Vallfogona Thrust represents the major thrustboundary between the southeastern Pyrenean thrust sheets
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