TY - JOUR

T1 - Formation of the Iberian‐European Convergent Plate Boundary Fault and Its Effect on Intraplate Deformation in Central Europe

AU - Dielforder, Armin

AU - Frasca, Gianluca

AU - Brune, Sascha

AU - Ford, Mary

N1 - Funding Information: This study is part of the Orogen research program and was funded by Total (France), the BRGM (Bureau de Recherches G?ologiques et Mini?res, France), and the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France), which is greatly acknowledged. S. B. was funded through the Helmholtz Young Investigators Group CRYSTALS (VH-NG-1132). We would like to thank Jonas Kley and two anonymous reviewers for providing detailed and thoughtful comments, which helped us to clarify a number of issues and to improve the readability of the manuscript. We thank Onno Oncken, Marcos Moreno, and Emmanuel Masini for critical comments and discussion. All data used in this study are from the published literature as cited in the text. Details on the calculation of the plate coupling force are given in the supporting information. The authors declare no competing financial interests. Funding Information: This study is part of the Orogen research program and was funded by Total (France), the BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, France), and the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France), which is greatly acknowl edged. S. B. was funded through the Helmholtz Young Investigators Group CRYSTALS (VH‐NG‐1132). We would like to thank Jonas Kley and two anon ymous reviewers for providing detailed and thoughtful comments, which helped us to clarify a number of issues and to improve the readability of the manuscript. We thank Onno Oncken, Marcos Moreno, and Emmanuel Masini for critical comments and discussion. All data used in this study are from the published literature as cited in the text. Details on the calculation of the plate coupling force are given in the supporting information. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

PY - 2019/6/14

Y1 - 2019/6/14

N2 - With the Late Cretaceous onset of Africa-Iberia-Europe convergence Central Europe experienced a pulse of intraplate shortening lasting some 15–20 Myr. This deformation event documents area-wide deviatoric compression of Europe and has been interpreted as a far-field response to Africa-Iberia-Europe convergence. However, the factors that governed the compression of Europe and conditioned the transient character of the deformation event have remained unclear. Based on mechanical considerations, numerical simulations, and geological reconstructions, we examine how the dynamics of intraplate deformation were governed by the formation of a convergent plate boundary fault between Iberia and Europe. During the Late Cretaceous, plate convergence was accommodated by the inversion of a young hyperextended rift system separating Iberia from Europe. Our analysis shows that the strength of the lithosphere beneath this rift was initially sufficient to transmit large compressive stresses far into Europe, though the lithosphere beneath the rift was thinned and thermally weakened. Continued convergence forced the formation of the plate boundary fault between Iberia and Europe. The fault evolved progressively and constituted a lithospheric-scale structure at the southern margin of Europe that weakened rheologically. This development caused a decrease in mechanical coupling between Iberia and Europe and a reduction of compressional far field stresses, which eventually terminated intraplate deformation in Central Europe. Taken together, our findings suggest that the Late Cretaceous intraplate deformation event records a high force transient that relates to the earliest strength evolution of a lithospheric-scale plate boundary fault.

AB - With the Late Cretaceous onset of Africa-Iberia-Europe convergence Central Europe experienced a pulse of intraplate shortening lasting some 15–20 Myr. This deformation event documents area-wide deviatoric compression of Europe and has been interpreted as a far-field response to Africa-Iberia-Europe convergence. However, the factors that governed the compression of Europe and conditioned the transient character of the deformation event have remained unclear. Based on mechanical considerations, numerical simulations, and geological reconstructions, we examine how the dynamics of intraplate deformation were governed by the formation of a convergent plate boundary fault between Iberia and Europe. During the Late Cretaceous, plate convergence was accommodated by the inversion of a young hyperextended rift system separating Iberia from Europe. Our analysis shows that the strength of the lithosphere beneath this rift was initially sufficient to transmit large compressive stresses far into Europe, though the lithosphere beneath the rift was thinned and thermally weakened. Continued convergence forced the formation of the plate boundary fault between Iberia and Europe. The fault evolved progressively and constituted a lithospheric-scale structure at the southern margin of Europe that weakened rheologically. This development caused a decrease in mechanical coupling between Iberia and Europe and a reduction of compressional far field stresses, which eventually terminated intraplate deformation in Central Europe. Taken together, our findings suggest that the Late Cretaceous intraplate deformation event records a high force transient that relates to the earliest strength evolution of a lithospheric-scale plate boundary fault.

KW - Pyrenees

KW - intraplate deformation

KW - lithosphere dynamics

KW - orogeny

KW - plate boundary fault

KW - plate coupling force

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066917257&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1029/2018GC007840

DO - 10.1029/2018GC007840

M3 - Article

VL - 20

SP - 2395

EP - 2417

JO - Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

JF - Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

SN - 1525-2027

IS - 5

ER -