Active continental subduction beneath the Betic Cordillera and the Alborán Sea

P- and S-wave seismic tomography detect a low-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle beneath the Betic Cordillera and the Alboran Sea region. The anomaly is associated with the intermediate-depth seismicity (h < 110 km) in the region. This structure is interpreted as a result of an active continent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 1999-08, Vol.27 (8), p.735-738
Main Authors: Morales, J, Serrano, I, Jabaloy, A, Galindo Zaldívar, J, Zhao, D, Torcal, F, Vidal, F, González Lodeiro, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Plate
Alboran Sea
Betic Cordillera
body waves
Cenozoic
earthquakes
elastic waves
Eurasian Plate
Europe
focal mechanism
Geophysics
gravity anomalies
Iberian Peninsula
intermediate-focus earthquakes
low-velocity zones
mantle
Marine
Mediterranean Sea
P-waves
plate convergence
Plate tectonics
S-waves
seismic waves
Seismology
solid Earth (tectonophysics)
Southern Europe
Spain
subduction
tomography
upper Cenozoic
upper mantle
velocity structure
West Mediterranean
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Summary:P- and S-wave seismic tomography detect a low-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle beneath the Betic Cordillera and the Alboran Sea region. The anomaly is associated with the intermediate-depth seismicity (h < 110 km) in the region. This structure is interpreted as a result of an active continental subduction. Gravity modeling and seismic attenuation also show the continental nature of the low-velocity zone. Stresses determined from the focal mechanisms of the intermediate-depth earthquakes also agree with the scenario of continental subduction, which is caused by the middle-late Miocene to present-day northwest-southeast convergence of the African and European plates and the continental collision that raised the cordillera.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0735:ACSBTB>2.3.CO;2