The Alpine Cycle in Eastern Iberia: Microplate Units and Geodynamic Stages

Abstract

The evolution of the Iberian plate during the Alpine Cycle was linked to the movement of the major plates, together with the opening of the Tethys and Atlantic oceans and the kinematics of the different surrounding plates. Four stages in this evolution can be distinguished: A rifting stage that developed during Permian and latest Triassic I times, a passive margin stage that occurred from latest Triassic I to Middle-Late Jurassic, a new rifting stage that extended from the Middle-Late Jurassic boundary to the Early Cretaceous (Albian), and a final passive margin stage, developed during Late Cretaceous. Tectonic inversion of the Mesozoic basins during Late Cretaceous and Tertiary represents the Alpine orogeny that strongly deformed the previous basins and configured the present distribution in basins and ranges of Iberia.