Constraints on the crustal structure of the internal Variscan Belt in SW Europe: A magnetotelluric transect along the eastern part of Central Iberian Zone, Iberian Massif

Abstract

The Iberian Massif is the best exposed segment of the European Variscan Belt. It includes relatively well preserved terranes that were accreted by transpression along time and resulted in a number of geotectonic units that formed part of the Late Paleozoic assembly of the Pangaea Supercontinent. In SW Iberia, these units are the Central Iberian Zone (CIZ), Ossa Morena Zone (OMZ), and the South Portuguese Zone (SPZ). A 210 km long NE-SW magnetotelluric profile was carried out through the CIZ, from the OMZ-CIZ boundary toward the north, reaching the Tagus (Cenozoic) basin. Data dimensionality analysis resulted in a suitable 2-D electrical resistivity structure, allowing a 2-D inversion of the data set. Complementary available geophysical data (deep seismic, gravity and aeromagnetic) and a comparison with a detailed geological cross section led us to constrain the interpretation of the 2-D electrical resistivity structure of the CIZ crust. The results show, for the upper crust, the existence of diverse conductive/resistive bodies that correlate well with known geological features (sedimentary basins, faults, granitic plutons, mineralized systems). A mild but steady conductive band is located along the middle and lower crust that is interpreted as a mafic granulite basement. The upper section of this band connects with several elongated shallow conductors, providing further evidence for the existence, in the Central Iberian Zone, of a complex décollement system where the major faults are rooted. Such a crustal architecture is viewed as the northward continuation of the Variscan large-scale structures previously recognized in the southern sectors (OMZ and SPZ). Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.