The Betic segment of the lithospheric Trans-Alboran shear zone during the Late Miocene

Abstract The Betic sinistral transcurrent shear zone (Betic Cordilleras) crosses the southeastern part of Spain. The study of the geodynamics of this area is approached from tectonic, sedimentary, magmatic and geophysical data. Large strike-slip movements, tectono-sedimentary processes and magmatic events are seen at the boundary between two different lithospheric slabs. They are located in a thinned compartment, with a high geothermal gradient. The large-scale movements (vertical and horizontal) and the intensity of magmatic activity are the expression of the mechanical behaviour of this hot and thin crust. All the geological events from the Late Miocene to Recent are integrated in a crustal-scale cross-section, which shows that the Betic sinistral transcurrent shear zone widely affects the lithosphere. It appears that subduction zones are not the only geodynamic context in which calc-alkaline magmatism occurs.

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