Tectonic significance of the present relief of the Betic Cordillera

Tortonian calcarenites of the Belie Cordillera were deposited in coastal or very shallow marine environments and represent an ideal marker for estimating vertical movements from the late Miocene to the Present. A map showing the heights at which these Tortonian marine rocks are situated has a clear correlation with the present relief, indicating that today's relief has been formed since the Tortonian. There is also a good correlation between present relief and the Bouguer anomaly distribution in the Betic Cordillera, as well as with crustal thickness. Likewise, the present relief is directly related to the geodynamic setting of a horizontal N-S to NNW-SSE compression and an almost perpendicular extension, along with isostatic readjustment, existing in the Betic Cordillera from the Tortonian. As a result of these regional stresses, faults and folds hav e produced notable vertical movements. The highest rates of uplift of the Betic Cordillera coincide with large antiforms, in particular those of the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Filabres. Several subsiding sectors also exist (for example, the Granada Basin or the Guadalquivir Basin). The foreland Guadalquivir Basin has a complex history because the uplift in its eastern sector and subsidence in the western sector coexisted during the late Tortonian. Today the whole Betic Cordillera is characterized by differential regional uplift, even in the aforementioned subsiding sectors. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.