Tectonic evidence in the Ronda peridotites, Spain, for mantle diapirism related to delamination

The contribution of asthenospheric diapirs to the exhumation of orogenic lherzolites from the mantle to Earth's surface is a major issue in the evolution of orogenic belts. Detailed maps of the trajectories of the foliation in the Carratraca massifs of the Ronda peridotites (Betic Cordillera, southern Spain) provide evidence for a narrow mantle diapir that was formed in early Miocene time. When set in its geologic and petrologic context, this diapir documents the injection of hot asthenosphere into older and cooler lithospheric mantle, possibly in response to the delamination of the lithosphere that had been thickened during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic convergence of the African and Iberian plates from Cretaceous time onward.