Understanding the fluvial capture of the Guadix-Baza Basin in SE Spain through its oldest exorheic deposits

Abstract

The fluvial capture of endorheic basins represents a milestone in basin chronology, implying a profound disequilibrium that triggers critical geomorphological, sedimentological, paleogeographic, and even paleoecological transformations. The primary goal of many geomorphological studies is to determine the timing of endorheic-to-exorheic transitions with the objective of unveiling the dynamics that follow the capture event. The age of the Guadix-Baza Basin capture in the Central Betic Cordillera (S Spain) remains a subject of controversy, with proposed estimates ranging from 17 to 600 ka. In this study, we present new 234U/230Th and optically stimulated luminescence ages from exorheic deposits exposed within the basin's main fluvial valley, the Guadiana Menor River. We acquired the oldest numerical age recorded to date for a postcapture deposit within the basin. This age corresponds to a travertine platform formed 240.8 ± 25 ka on a surface level that was already incised into the glacis surface at approximately 250 m. Using these data, we estimate that basin capture took place earlier than ca. 240 ka, plus the time required for the river to incise 250 m to the position of the travertine. Furthermore, the proximity of the Matuyama-Brunhes reversal (781 ka) to the top of the endorheic succession and the ages of the paleontological sites (> ca. 750 ka) throughout the basin suggest that the capture could have occurred earlier than the oldest previously proposed age of 600 ka.