3D reconstruction of syn-tectonic strata in a salt-related orogen: learnings from the Llert syncline (South-central Pyrenees)

Abstract

The Llert syncline is located in the South-central Pyrenees, between the eastern termination of the EW-trending Cotiella Basin and the north-western limb of the NS-trending Turbón-Serrado fold system. The Cotiella Basin is an inverted upper Coniacian-lower Santonian salt-floored post-rift extensional basin developed along the northern Iberian rift system. The Turbón-Serrado fold system consists of upper Santonian – Maastrichtian contractional salt-cored anticlines developed along an inverted transfer zone of the Pyrenean rift system. Based on field research, this paper presents a 3D reconstruction of the Llert syncline in order to further constrain the transition between these oblique salt-related structures. Our results suggest that the evolution of the Llert syncline was mainly controlled by tectonic shortening related to the tectonic inversion of the Cotiella Basin synchronously to the growth of the Turbón-Serrado detachment anticline, and by the pre-compressional structural framework of the Pyrenean rift system. Our contribution provides new insight into the geometric and kinematic relationships of structures developed during the inversion of passive margins involving salt.