The Iberian Chain: tertiary inversion of a mesozoic intraplate basin

Abstract

The Mesozoic Iberian basin developed inside the Iberian plate in the eastern end of the Tethys sea. As a result of the Tertiary convergence between the Iberian plate with the European and African plates, the Iberian basin was contractionally inverted, giving rise to the Iberian and Catalan Coastal chains and the surrounding Tertiary basins. The Bouguer anomaly map of the area shows that the Iberian Chain has crustal roots which would have produced during the Tertiary contractional period.