Basin Research. 2020;32:1653–1684. | 1653

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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bre

Received: 14 October 2019 | Revised: 2 March 2020 | Accepted: 6 March 2020

DOI: 10.1111/bre.12447

O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of Jurassic–Cretaceous diapiric structures: Miravete anticline, Maestrat Basin, Spain

Jaume Vergés1 | Yohann Poprawski1,2 | Ylènia Almar1 | Peter A. Drzewiecki3 | Mar Moragas1,4 | Telm Bover-Arnal5 | Chiara Macchiavelli1 | Wayne Wright6 | Grégoire Messager7 | Jean-Christophe Embry8 | David Hunt9

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.© 2020 The Authors. Basin Research published by International Association of Sedimentologists and European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publo ns.com/publo n/10.1111/bre.12447

1Group of Dynamics of the Lithosphere (GDL), Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, ICTJA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain2Independent Geologist, Bordeaux, France3Department of Environmental Earth Science, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT, USA4CGG Robertson. Tynycoed, Llanrhos, Llandudno, UK5Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain6EQUINOR ASA, International Offshore Exploration, Brazil, Fornebu, Norway7EQUINOR ASA, Exploration Research, Fornebu, Norway8EQUINOR ASA, Exploration Regional & Access, Houston, TX, USA9EQUINOR ASA, Research Center, Bergen, Norway

CorrespondenceJaume Vergés, Group of Dynamics of the Lithosphere, Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, ICTJA-CSIC, Lluís Solé i Sabarís s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.Email: jverges@ictja.csic.es

Funding informationGeneralitat de Catalunya, Grant/Award Number: AGAUR 2017 SGR 847; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Grant/Award Number: ALPIMED (PIE-CSIC-201530E082) and SUBTETIS (PIE-CSIC-201830E039); EQUINOR ASA Research Center, Bergen

AbstractIntegration of extensive fieldwork, remote sensing mapping and 3D models from high-quality drone photographs relates tectonics and sedimentation to define the Jurassic–early Albian diapiric evolution of the N–S Miravete anticline, the NW-SE Castel de Cabra anticline and the NW-SE Cañada Vellida ridge in the Maestrat Basin (Iberian Ranges, Spain). The pre shortening diapiric structures are defined by well-exposed and unambiguous halokinetic geometries such as hooks and flaps, salt walls and collapse normal faults. These were developed on Triassic salt-bearing deposits, previously misinterpreted because they were hidden and overprinted by the Alpine shortening. The Miravete anticline grew during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous and was rejuvenated during Cenozoic shortening. Its evolution is separated into four halokinetic stages, including the latest Alpine compression. Regionally, the well-ex-posed Castel de Cabra salt anticline and Cañada Vellida salt wall confirm the wide-spread Jurassic and Early Cretaceous diapiric evolution of the Maestrat Basin. The NE flank of the Cañada Vellida salt wall is characterized by hook patterns and by a 500-m-long thin Upper Jurassic carbonates defining an upturned flap, inferred as the roof of the salt wall before NE-directed salt extrusion. A regional E-W cross sec-tion through the Ababuj, Miravete and Cañada-Benatanduz anticlines shows typical geometries of salt-related rift basins, partly decoupled from basement faults. These structures could form a broader diapiric region still to be investigated. In this section, the Camarillas and Fortanete minibasins displayed well-developed bowl geometries at the onset of shortening. The most active period of diapiric growth in the Maestrat Basin occurred during the Early Cretaceous, which is also recorded in the Eastern Betics, Asturias and Basque-Cantabrian basins. This period coincides with the peak of eastward drift of the Iberian microplate, with speeds of 20 mm/year. The transten-sional regime is interpreted to have played a role in diapiric development.

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1 | INTRODUCTION

In the decades preceding the 1980s, salt tectonic interpretations were commonly invoked in many fold and thrust belts world-wide, in which large masses of salt-bearing rocks disrupted the regional tectonic grain. These regional studies resulted in the compilation of salt tectonic activity within the Tethys realm (reviews in Hudec & Jackson, 2007; Letouzey et al., 1995). The overwhelming application of thrust tectonic geometries and kinematics in fold and thrust belts beginning in the 1980s (examples in McClay, 1992; McClay and Price, 1981) modi-fied previous interpretations of diapirism, but emphasized the influence of salt detachments (pre- and syn-compression) as essential elements of the geometry of thrust systems.

Extensive interpretation of excellent quality seismic lines from salt-influenced continental margins mostly along the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Angola (Davison et al., 2000; Stewart & Coward, 1995), studies of exceptional field examples (e.g. La Popa Basin in Mexico; Giles & Lawton, 2002; Giles & Rowan, 2012) and pro-fuse analogue modelling (e.g. Brun & Fort, 2011; Jackson & Vendeville, 1994; Vendeville & Jackson, 1992) have demonstrated the importance of salt tectonics in fold and thrust belts, and constitute the basis of a solid geometric and kinematic compendium of salt-related tectonics that can be applied elsewhere (e.g. Jackson & Hudec, 2017; Soto, Flinch, & Tari, 2017).

The Mesozoic domains of the Iberian plate contain large outcrops of Upper Triassic salt-bearing deposits (e.g. Escavy, Herrero, & Arribas, 2012; Ortí, Pérez-López, & Salvany, 2017; Rodríguez-Fernández & Oliveira, 2014), a number of which were interpreted as diapiric. Recently, an increasing number of salt-related structures were re-interpreted in the various Iberian fold and thrust belts as

indicated by red circles in Figure 1 and discussed in Vergés et al. (2019). These include the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (1–4: Bodego & Agirrezabala, 2013; López-Horgue et al., 2010; Poprawski et al., 2014; Poprawski, Basile, Jaillard, Gaudin, & Lopez, 2016; Quintà, Tavani, & Roca, 2012), the Pyrenees (5–9: Canérot, Hudec, & Rockenbauch, 2005; Jammes, Tiberi, & Manatschal, 2010; Lopez-Mir, Anton Muñoz, & García Senz, 2014; McClay, Muñoz, & García-Senz, 2004; Saura, Ardèvol i Oró, Teixell, & Vergés, 2016), the Iberian Range (10: Canérot, 1991), the Betics (11–16: Escosa, Roca, & Ferrer, 2018; Martínez del Olmo et al., 2015; Pedrera, Marín-Lechado, Galindo-Zaldívar, & García-Lobón, 2014; Soto et al., 2017; Soto & Flinch, 2017), the Algarve Basin (17, 18: Ramos, Fernández,

K E Y W O R D S

Iberian Ranges, Jurassic–Early Cretaceous halokinetic depositional sequences, Maestrat Basin, Miravete salt anticline, salt walls, salt-welds, Triassic diapirism

Highlights• The Miravete anticline grew for tens of millions

of years during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods.

• Peak diapirism began in Hettangian-Barremian ages with coeval western diapir flank collapse and salt extrusion.

• Early Aptian W-prograding carbonate platforms might relate to the N-S growth of the Miravete salt wall.

• Upturned flap in Cañada-Vellida salt wall con-firms the diapiric history of the Maestrat Basin.

• Early Cretaceous increase of Iberia eastward drift could trigger diapirism in many of Iberian rifted basins.

F I G U R E 1 (a) Pre-breakup reconstruction of Pangea in the Early Triassic (modified from Lawver, Dalziel, Norton, & Gahagan, 2009; Moulin, Aslanian, & Unternehr, 2010). (b) Late Triassic palaeogeographic map of the western Neotethys area (modified from Dercourt, Gaetani, & Vrielynck, 2000; Martin-Rojas et al., 2009; Ortí et al., 2017). (c) Simplified geological map of Iberia with position of the Maestrat Basin and location of the main salt diapirs growing during the Mesozoic with most recent references (red circles). 1: Laredo and Pondra diapirs (López-Horgue et al., 2010); 2: Poza de la Sal diapir (Quintà et al., 2012); 3: Bakio diapir (Poprawski et al., 2014, 2016); 4: Lasarte sub-basin salt controlled basin (Bodego & Agirrezabala, 2013; Bodego, Iriarte, López-Horgue, & Álvarez, 2018); 5–7: Gaujacq and Ossun diapirs (Canérot et al., 2005); 6: Mauléon basin diapirs (Jammes et al., 2010); 8: Cotiella extensional salt area (McClay et al., 2004); 9: Sopeira and Sant Gervàs diapirs (Saura et al., 2016); 10: Villahermosa del Rio diapir (Canérot, 1991); 11: Parcent diapir (Pedrera et al., 2014); 12: Altea diapir (Pedrera et al., 2014; Martínez del Olmo et al., 2015); 13, 14: Finestrat and Elda diapirs (Martínez del Olmo et al., 2015); 15: Jumilla diapirs (Escosa et al., 2018); 16: Western Betics (Soto & Flinch, 2017); 17, 18: Faro and Albuferia diapirs (Ramos et al., 2016); 19, 20: Santa Cruz and Caldas da Rainha diapirs (Alves et al., 2003; Pena do Reis et al., 2017). Iberian Range AB: Aragoneses Branch; Iberian Range CB: Castillan Branch; PB: Parentis Basin; AB: Asturian Basin; AP: As Pontes Basin; ALZ: Asturoccidental-Leonese Zone; CZ: Cantabric Zone; CM: Cantabrian Mountain; CS: Central System; CCR: Catalan Coastal Range; GB: Guadalquivir Basin

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Terrinha, & Muñoz, 2016) and the Lusitanian basin (19, 20: Alves, Gawthorpe, Hunt, & Monteiro, 2003; Peno dos Reis, et al. 2017).

The Iberian Range formed from the inversion of the Mesozoic Maestrat intraplate rift basin (e.g. Guimerà, Mas, & Alonso, 2004; Salas & Casas, 1993), in which widespread

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unconformities within the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous successions were traditionally interpreted in terms of syn-rift to post-rift differential subsidence between fault-bounded tec-tonic domains (Aurell et al., 1992; Campos, Aurell, & Casas, 1996; Guimerà, 1988; Liesa, Soria, Meléndez, & Meléndez, 2006; Roca & Guimerà, 1992; Roca, Guimerà, & Salas, 1994; San Román & Aurell, 1992). The only previously documented examples of halokinesis within the Maestrat Basin are a di-apir located in the Penyagolosa block near Villahermosa del Río village and in Lucena del Cid, north of Castelló (Canérot, 1989, 1991; Trell, Canérot, & Martín, 1979) (see location in Figure  1). However, in a recent reappraisal of seismic and well data of the Maestrat Basin, Nebot and Guimerà (2016a, 2016b) clearly document the migration of Middle Triassic salt as a consequence of a Cenozoic detachment, promoting the development of salt pillows in the subsurface.

In this contribution, we explore the hypothesis that Triassic salt-bearing layers of the Maestrat Basin flowed soon after their deposition producing diapirism, well before the Late Cretaceous onset of regional contraction (e.g. Macchiavelli et al., 2017; Martín-Chivelet & Chacón, 2007). We focused our study on the vicinity of the Miravete anticline, a N–S trending structure, that has been classically interpreted as a fold related to the Cenozoic compression despite its trend subparallel to the direction of tectonic shortening (Simón, 2004). This region of the Maestrat Basin, especially to the north of the Miravete anticline, has very complex fold pat-terns composed of sets of anticlines and synclines with dif-ferent and sometimes orthogonal trends that were interpreted as superposed buckle folds (Simón, 2004). However, in the Miravete region, Triassic rocks form long and narrow out-crops along anticline axes or rectilinear faults trending either NW-SE or N-S. These salt-bearing rocks are associated with Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous depositional sequences char-acterized by multiple intraformational unconformities, sedi-mentary wedges, complex facies patterns, stratal onlaps and outward progradation of carbonate platform systems, usually associated with rifting. In the Miravete anticline, the high quality and continuous exposure of this fold led to the publi-cation of numerous stratigraphic studies that are used to build a detailed thickness, facies and age interpretations providing a very detailed framework for our study (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010; Bover-Arnal, Pascual-Cebrian, Skelton, Gili, & Salas, 2015; Embry et al., 2010; Garcia et al., 2014; Meléndez, Liesa, Soria, & Meléndez, 2009; Navarrete et al., 2014; Navarrete, Rodríguez-López, Liesa, Soria, & Veloso, 2013; Peropadre, Liesa, & Meléndez, 2013; Vennin & Aurell, 2001).

We established the interplay between tectonics and sedimen-tation in the Miravete salt anticline (Figure 2) through numerous field campaigns (mostly during years 2015 and 2016), remote sensing and high-quality photography to build drone-derived virtual outcrop models. Once the contributions of halokinesis in Miravete anticline were established, we extended the study

to other nearby structures where we collected additional data that confirmed the fundamental role of salt movement prior to the onset of Alpine contraction (Castel de Cabra salt anti-cline and Cañada Vellida and Pancrudo salt walls, Figure 2). These additional studies corroborate that the Maestrat Basin in the southeastern Iberian Range is a newly identified diapiric province. In this region we identify masked halokinetic struc-tures of early diapirism that influenced the local deposition, but were then significantly overprinted by later contraction. Nevertheless, this study is particularly restricted to the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous evolution of diapiric structures in the an-alysed region well before Alpine compression.

2 | GEOLOGICAL SETTING: THE MAESTRAT BASIN

The NW-SE trending Iberian Range is interpreted as an intraplate chain resulting from the Alpine inversion of the Late Permian to Mesozoic NW-SE Iberian rift system and of the nearly coeval NE-SW Catalan rift system (Guimerà, Rivero, Salas, & Casas, 2016; Salas & Casas, 1993; Salas et al., 2001). The Iberian Range comprises the northeastern Aragonese branch and the southwestern Castilian branch, predominantly containing Cretaceous and Jurassic depocen-tres respectively (Figure 1). The Aragonese branch is con-nected with the almost orthogonal Catalan Coastal Ranges, whereas the Castilian branch is linked to the NE domain of the External Betics.

The Late Permian to Mesozoic extensional Iberian sys-tem is a failed rift, which reactivated the previous Hercynian tectonic grain and formed during the opening of the Central and North Atlantic basins in the early stages of the break-up of Pangea (e.g. Quesada and Oliveira, 2020; Salas et al., 2001; Stampfli & Borel, 2002). The Betic and Catalan rift systems formed along a roughly NE-SW trend during the de-velopment of the Ligurian-Tethys oceanic basins (e.g. Galán-Abellán et al., 2013; Schettino & Turco, 2011). The evolution of the Iberian Rift was characterized by two main extensional stages: Late Permian to Late Triassic and late Oxfordian to late Albian according to numerous studies (e.g. Capote, Muñoz, Simón, Liesa, & Arlegui, 2002; Salas et al., 2001; Vargas et al., 2009). During the first rift stage, Upper Permian continental deposits and Triassic strata of typical Germanic facies accumulated in approximately NW-SE trending fault-bounded depressions (Arche & López-Gómez, 1999, 2005; Benito, 2005). These deposits include two principal Triassic salt layers, one in the middle Muschelkalk unit and another in the Keuper unit (Nebot & Guimerà, 2016; Ortí et al., 2017). After the first rifting stage, Jurassic shallow-water platforms developed in an epeiric sea that connected southwards to the Tethys oceanic domain (Alnazghah, Bádenas, Pomar, Aurell, & Morsilli, 2013; Aurell, Bádenas, Ipas, & Ramajo, 2010;

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Bádenas & Aurell, 2001; Dercourt, Ricou, & Vrielynck, 1993; Gómez & Fernández-López, 2006). A second rifting stage occurred from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, co-eval with the opening of the southern segment of the North Atlantic, between Iberia and Newfoundland, and the opening of the Bay of Biscay (Alvaro, Capote, & Vegas, 1979; Capote et al., 2002; Salas & Casas, 1993; Van Wees, Arche, Beijdorff, López-Gómez, & Cloetingh, 1998). During this second rift-ing stage the Jurassic carbonate platforms were broken-up and newly formed faults defined individual basins, namely the Cameros, Maestrat and Columbrets basins, which were characterized by independent subsidence and stratigraphic histories (Etheve et al., 2018; Salas et al., 2001). More re-cently, in Martín-Chivelet et al. (2019) have distinguished a Neocomian (late Berriasian–Hauterivian) post-rift phase between rifting cycles of Late Jurassic and Barremian–early

Albian ages during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous exten-sion of the Maestrat Basin.

This study focused on the western Maestrat Basin (Figure 2), which is limited to the south by NW–SE Iberian-trending normal faults, and to the north by a system of ap-proximately E–W south dipping normal faults (Nebot & Guimerà, 2016; Salas et al., 2001). The position and orien-tation of these basin-bounding structures, and that of sub-sidiary faults within the basin, controlled the thickness of Cretaceous deposits (Liesa, Soria, Meléndez, & Meléndez, 2006; Navarrete et al., 2013) and influenced the formation of thrust ramps and fold belts during later tectonic inversion (Liesa & Simón, 2009; Simón, 2004).

Folds in the Maestrat Basin, including the Miravete anti-cline, are traditionally assumed to be the consequence of basin inversion during the Alpine compression triggered by the

F I G U R E 2 Geological map of the study area made using remote sensing mapping (for the Masías de Ejulve, Castel de Cabra, Miravete and Cañada Vellida areas) combined with 1:50.000 IGME Magna geologic maps of Argente (Martín & Canérot, 1977), Montalbán (Canérot et al., 1977), Alfambra (Olivé et al., 1981) and Villarluengo (Gautier, 1979) and the map published in Simón and Liesa (2011)

Late Oligoceneto Miocene Basement rocks

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roughly N-S convergence between Africa and Europe (e.g. Capote et al., 2002; Guimerà, 1984; Guimerà et al., 2004; Nebot & Guimerà, 2016; Salas & Casas, 1993; Simón, 2004). The N-S to NNE-SSW shortening direction is documented north of the Miravete anticline, where a NW-SE sinuous belt of salt-cored anticlines and exposures of Triassic deposits are in-terpreted as the frontal part of a N-directed thrust sheet (Utrillas thrust; Simón & Liesa, 2011). This thrust sheet detaches above either the middle Muschelkalk evaporites in its northern part (Maestrat Basement Thrust, Nebot & Guimerà, 2016) or Upper Triassic evaporites (Liesa, Casas, & Simón, 2018). The E–W trending structures of Camarillas and Jorcas thrusts and the El Morrón box-fold in the western flank of the Miravete anticline grew according to the N-S direction of shortening (Figure 4).

The total shortening along a NNE-SSW profile of the Iberian Ranges was estimated as 20.5% (Guimerà, Salas, Vergés, & Casas, 1996; Salas et al., 2001) across the Maestrat Basin, and 26% near the Cameros Basin (Guimerà et al., 2004). De Vicente et al. (2009) provided a similar 20% short-ening for the Castilian Branch only. Consequently, structures oblique or subparallel to the main direction of shortening are expected to give shortening values lower than 20%. In any event, fold superposition is observed in the study area and a relative chronology was established where E-W to ENE-WSW trending folds and thrusts (assumed as Early Miocene age) overprinted earlier N-S to NNW-SSE trending folds (as-sumed as Eocene–Oligocene age; Simón, 2004; Figure 2).

3 | THE MIRAVETE SALT ANTICLINE

The Miravete anticline, located in the Galve sub-basin that was open towards the Tethys (Salas and Guimerà, 1996), was previ-ously interpreted as resulting from the inversion of the roughly N–S trending westward-dipping Miravete normal fault (Liesa et al., 2006). The greater thickness of Lower Cretaceous forma-tions observed on the western limb of the anticline was attrib-uted to the larger accommodation space in the hangingwall of the normal fault. Non-balanced published cross sections of the anticline are included in the Villarluengo map sheet, 1:50.000 scale (MAGNA geological map; Gautier, 1979), and in articles by Simón (2004) and Liesa et al. (2018). In order to demonstrate that the Miravete anticline developed as an early diapiric struc-ture during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, which was never mentioned in previously published studies, we first provide gen-eral stratigraphic and structural descriptions of the anticline.

3.1 | Stratigraphy of the Miravete anticline

The sedimentary and stratigraphic framework of the Miravete anticline (Figure 3) is based on detailed studies by Canérot,

Cugny, Pardo, Salas, and Villena (1982), Liesa et al. (2006), Liesa et al. (2018), Gómez and Fernández-López (2006), Bover-Arnal, Salas, Moreno Bedmar, and Bitzer (2009), Bover-Arnal, Salas, Guimerà, and Moreno-Bedmar (2014); Bover-Arnal et al. (2010, 2015, 2016), Embry et al. (2010), Peropadre et al. (2013), Aurell et al. (2016) and Navarrete et al. (2013, 2014). Strata range from Triassic to poorly dated Cenozoic ages, and are arranged herein into six sedimen-tary units related to different age-based tectono-sedimentary phases linked to the evolution of the Galve sub-basin.

The Upper Triassic deposits (sedimentary unit 1 in Figure  3) comprise red clays with secondary gypsum that contains bipyramidal quartz crystals which are attributed to diagenetic replacement of anhydrite crystals (Querol et al., 1992). These sediments are locally accompanied by red shales, evaporites and dolostones of Middle Triassic age, (e.g. Cañada Vellida area; Figure  2). In the Miravete anti-cline, Triassic strata weather easily and only crop out in the core of the anticline (Figures 2 and 3), where they are highly deformed by regional and local tectonic stresses. Although difficult to calculate, the local thicknesses of Upper Triassic along the anticline are 20–30 m thick and might disappear laterally. In the subsurface, however, Upper Triassic evapo-rite deposits in the Maestrat Basin reach thicknesses up to 250 m, whereas Middle Triassic Muschelkalk units range up to 600  m, locally forming salt structures with larger thick-nesses at depth towards the NNE of the Miravete salt anti-cline (Nebot & Guimerà, 2016 and references therein).

Jurassic strata (sedimentary unit 2 in Figure  3) are com-posed of shallow carbonate platform sediments ranging in age from the Hettangian to the Tithonian. In the Miravete area, Liesa et al. (2006) differentiate eight Jurassic sedimentary lithostratigraphic units composed of shallow marine to tran-sitional carbonates. Flanking the Miravete anticline, however, the Jurassic record is relatively thin, incomplete, and contains numerous angular unconformities. According to Liesa et al. (2006), Liesa et al. (2018) and thicknesses by Gautier (1979), the preserved part of the Early Jurassic succession corresponds to the Cortes de Tajuña (50 m) and Cuevas Labradas (60 m) formations (Hettangian to Pliensbachian in age), the Late Jurassic includes the Loriguilla (100–200 m) and Higueruelas (60–70 m) formations (Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian) and the up-permost part is the Tithonian–Berriasian Villar del Arzobispo Fm. showing a maximum of 250 m of thickness. A stratigraphic gap ranging from the earliest Berriasian to Hauterivian times (Salas et al., 2001) is recorded in the Miravete area as an un-conformable boundary between the Villar del Arzobispo Fm. and the Hauterivian El Castellar Fm., and represents a major marine regression. Recently, Aurell et al. (2016, 2019) charac-terized three new formations (Cedrillas, Aguilar de Alfambra and Galve) along the latest Kimmeridgian–Berriasian succes-sion of the Galve sub-basin, and proposed to restrict the Villar del Arzobispo Fm. to the València Basin (Aurell et al., 2019).

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Furthermore, Aurell et al. (2019) placed the intra-rift Berriasian to Hauterivian unconformity between the Berriasian Galve Fm. and the Hauterivian El Castellar Fm. However, this paper fol-lows the Jurassic stratigraphy mapped by Liesa et al. (2006), Liesa et al. (2018).

Sedimentary unit 3 comprises the El Castellar, Camarillas, Artoles and Morella lithostratigraphic units and spans the Hauterivian to late Barremian time in-terval (Figure  3). The El Castellar Fm. (Hauterivian to Barremian) was deposited in alluvial plain, palustrine, and lacustrine environments (Liesa et al., 2006; Meléndez et al., 2009; Navarrete et al., 2013), and consists of sand-stone, mudstone and limestone facies that show rapid lat-eral variations with distance from the anticline crest and its faults (Liesa et al., 2006). Recently, the continental Galve Formation has been defined and recognized in the strata of the Galve sub-basin (Aurell et al., 2016, 2019). The Galve Formation is equivalent to the basal El Castellar Formation as mapped in this study, suggesting the regional Berriasian unconformity may occur within this unit as well. The Camarillas Fm. (in the Weald facies, Figure 3) is composed of discontinuous lenses of cross-bedded fluvial sandstone encased in reddish floodplain mudstone (Bover-Arnal, Moreno-Bedmar, Frijia, Pascual-Cebrian, & Salas, 2016; Canérot et al., 1982; Embry et al., 2010; Navarrete et al., 2013, 2014). Both the El Castellar and Camarillas formations record variations in occurrence, thickness and facies around the Jurassic core of the anticline, suggesting that their deposition was strongly influenced by an actively growing topographic high (Miravete anticline) at the time of deposition, resulting in facies partitioning. In addition, these units contain internal unconformities and erosional surfaces. The Artoles Fm. (early to late Barremian accord-ing to Bover-Arnal et al., 2016) is composed of alternating green marl and bioclastic limestone rich in benthic foramin-ifera and oysters suggesting very shallow marine to transi-tional environments (Vennin & Aurell, 2001). It has more consistent thickness and facies distribution patterns around the anticline compared to the El Castellar and Camarillas formations. The last lithostratigraphic unit of sedimentary unit 3, the upper Barremian Morella Fm., is composed of red mudstone and sandstone, and is interpreted as having formed in tidal flat and high energy fluvial environments (Bover-Arnal et al., 2016; Salas, 1987). Bover-Arnal et al.

F I G U R E 3 Representative stratigraphy column of the Miravete anticline and surrounding regions showing ages, lithostratigraphic units, thicknesses, lithologies and sedimentary packages described in this study. The compiled stratigraphic log is after Canérot et al. (1982), Vennin and Aurell (2001), Bover-Arnal et al. (2009, 2010, and 2016), Embry et al. (2010), Peropadre et al. (2013) and Aurell et al. (2016). H: Hettangian, S: Sinemurian, P: Pliensbachian, T: Toarcian

CR

ETA

CE

OU

S

Limestone

Sandylimestone

Limestonenodules

Nodularlimestone

Conglomerate

Cross-beddedsandstone

Clay

Evaporites

Marl

Dolostone

Continental

TransitionalShallowmarineHemipelagic

Villarroyade los

Pinares Fm

Morella Fm

Artoles Fm

0 m

600

1200

1800

2300

Mosqueruela Fm

Barranco de losDegollados Fm

Organ. de Mont. Fm

Fortanete FmLa Cañadilla Fm

Escucha Fm

Utrillas Fm

Late

Cre

tace

ous

Alb

ian

Late

Apt

ian

Ear

ly A

ptia

nB

arre

mia

nH

aute

rivia

nM

id.

H.

Late

CE

NO

ZOIC

JUR

AS

SIC

TRIA

S

BenassalFm

Forcall Fm

Xert Fm

CamarillasFm

El Castellar Fm

Villar delArzobispo Fm

HigueruelasFm

Loriguilla Fm

Chelva Fm

Turmiel FmBarahona Fm

CuevasLabradas Fm

Cortes de Tajuña& Imón Fm

Keuperfacies

1

2

3 W

eald

Fac

ies

4 U

rgon

ian F

acie

s5

6

Pal

eoge

neM

io.

T4T3

T2

T1

Tith

on.

Kim

mer

.S

.T.

P.

66.0

100.5

113.0

125.0

129.4

132.9

145

201.3

Age (Ma) SU

SU: Sedimentary units

SET6

T5

SE: Sedimentary environmentsBreccia

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Middle Jurassic

Mushelkalk and Keuper

Late Jurassic

El Castellar Fm.

Camarillas Fm.

Artoles Fm.

Morella Fm.

Quaternary

Late Oligocene to Miocene

Late Cretaceous

Escucha and Utrillas Fm.

Benassal Fm.

Villarroya Fm.

Forcall Fm.

Xert Fm.

Unconformity

Normal fault

Miravete Anticline

Syncline axis

Thrust

Weld

Tectonic features

Fold-axis Plunge

Villarroya delos Pinares

Camarillas

Loma de lasRemenderuelas

Mas de Sang esa

Pe a de lasHigueras

Pe a de la Cingla

Camarillas fault

Remenderuelas fault

Las Cubetas

El Bat n fault

Las Mingachas

Fig. 5a

Fig. 5b

Fig. 7b

Fig. 7a

Fig. 7c

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(2010) noted that the Morella Fm. is more developed on the western flank of the anticline, where it unconformably rests on the Artoles Fm.

Above the Morella Fm., sedimentary environments be-came fully marine and are composed of mostly carbon-ate platform strata towards the top of the Xert Fm. (latest Barremian in age). The Xert Fm. is characterized by a sandy and marl-dominated basal part that changes vertically into carbonate strata containing coated grains, green algae and benthic foraminifera (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010; Embry et al., 2010; Vennin & Aurell, 2001). This unit marks the base of Urgonian facies in the Miravete region (sedimentary unit 4 in Figure 3). In addition, the Xert Fm. is thicker and contains deeper facies on the western compared to the eastern flank (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010). These observations indicate that subsidence was greater on the western than on the eastern flank during deposition of sedimentary unit 4. The top of the Xert Fm. contains chondrodontid bivalves and miliolid fora-minifera suggesting a pronounced shallowing of relative sea level, although no direct evidence for subaerial exposure has been recognized.

The Xert Fm. marks the beginning of a major, Tethyan-wide, transgression, which culminated with deposition of the overlying Forcall Fm. The Forcall is interpreted as basin to slope deposits, and is mainly composed of marls, marly lime-stones, limestones and storm-induced turbidites. This unit is dated as early Aptian based on ammonite occurrences, and includes the Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (Bover-Arnal, Salas, Martín-Closas, Schlagintweit, & Moreno-Bedmar, 2011, 2016; Moreno-Bedmar et al., 2009, 2010). The uppermost part of the Forcall Fm. passes laterally and is overlain by the Villarroya de los Pinares Fm. (upper part of sedimentary unit 4; Figure 3), which is composed of coral, rudist-dominated floatstones and rudstones deposited in carbonate platform shelf and slope environments during the late early Aptian (Bover-Arnal et al., 2009, 2010, 2015). The facies are thicker and shallower on the eastern flank of the anticline, whereas they thin and transition laterally into basinal deposits at the Las Mingachas location on the western flank (Bover-Arnal et al., 2009, 2010), suggesting that subsidence continued to be greater on the western flank during the late early Aptian (Figure 8a). A regionally recognized exposure surface char-acterized by local incision and karst dissolution occurs near the top of the Villarroya Fm., indicating a significant fall in relative sea level during the latest early Aptian (Bover-Arnal et al., 2009, 2015, 2016). Alternatively, Peropadre et al. (2013) identify as many as six erosional surfaces within this interval, and interpret a complex drainage system recording southward and westward flow, coeval to the development of

the Villarroya carbonate platform. These authors interpreted a partial tectonic control for sea-level changes, but favoured a mainly eustatic origin to develop these unconformities. Moreover, on the western flank of the Miravete anticline, the top of the Villarroya de los Pinares Formation is locally not preserved due to recent erosion (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010).

The lower part of sedimentary unit 5 contains the late Aptian Benassal Fm. This latter lithostratigraphic unit is arranged into two transgressive-regressive sequences (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010, 2016; Embry et al., 2010). The transgressive parts are made up of marls and marly lime-stones with orbitolinids and gastropods, whereas the regres-sive units correspond to platform carbonates rich in rudists and corals (Figure 3). The top of the Benassal Formation is characterized by sand-grade siliciclastic input (Figure 3). The first transgressive–regressive sequence of the Benassal Fm. shows similar facies and thickness patterns on both sides of the anticline. The second transgressive–regressive sequence likewise shows similar facies patterns on either side of the anticline but is thinner on the western side as a result of later Palaeogene erosion. Furthermore, the lithostratigraphic units of sedimentary units 4 and 5 also show a progressive thickness increase and a deepening of the sedimentary en-vironments from north to south at the scale of the sub-ba-sin (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010; Embry et al., 2010; Vennin & Aurell, 2001).

Above the Benassal Formation, the sedimentary succes-sion records an unconformity and a transition back to tran-sitional and continental facies, which belong to the Escucha and Utrillas Fms. (Figure 3). The Escucha and Utrillas Fms. are Albian-earliest Cenomanian in age (Canérot et al., 1982). They are composed of coal-bearing deltaic deposits that change vertically into fluvial and locally aeolian sandstone (Querol et al., 1992; Rodríguez-López, Meléndez, Soria, & De Boer, 2009).

The overlying Cenomanian to Maastrichtian sedimentary record (Late Cretaceous in Figure 3) consists of shallow ma-rine carbonates and fine siliciclastic strata with gypsum and lacustrine limestone (Canérot, 1991; Gil, Carenas, Segura, Hidalgo, & García, 2004). The Late Cretaceous formations are only preserved on the eastern flank of the Miravete anti-cline, having been eroded from the west flank before deposi-tion of Palaeogene red beds. An unconformity associated with a major relative sea level drop at the end of the Maastrichtian marks the top of sedimentary unit 5.

The youngest deposits exposed in the study area corre-spond to Palaeogene alluvial to lacustrine conglomerate, sandstones and shales (sedimentary unit 6 in Figure 3). This succession, was inferred to range from earliest Palaeocene to

F I G U R E 4 Structural map of the core of the Miravete anticline, showing the major stratigraphic horizons and bedding attitudes obtained by remote sensing mapping and fieldwork. Note Camarillas Fm. (lower Barremian) bedding attitude and relationships with the Jurassic and Triassic core of the anticline.

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Miocene in age and was grouped into six tectono-sedimen-tary units bounded by unconformities associated with suc-cessive Alpine compressional events (González & Guimerà, 1993; Simón, 2004). Recently, K-Ar isotopic dating of illites from clay gouges near the SE front of the Iberian Ranges (Río Grío Fault) provided three groups of absolute ages, for the first time in the study area (Aldega et al., 2019). The Río Grío Fault system was active during Permian-Triassic and Late Jurassic (Mesozoic rifting phases) and then recorded the compression stages during Campanian (72 Ma) and middle Eocene (43 Ma).

3.2 | Present geometry of the Miravete anticline and of surrounding structures

The Miravete anticline is a 16-km long, almost N-S trend-ing fold that reaches 20  km in length when coupled with the Campos anticline to the north (Gautier, 1979; Figure 2). The northward transition from the Miravete anticline to the Campos anticline is across the ESE-WNW trend-ing Cobatillas thrust, producing a local verticalization of the anticline plunge (Figure 2; Simón & Liesa, 2011). The Campos anticline is embedded in the large ESE-WNW trending Aliaga synclinorium, which is filled with a thick,

coarse succession of Palaeogene growth strata. The Miravete anticline also preserves its southern periclinal termination (Figures 4 and 5a) while along its central segment is charac-terized by a complex, discontinuous and parallel to the axis normal fault system that collapsed its western flank. At a re-gional scale, the Miravete anticline is bounded by two rela-tively broad synclines: the N-S trending Camarillas syncline to the west and the NNW-SSE trending Fortanete syncline to the east (Figure 2).

The core of the Miravete anticline, delineated by the Keuper, Jurassic, and Lower Cretaceous to the mid Barremian (Artoles Fm.) part of the succession, shows a tight geometry especially along its central sector (Figure 4). The southern sector displays an easterly verging crestal do-main within the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous El Castellar Formation (Figure 5a). The central sector of the anticline, recognizable by the Remenderuelas–Camarillas normal fault system, locally exposes the Triassic succession along its core (Figures 4a and 5b). Where the Triassic is missing, different subvertical to overturned Jurassic–Barremian suc-cessions of the two limbs of the Miravete anticline are jux-taposed. Finally, in the northern sector, close to the Aliaga village (Figure  2), the anticline preserves its Jurassic cr-estal domain. The northern sector of the Miravete anticline was folded across the E–W trending La Olla monocline,

F I G U R E 5 Two drone pictures showing the structure of the Miravete anticline: (a) view to the south of the southern termination of the Miravete anticline delineated by the Villarroya Aptian carbonate platform smoothly rounded and east-vergent with a very steep eastern limb; and (b) view to the north of the central sector of the Miravete fold, cored by Triassic and Jurassic rocks displaying halokinetic features and exposing Cretaceous successions on both flanks (see location in Figure 4)

CamarillasJurassic

Triassic

Jurassic

CastellarCamarillas

Camarillas SynclineW-E

0 200 m

VillarroyaForcall

Xert

XertArtoles Villarroya

Escucha- Utrillas

Late Cretaceous

Remenderuelas Fault Fortanete SynclineMiravete Anticline

(a)

(b)

0 300 m

E-W

Xert

Forcall

Villarroya

Villarroya delos Pinares

Benassal

Miravete Anticline

Artoles

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resulting in a steep northward fold plunge of 70–80° and an almost circular, an outstanding subvertical fold clo-sure (Simón, 2004). The Remenderuelas–Camarillas nor-mal faults were previously described by Liesa (2006) and Navarrete et al. (2013, 2014) as a set of listric normal faults compartmentalizing the NNW-SSE trending Galve graben, a local sub-basin of the Maestrat Basin.

4 | EARLY JURASSIC TO APTIAN GROWTH OF THE MIRAVETE SALT ANTICLINE

In this section, we describe in greater detail the tectono-sedi-mentary relationships along the core of the Miravete anticline from the Lower Jurassic through the lower Aptian Villarroya de los Pinares Formation. This section is supported by the collection of a large amount of structural data (2,400 dips), from field and remote sensing datasets, to better constrain the tectonic and sedimentary relations. 3D geomodels were made for the region of Las Mingachas using high-quality im-ages acquired with drones, where carbonate platforms of the Villarroya de los Pinares Formation, from late early Aptian age, display several progradational bedsets in a hard-to-reach cliff. The entire sedimentary succession, showing abundant evidence of growth of the Miravete anticline, which we inter-pret to be related to salt tectonics, is examined in the follow-ing Sections 4.1–4.3.

4.1 | Jurassic salt anticline (salt mobilization)

The Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous structural evolution of the Miravete salt anticline is best illustrated in the central sector of the anticline at the Peña de las Higueras locality (Figure 6). At this outcrop, the core of the anticline is char-acterized by subvertical Jurassic carbonate formations with an eastward stratigraphic polarity and a reduced total thick-ness compared to regional. These Jurassic sequences are in contact with steeply westward-dipping El Castellar and Camarillas formations along the western flank of the anti-cline. The contact between these two opposing successions is sharp and steeply east-dipping (079/84°), showing sub-parallel flanks and was previously interpreted as a thrust fault since the thick Jurassic carbonates seem to thrust above the subvertical to overturned alluvial and lacustrine strata of the El Castellar Formation (Gautier, 1979; Liesa et al., 2006).

Interpreting this contact as a simple compressional thrust is not straightforward and it might only be possible thrusting an original west-verging closed fold in which the hanging-wall shows a flat geometry and the footwall displays a ramp

geometry and thus involving considerable offset. The lack of any hangingwall ramp at the level of Jurassic carbonate as well as the sudden changes in stratigraphy on both flanks along the central segment of the Miravete anticline (Figure 4), are more compatible with a salt weld interpretation. This dia-piric explanation is also sustained by the existence of Jurassic angular unconformities and Lower Cretaceous ones infilled by Camarillas Fm. indicating tectonic activity along the Miravete structure that steepened its flanks generating a pre-compression palaeorelief as described in this section.

Along the eastern flank of the Miravete salt anticline, the Jurassic carbonate succession is >200-m thick and is charac-terized by two unconformities (Figure 6). The basal part (units 1, 2 and 3 in Figure 6) is composed of thick breccia depos-its, attributed to the Jurassic 1, showing evidence of karstic overprint. This interval is truncated by a well-bedded carbon-ate unit with sparse biota and numerous metre-scale cycles (units 5 and 6), which is attributed to the Jurassic 2. Bedding within this Unit 5 is parallel to the basal unconformity (a in Figure 6). These Lower Jurassic carbonate platforms are trun-cated towards the top by a high-angle planar erosional surface (b in Figure 6) that cuts down through the stratigraphy and is associated with brecciation, a pink coloration, and reddening of the underlying carbonates. This erosional unconformity is onlapped at a relatively low angle (>10°) by cross-bedded oolitic packstones and grainstones of the uppermost Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Figure 6). The subparallel deposition of the Villar del Arzobispo above its basal uncon-formity indicates previous tilting of the Lower Jurassic car-bonate platforms.

The Villar del Arzobispo Formation is truncated by an erosional unconformity onto which the lower Barremian fluvial system of the Camarillas Formation onlaps, filling an observed palaeotopographic relief of more than hundred metres located near the active ridge of the rising Miravete salt wall (Figure 6a). Towards the south, the Hauterivian El Castellar Formation onlaps the top of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation and forms the eastern flank of the salt weld in contact with the west-dipping Jurassic strata (Figure 4). East-dipping Lower Cretaceous Artoles to Utrillas formations are conformable above the Jurassic through Lower Cretaceous Camarillas halokinetic sequence on the eastern flank of the Miravete salt anticline.

The Peña de las Higueras locality (Figure 6) was used to reconstruct the evolution of the eastern flank of the Miravete salt wall by examining variations in bedding attitude of the Jurassic 1 (Lower Jurassic) carbonates and of progressively younger deposits, namely: Jurassic 2; uppermost Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation and lower Barremian flu-vial deposits of the Camarillas Formation through time. We applied a sequential restoration, flattening layers above each unconformity to calculate the rotation of layers below it (Figure 6b). The first restoration (unfolding of the Camarillas

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F I G U R E 6 (a) View to the north of the outcrop of the Miravete west-verging diapiric weld in the Peña de la Higuera that juxtaposes east-dipping Jurassic carbonates (eastern flank) against Early Cretaceous El Castellar strata dipping west (western flank) (see its location in Figure 4). The eastern flank shows multiple unconformities within the Jurassic formations and the Early Cretaceous Camarillas onlapping the Villar del Arzobispo Formation. (b) Dip attitudes of successive formations have been restored to the horizontal to calculate the orientation of the Jurassic 1, through Jurassic 2, Late Jurassic (Villar del Arzobispo Formation) and Lower Barremian (Camarillas Formation) times. The stereoplots show that the Jurassic 1 carbonates attitudes changed orientation significantly over time during successive restoration. (c) Base of Unit 1 composed of fragmented clasts interpreted as a reworked deposit of karstified carbonates. (d) Erosional unconformity affecting peritidal carbonates of Unit 3 with conglomerates marking the transition to the subtidal limestones of Unit 5

0 100 m

12

3

A

5 6

B

8

84º89º

86º

45º50º

78º68º

80º87º

45º

62º

62º 55º

El Castellar

Villar delArzobispo

Camarillas

W - ESalt weld

Camarillas Camarillas

ArtolesXert

ForcallVillarroya

BenassalUtrillas

Eastern flankWestern flank

Jurassic 1

(a)

(b)

072/78º

n=23

Present Time

032/78º

082/74º

057/62º

Jurassic 1Jurassic 2Villar del ArzobispoCamarillas Fm.

Mean dip directionplanes: Ju

rass

ic 1

101/2

1º

356/28º

125/26º

Unfolding Camarillas Fm. Unfolding Jurassic 2

(rotation:49º, rotation axis: 00-064º)

Jurassic 1358/11º

335/49º

Unfolding Villar del Arzobispo

(rotation:26º, rotation axis: 00-215º)

Unit 5

Unit 3 Erosional unconformity A

Unit 1

(c) (d)

Peña de la Higuera locality

Jurassic 2

Jurassic 1

149/39º

Fig.6c Fig.6d

(rotation: 62º, rotation axis: 00-147º)

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Fm.) involves a rotation of 62° about an axis of 00–147° pro-ducing a Jurassic 1 dip of 101/21°; the second restoration (unfolding Villar del Arzobispo Fm.) involves a rotation of 26° with an axis rotation of 00–215° giving a Jurassic 1 dip of 358/11° and the third and last restoration (unfolding Jurassic 2) needed a rotation of 49° with a rotation axis of 00-064o resulting in a Jurassic 1 dip of 149/39°. Summarizing, from older to younger, Jurassic 1 layers were tilted 39o to SSW (be-fore Jurassic 2 time), 11° to N (before Villar del Arzobispo Fm.), and 21° to ESE before the deposition of the Camarillas Formation. These changes in both dip angle and dip direction do not seem to be typical of fault motions in which slightly more systematic rotations are observed.

The unconformity at the top of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation corresponds to a rough surface that bounds the outcrops of Jurassic carbonates. The unconformity shows an angle with the onlapping Camarillas strata in its lower part, whereas it is overlaid by younger Camarillas strata in its upper part and thus constraining its palaeo-height. The flattening of the older onlapping Camarillas strata indicates that the unconformity surface was dipping about 26 degrees towards the ESE as shown in Figure 6b. The present vertical-ization of flanks occurred during the Palaeogene tightening of the anticline that closed the salt wall along the central sec-tor of the N–S trending Miravete anticline. A potential re-verse-slip component for the salt weld is not disregarded, thus representing a thrust-weld (e.g. Rowan, Jackson, & Trudgill, 1999; Figure 6a).

4.2 | Hauterivian–Early Barremian salt wall and its western flank collapse

The Remenderuelas–Camarillas listric extensional fault sys-tem characterizes the western flank of the Miravete anticline in its central region (Liesa et al., 2006; Figure 7). The plane of the Remenderuelas–Camarillas extensional fault system is subparallel to the Triassic rocks cropping out in the core of the anticline and cuts through the Jurassic succession (Cortes de Tajuña to Villar del Arzobispo formations). The Hauterivian–Barremian El Castellar continental to transi-tional deposits are partly coeval with faulting, and the con-tinental Camarillas and shallow marine Artoles formations show both syn- and post-faulting depositional patterns re-lated to displacement on the two large Remenderuelas and Camarillas concave fault planes (location in Figure 4). The geometry of the fault system is described hereinafter from south to north, in the Peña de la Cingla, Mas de Sangüesa and Loma de las Remenderuelas localities (Figure 7, locations in Figure 4).

At the Peña de la Cingla locality the Camarillas fault is well exposed, as shown in the interpreted drone image of Figure  7a. The Lower Jurassic carbonates of the western

flank of the Miravete anticline constitute the footwall of the fault that cut the carbonates at a high angle. The fault flattens along the Triassic salt-bearing rocks to the south illustrating its listric geometry (Figure  7a). The hanging-wall of the Camarillas fault contains approximately 80 m of Hauterivian El Castellar Formation. Above it, several hun-dred metres of Barremian Camarillas strata infill and onlap the hangingwall fault plane showing a slight thickening

F I G U R E 7 Drone images of three localities to define the structure of the Remenderuelas–Camarillas collapse fault system along the western flank of the Miravete diapiric anticline. From south to north, (see locations in Figure 4): (a) Peña de La Cingla, (b) Mas de Sangüesa and (c) Loma de las Remenderuelas outcrops. Descriptions of each location can be found in the text

NW - SE

0 10 m Artoles

Camarillas

Triassic

Jurassic

Artoles

254/50º 273/63º

259/73º

265/80º

75º249/82º

246/80º

0 100 m

Camarillas

El Castellar

XertForcall

Artoles

Early Jurassic

283/71º

203/57º

281/85º248/72º

264/85º

223/67º

272/65º

063/86º

270/81º

Camarillas

ArtolesXert

Xert

Villarroya+Benassal

El Castellar

Early Jurassic

E-WEastern flank Western flank

Camarillas fault

285/39º

Forcall

0 100 m

269/50º

255/53º

292/45º

294/37º328/30º

121/61º109/74º

096/80º285/90º

260/55º

261/44º

(b) Mas de Sangüesa

(a) Peña de la Cingla

(c) Loma de las Remenderuelas

114/89º

Triassic

Camarillas fault

Remenderuelas fault

SW-NE

Remenderuelas fault

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towards the fault, which can define growth strata pattern. Upper Camarillas beds thin and overlie the topmost part of the fault, whereas the upper part of the mid-Barremian Artoles strata show no sign of growth and thus represent-ing post-faulting deposition in this locality (Figure  7a). The El Batán fault (from Liesa et al., 2006) constitutes the southern end of this 2.3-km-long Camarillas depocentre (Figure 4). To the south, the Miravete anticline preserves its complete fold geometry but is heavily faulted at the El Castellar Formation level within the southern sector of plunge domain 3 (Figure 4 for location) although faults are not represented at this scale (see details in Gautier, 1979 and Liesa et al., 2006).

At the Mas de Sangüesa locality, the Remenderuelas fault hangingwall is exposed (as observed in a southward aerial view from drone photography in Figure 7b). The fault hang-ingwall is composed of Jurassic carbonates, the El Castellar and the basal Camarillas formations. The Hauterivian El Castellar Formation thins southwards and the circa 250-m thick lower part of the early Barremian Camarillas Formation is deposited conformably on the underlying strata. At the Mas de Sangüesa locality, however, a deep incision cuts almost the entire lower Camarillas and is filled with middle Camarillas fluvial deposits onlapping against the walls of the palaeore-lief (Figure 7b). The upper part of the Camarillas Formation is continuous, and thus postdates infill of the palaeovalley on the western flank of the Miravete salt anticline. These obser-vations show that collapse of the western flank was coeval with the mostly continental deposition of the El Castellar and Camarillas formations and influenced their facies, thickness distributions and stratal geometries.

At the Loma de las Remenderuelas locality, the Remenderuelas fault is well exposed dipping 055/72° (Figure  7c). Here, Jurassic carbonates and remnants of salt-bearing Upper Triassic rocks form the footwall of the fault. The upper part of the Camarillas Formation onlap the fault and the lower part of the Artoles Formation, above an unconformity, onlap both the Camarillas Formation and the fault plane. The upper marine Artoles Formation unconform-ably overlies older growth strata and fossilizes the palaeore-lief developed during the activity of the Remenderuelas fault.

We interpret the W-dipping Remenderuelas–Camarillas extensional fault system to be related to the collapse of the western flank of the growing Miravete salt anticline or elon-gated salt weld starting before the deposition of the early Barremian Camarillas Formation. The collapse of the central segment of the anticline could be related to increasing exten-sion or sediment loading (Liesa et al., 2006), or to removal of salt at depth flowing towards the active salt wall.

Reconstructing the evolving topography during growth folding or diapiric structures is always difficult unless growth or halokinetic depositional sequences directly fossilize previ-ous tectonic or erosional features (Burbank & Vergés, 1994).

The eastern flank of the Miravete salt anticline at Peña de las Higueras locality (Figure 6a) shows a well-preserved pa-laeorelief carved in the Jurassic limestones and infilled by non-marine sediments of the El Castellar and Camarillas formations. The Camarillas strata onlap the previously tilted Jurassic units of the eastern flank of the Miravete salt anti-cline showing relatively constant thickness and an apparent subparallel attitude. Earliest Cretaceous facies distribution along the central segment of the anticline in both the east-ern flank (footwall) and the western flank (hangingwall of Remenderuelas–Camarillas fault system) indicate the exis-tence of a variable palaeorelief, defined by steeper Jurassic carbonates. This variable palaeorelief could be explained by deposition along an elongated and relatively narrow salt wall characterized by the collapse of its western flank and by the potential extrusion of salt along its footwall. This palaeoto-pography was covered by the Camarillas river system, that would eventually traverse the rising Miravete salt wall.

4.3 | Late Barremian–Aptian salt anticline growth and effects on carbonate platform distribution

Depositional facies and thickness patterns suggest the Miravete anticline exerted control on sedimentary units throughout the early Aptian, primarily by creating more accommodation (subsidence) on the western flank than the eastern flank (Figure 4). Evidence supporting this conclu-sion includes: (a) the continental to transitional Morella Formation is thicker in the western flank; (b) the overly-ing shallow marine carbonates of the Xert Formation are thicker and contains deeper facies on the western flank and (c) the carbonate platforms of the Villarroya de los Pinares Formation record deeper water facies, as well as west-di-rected progradational geometries away from the crest of the anticline, on its western flank. In the Las Mingachas local-ity, located on the western limb, near the village of Miravete de la Sierra (Figure 4), Bover-Arnal et al. (2009) described three superposed systems tracts (highstand, lowstand, and transgressive) within the lower Aptian Villarroya de los Pinares platform, preserving clinoforms that we analysed to determine their direction of progradation with respect to their stratigraphic position (Figure 8). This was accom-plished using a virtual outcrop model based on high-quality photographs collected by drone photogrammetry. The mod-elled dip directions of the clinoforms were verified with di-rect measurements in the field. The results of this analysis show that the clinoforms of the highstand systems tract are prograding towards the SW, whereas those of the subse-quent lowstand systems tract prograde towards the SSW, and those of the overlying transgressive systems tract pro-grade towards the W (Figure 8b,c).

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Taking into account that regional platform progradation was southwards, towards the Tethys, analysed platforms pro-grading roughly towards the west suggest that the Miravete anticline was a bathymetric high that partially controlled the platform architecture, along with relative sea level variations. To verify the potential growth of the Miravete salt anticline during deposition of the upper Barremian–Aptian carbonate platform successions we analysed different published strati-graphic columns in areas relatively away and close to the axis of the Miravete anticline (Figure 9b). The stratigraphic col-umns of the Barranco de las Calzadas in the eastern flank of Miravete anticline and the Estrecho de la Calzada Vieja (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010) in the western flank are located 1.2 and 0.8 km away from the axis of the anticline respectively (Figure 9b).

Assuming that the Miravete salt anticline was rising during deposition of these units, the thinner Las Cubetas stratigraphic column would represent a relatively proximal position above the crest of the anticline, whereas the other sections along the flanks would correspond to more distal areas away from the crestal domain. Therefore, we have projected and correlated the 279 m thick succession of the Las Cubetas stratigraphic column together with the west-ern flank section (a minimum of 572 m) and the Eastern flank section (547 m thick) stratigraphic columns located in the central part of the anticline (Figure 9b). The com-parison shows that all the stratigraphic units, except the Villarroya de los Pinares Formation thin towards the crest of the anticline, indicating amplification of the salt anti-cline during the late Barremian to Aptian. The Villarroya de los Pinares Formation thins and records deeper facies towards the western flank of the Miravete salt anticline (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010), and is relatively thicker on its eastern flank (Figure  9b). Such a configuration may be explained by lateral facies changes related to carbonate platform production and progradation above the more dis-tal facies of the Forcall Formation on the western flank, as observed in the Las Mingachas locality (Figures 8a and 9b). Alternatively, since carbonate platforms preferentially develop in the photic zone above palaeohighs, they may be relatively thicker above the growing salt structures, as ob-served in other diapiric examples like the El Gordo diapir in the La Popa Basin (Giles, Druke, Mercer, & Hunnivutt-Mack, 2008), the Bakio diapir in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (Poprawski et al., 2016), and the Tazoult salt wall in the Central High Atlas (Martín-Martín et al., 2017). This suggests that the crest of the Miravete anticline, and maybe its eastern flank, remained in shallower depositional en-vironments during the deposition of the Villarroya de los Pinares Formation compared with the western flank.

During the late Barremian to Aptian, the Miravete anti-cline is interpreted to have continued to evolve either as a growing salt anticline or as an elongated salt wall along the

footwall of the Remenderuelas–Camarillas fault system. In addition, stratigraphic thicknesses suggest a shift to decreased subsidence on the eastern flank of the Miravete anticline rel-ative to the western flank during the Early Cretaceous, sug-gesting primary welding had occurred beneath the Fortanete syncline by this time. These Barremian–Aptian carbonate platforms could locally or entirely onlap against the flanks of the salt ridge and thus produce a complex growth of the carbonate sedimentary system as occurs in other diapiric do-mains like in the La Popa Basin (Giles et al., 2008), in the Central High Atlas (Martín-Martín et al., 2017; Saura et al., 2014; Teixell, Barnolas, Rosales, & Arboleya, 2017), in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (Poprawski et al., 2016), or on the present margins of the Red Sea (Purkis, Harris, & Ellis, 2012).

4.4 | Reconstruction of the Miravete salt anticline

Although field evidence documents the growth of the Miravete salt anticline from the Early Jurassic until at least the Aptian, the construction of a constrained cross section is not straightforward due to the erosion of the anticline crestal domains, a crucial part of the geological cross sec-tion (Figure  9). Therefore, two end-members models are constructed: (a) a buckle fold model overlying an inverted normal fault, fitting the present structural relief difference, with its western flank higher than the eastern one, according to published interpretations (Figure 9a), and (b) a growing salt anticline model during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous above the same inverted normal fault, as interpreted in this study (Figure 9d).

4.4.1 | Buckle anticline model

The buckle anticline model, was built according to: (a) techniques of balanced cross-sectional construction as-suming minimal shortening; (b) a large number of new structural dips measured in the field along the line of the cross section (n = 154) and through remote sensing map-ping, along the entire length of the anticline limbs and core; (c) compilation of thickness data extrapolated from our geological map and from previous stratigraphic studies (Bover-Arnal et al., 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016; Embry et al., 2010; Meléndez et al., 2009; Navarrete et al., 2013, 2014; Peropadre et al., 2013) to constrain stratal thicknesses; and (d) constant thickness for groups of strata across the anti-cline, except where clear thickness variations were identi-fied in the field or from our stratal thickness dataset. This model shows a fold amplitude of 1.4 km between its crest and its western flank, whereas increasing to 2.4 km with

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respect to its eastern flank (Figure 9a). Shortening at the base of the Xert Formation is 20% (2 km) in an E–W direc-tion, perpendicular to both the anticline axis and the re-gional direction of shortening in the Maestrat Basin.

4.4.2 | Growing salt anticline model

The cross section considering the anticline as a growing salt structure during the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous periods was built using the same general assumptions as the buckle anti-cline model and identical structural dip and stratal thickness datasets. However, we used four additional constraints by (a) projecting the base of the Xert Formation along a lon-gitudinal section to constrain its position in the intersecting E–W cross section (Figure 9c; see its position in Figure 4); (b) using the thicknesses of the Las Cubetas stratigraphic suc-cession projected from the northern termination of the an-ticline, as representative of the crestal domain stratigraphy and compared to the equivalent successions in the flanks of the anticline (Figure 9b); (c) drawing appropriate stratal geometries for growing diapiric anticlines above salt walls, when observed in the field and (d) ensuring that the general geometry of the growing salt anticline model replicates the preserved east-vergent southern termination of the anticline (as imaged in Figure 5a).

The longitudinal cross section was constructed using about 200 dip measurements to define 5 plunge domains (Figure 9c). The plunge of domain 1 in the northern termi-nation of the Miravete salt anticline is 70° north due to its north-bending across the ENE-WSW trending Cobatillas thrust (Figures 2 and 4), which produced the verticalization of the anticline termination and the beautiful geological fea-tures of smaller folds with subvertical axes near Aliaga as described by Simón (2004). Domains 2 and 3 are plunging 3° and 5° north respectively. Domains 4 and 5 show the southern plunge of the anticline with very similar values of 9° and 8° respectively.

At the intersection between longitudinal and E-W cross sections, the base of the Xert Formation, corresponding to the projected Las Cubetas log, is estimated to lie at an elevation of ∼1,690 m. asl, in contrast to its position at 2,200 m asl at the anticline model buckle (Figure 9b,c). This stratigraphic succession encompasses the 40-m thick upper Barremian

Xert Formation, the early Aptian Forcall and Villarroya de los Pinares formations with thicknesses of 75 and 87 m, respec-tively, and the latest early–late Aptian Benassal Formation, with a minimum thickness of 77 m (Bover-Arnal et al., 2010). This 279-m-thick Las Cubetas succession is about half the total thickness of the equivalent succession outcropping on the eastern and western flanks of the anticline along the E-W cross section (Estrecho de la Calzada Vieja and Barranco de las Calzadas logs; Figure 9b).

In the growing salt anticline model, the projected posi-tion of the base Xert carbonate platform in the E-W cross section does not permit thick preservation of the underlying Hauterivian–Barremian pre-Xert sedimentary units in the core of the anticline (El Castellar, Camarillas, Artoles and Morella formations; Figure 9d). Field observations described earlier show that these steeply dipping pre-Xert sediments onlap against Jurassic platforms (Figure 6), and are wedged towards the Miravete salt weld as observed by an abrupt de-crease in dip at the boundary between Artoles and the Morella formations. Above the Xert Formation, the geological cross section is constructed considering the decrease in thickness of Xert, Forcall, Villarroya de los Pinares and Benassal for-mations using typical growth triangle geometries in both flanks (Figure 9d). This reconstruction is consistent with the interpretation of the Las Mingachas locality where the car-bonate platforms of the Villarroya de los Pinares Formation prograded roughly westward and thus outwards from the N–S trending core of the growing Miravete salt anticline (Figure 8). This model shows a fold amplitude of ∼0.8 km between its crest and its western flank, whereas increas-ing to 1.9 km with respect to its eastern flank (Figure 9a). Shortening at the base of the Xert Formation is only 10% (1 km) in an E-W direction; about half the amount of short-ening obtained for the buckle anticline model.

An analysis of the well-calibrated cross section provides other important results regarding the variations of the sedi-mentary thicknesses across the Miravete anticline. From the base of the El Castellar Formation (Hauterivian) to the base of the Benassal Formation (latest early Aptian) the total cu-mulative sedimentary thickness is 570 m (~30%) greater on the western flank than in the eastern one. If we compare only the El Castellar and Camarillas formations (Hauterivian–early Barremian) it turns out that these units are ~40% thicker in its western flank. As well, an increase in thickness of about

F I G U R E 8 (a) Interpreted aerial photograph (taken from Bover-Arnal et al., 2009) and schematic line drawing of the Las Mingachas locality (see location in Figure 4) showing the highstand (green), lowstand (yellow/orange) and transgressive (purple) systems tracts that were analysed. (b) Interpreted drone-derived outcrop model showing traced beds of the highstand (green), lowstand (yellow/orange), and transgressive (purple) systems tracts preserved in the early Aptian Villarroya de los Pinares with plots showing the restored orientations of clinoform progradation. Arrows in the stereoplots indicate clinoform measured directions (note each systems tract preserves its own unique direction, and both the highstand and transgressive systems tracts have a westward component, directed away from the crest of the Miravete anticline); and (c) schematic line drawing of the Las Mingachas locality (taken from Hunt and Tucker, 1992, 1995) showing the highstand (green), lowstand (yellow/orange) and transgressive (purple) systems tracts that were analysed and a rose diagram showing the direction of progradation for each systems tract

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30% is still determined during deposition of Xert, Forcall and Villarroya de los Pinares carbonate platforms in the western flank of the anticline (Figure 9b). Despite the greatest western flank thicknesses throughout most of the Lower Cretaceous sedimentation, in agreement with the Remenderuelas–Camarillas west-dipping extensional fault system, the configuration of the two flanks currently shows a reverse arrangement. In this way, the base of the Xert Formation is presently located >1,500 m higher in the Camarillas syncline (to the west) than in the Fortanete syncline (to the east), in-dicating a post-Xert tectonic inversion during the Cenozoic Alpine compression along a west-dipping basement normal fault. The base of the Cenozoic red beds deposited on both flanks of the anticline are located almost at the same eleva-tion but showing the most significant erosive unconformity in the Camarillas syncline cutting down to the basal part of Benassal Formation (Figure 9d). In this paper we associate the 1,500 m of uplift as related to the compressional reacti-vation of the west-dipping basement normal fault at depth, triggering the east-vergence of the Miravete salt anticline as exposed along its southern termination (Figure 5).

5 | JURASSIC AND EARLY–LATE CRETACEOUS REGIONAL DIAPIRIC STRUCTURES

In this section, we propose a regional analysis of tectono-sedimentary relationships using published geological maps and fieldwork in order to show evidence of other nearby salt-related structures that followed a similar evolution as the Miravete anticline. The regional evidence for salt-related structures growing from the Early Jurassic to Late Cretaceous includes: well-exposed discordant contacts between salt-bearing rocks and younger strata, unconformities, growth strata and onlap, and typical diapiric patterns like hooks and flaps. Two of the best examples, located at Castel de Cabra and the Cañada Vellida (Figure 2), are described below.

5.1 | Earliest Cretaceous to Aptian Castel de Cabra salt anticline growth

The near E–W trending Castel de Cabra salt anticline, located to the south of the village of Castel de Cabra, is characterized

by a narrow strip of Upper Triassic rocks in its core overlain by thick Jurassic carbonates defining an elongated anticline (Figure 10). The sedimentary infill of the adjacent asymmet-ric syncline to the north, composed of a few hundred metres of lower Barremian to Upper Cretaceous deposits, shows significant thinning of lower Barremian to Aptian, and pos-sibly Albian, strata towards the crest of the Castel de Cabra anticline. The most striking feature is the well-developed Albian unconformity bevelling the crest of the anticline at the base of the Escucha and Utrillas formations. Above the Utrillas Formation, a thin package of Upper Cretaceous car-bonates is the youngest preserved deposit within the Castel de Cabra growth syncline (Canérot, Crespo, & Navarro, 1977). This stratigraphic thinning towards the anticline crest indicates that folding and erosion occurred before deposi-tion of the non-marine Albian Escucha-Utrillas succession. The growth of the Castel de Cabra anticline during Early Cretaceous is partially coeval with the diapiric growth of the Miravete salt anticline. A simple structural restoration using the base of the Utrillas Formation as a flat reference level in the Castel de Cabra salt anticline, confirmed an approxi-mately 12° dip of the northern flank of the salt anticline be-fore Albian deposition. This unconformity at the base of the Albian Escucha-Utrillas formations is observed at regional scale in the Maestrat Basin above underlying stratigraphy in-cluding Upper Triassic evaporites. This observation agrees with the outcrops of two 2-m-thick microconglomerate beds within the Escucha Formation containing bipyramidal quartz (around 35-km northwest of the study area; Querol et al., 1992). According to these authors, these idiomorphic crystals of quartz, showing large and abundant anhydrite inclusions, grew within the Triassic evaporites and their erosion, short transport and deposition, indicate the exposure and dissolu-tion of large volumes of evaporites during Albian period at least.

5.2 | Late Jurassic flap to Aptian passive diapir development along the Cañada Vellida salt wall

The Cañada Vellida NW-SE striking structure, located north-east of the town of Galve, forms an elongated outcrop of Triassic red clay and gypsum in map view, up to 10-km long and a few hundred metres wide (Figure 11; see geological

F I G U R E 9 (a) Buckle fold model cross section across the Miravete anticline constructed with constant thicknesses wherever possible (location in Figure 4). (b) Thickness variations from the Xert to Benassal formations (upper Barremian–Aptian) across the Miravete salt anticline comparing the Las Cubetas section (see location in Figure 4) with that of the Western and the Eastern flanks (taken from Bover-Arnal et al., 2010); c) Longitudinal cross section defining the plunges of 5-axis fold domains (see map in Figure 4) along the base of Xert Fm. represented by a thick green line. The elevation of the base Xert Fm. in the E–W trending model is based on this longitudinal section. (d) Cross section across the core of Miravete anticline constructed with the constraints of the results shown in (b) and (c): The base of Xert Fm. is located at 1,690 m above sea level at the crest of the anticline and thickness projections of Las Cubetas log are applied to the top of the anticline

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maps of Villarluengo and Argente; Gautier, 1979; Martín & Canérot, 1977). This structure has been traditionally in-terpreted as a normal fault bounding the Cretaceous Galve sub-basin (Liesa et al., 2006), inverted in its SE part along the E-W trending Cobatillas thrust (Simón, 2004; Simón & Liesa, 2011) (see location in Figure 2).

The Cañada Vellida structure displays different strati-graphic successions on both sides of the Upper Triassic rocks cropping out along its core (Figure 11). The SW flank con-tains a thick Lower Jurassic to lower Barremian succession (equivalent to Camarillas Formation) and lacks younger deposits, whereas the NE flank shows a reduced Upper Jurassic to lower Barremian succession followed by a rela-tively thick upper Barremian to Upper Cretaceous succession (Figure 11). Along the NE flank, the Upper Triassic rocks are in contact with Upper Jurassic through Aptian units indi-cating a discordant limit. Two salt-related bedding structures within the NE flank of the Cañada Vellida confirms its evo-lution as a salt wall: a small hook within Lower Cretaceous beds and a large flap of Jurassic carbonates of which only remnants crop out (Figure 11). Along the contact with Upper Triassic salt-bearing rocks, a local intra-upper Barremian

to Aptian unconformity is interpreted as a halokinetic hook (Figure  11c). The NE flank of the central part of Cañada Vellida shows a spectacular stratal relationship between small patches of overturned Jurassic carbonate beds that lie unconformably on top of a thick subvertical Barremian–Aptian succession (Figure 11b). The Jurassic beds have over-turned dips that vary from 53° SW in the lower part in contact with the Upper Triassic evaporites, to only 17° SW in contact with younger Upper Cretaceous strata. We interpret the thin Jurassic patches as remnants of a large overturned flap against which the younger sediments were onlapping during the infill of the basin to the NE of the Cañada Vellida salt wall. The Cañada Vellida salt wall separated the Galve minibasin to the SW from the Aliaga minibasin to the NE. The present deeper position of the Galve minibasin to the SW, together with the SW-dipping flap on its NE flank, strongly indicates that a large breakout of salt extrusion was NE-directed soon after the deposition of Upper Jurassic carbonate platforms cover-ing the salt wall roof. Lower Cretaceous deposition infilled the SW side of the Aliaga minibasin onlapping against the at least 500-m-long upturned flap. The Jurassic thin carbonate patches forming the flap structure are part of the NE flank of

F I G U R E 1 0 Drone picture and interpretation of the asymmetric syncline involving Hauterivian-Barremian-Aptian growth sequences below the Albian unconformity (base of the Escucha Formation). The map shows the general structure of the Castel de Cabra salt anticline with a long exposure of Upper Triassic evaporites, interpreted as an elongated diapiric structure (see location in Figure 2)

S N

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Axis of the Castel de Cabra salt dome

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Keuper salt-bearing red clays (locally withembedded Muschelkalk rocks)

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the Cañada Vellida salt wall and therefore represent the oldest units outcropping along this flank. Their attitude dipping to SW along the contact with Upper Triassic evaporites does not permit to interpret them as remnants of a potential Alpine hangingwall thrust.

The NW-SE elongated structure at Cañada Vellida is interpreted in this study as a salt wall that was active from

the uppermost Jurassic to the Albian. Field examples of salt walls, slat-related normal faults, hook and flap struc-tures are described in the Alps (Graham, Jackson, Pilcher, & Kilsdonk, 2012), Pyrenees (Saura et al., 2016), Central High Atlas (Saura et al., 2014) and the Sivas Basin in Turkey (Ringenbach et al., 2013), among others (Rowan, Giles, Hearon, & Fiduk, 2016). Offshore examples, analysed on

F I G U R E 1 1 (a) Drone aerial view to the NW along the NE flank of the Cañada Vellida salt wall where upturned Upper Jurassic platform carbonates lie above subvertical Barremian and Aptian units displaying onlapping geometries against an overturned flap. Below, the map shows the position of characteristic salt-related flap (a and b) and hook (c) shapes. b) Field picture showing a close up of the NE segment of the 500-m long of Upper Jurassic flap structure. (c) Hook geometry of two Early Barremian continental halokinetic depositional sequences (see location in Figure 2)

01 km

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seismic profiles, are very common in a large variety of geological settings (Jackson & Hudec, 2017). Described structures at Miravete, Castel de Cabra and Cañada Vellida provide evidence for a regional halokinetic history of Early Jurassic through Albian, and possibly later, but prior to regional Palaeogene compression. This compression tight-ened most of the pre-existing diapiric structures, including those analysed in this study, as well as rejuvenated others like the Teruel diapir, active during Tortonian–Messinian deposition (e.g. Alonso-Zarza & Calvo, 2000).

6 | DISCUSSION

A model for the integrated halokinetic and stratigraphic evolu-tion of the Miravete anticline, from the Jurassic through Alpine compression extending into the Miocene, is shown in Figure 12. We address the implications of this model, as described for the Miravete salt anticline, Castel de Cabra salt anticline and Cañada Vellida salt wall first, at the scale of the Maestrat Basin, and then at the broader scale of the northeastern margin of the Iberian plate towards its limit with the European plate.

6.1 | Implications of salt tectonics at the Maestrat Basin scale

The diapiric structures described in the Miravete anticline, in the Castel de Cabra and Cañada Vellida localities, evolved prior to Alpine compression, from the Jurassic through late Early Cretaceous and were later reactivated during compres-sion from the Palaeocene through Miocene. The diapiric evo-lution model of the studied region of the Maestrat Basin has been divided into four different periods and is summarized in Figure 12. The first stage, during the Jurassic, is character-ized by the formation of salt anticlines, as described in the La Peña de la Higuera outcrop where Jurassic carbonate strata of different units rotated with unsystematic orientations near the Miravete anticline culmination (Figure 6). The overturned Upper Jurassic carbonates of Cañada Vellida, interpreted as a diapiric flap, indicate that the roof of the anticline during Jurassic time could have been formed by a thin carbonate se-quence (Figure 10). The second stage of evolution during the Hauterivian and early Barremian is widely represented in the outcrops along the western flank of the Miravete anticline at Loma de las Remenderuelas, Mas de Sangüesa and Peña de la Cingla (Figure 7). This stage is characterized by the growth of the Miravete salt wall producing differential subsidence, collapse and growth of the Remenderuelas–Camarillas fault system, potential extrusion of salt, and formation of variable palaeorelief along the flanks of the salt wall. The third stage of evolution is less constrained due to lack of direct observations in the Miravete anticline, with the exception of the analysis

of the upper lower Albian Las Mingachas carbonate platform progradation directions on the western flank (Figure  8). We interpret this as a period of growth of salt anticline with a thin-ning of the carbonate halokinetic sequences towards the crest of the anticline. However, the Miravete salt wall growth on the footwall of the Remenderuelas–Camarillas fault system would also be possible until at least the beginning of the Albian, con-sidering the coeval evolution observed in the Castel de Cabra structure (Figure 10) and in the Cañada Vellida (Figure 11). The duration of this stage of salt wall growth would be related to the amount of salt below adjacent synclines, which produced variations in depositional thicknesses and differential ages of primary welding (as described in Fortanete and Aliaga syn-clines-minibasins). The fourth and last stage of diapiric growth is related to Alpine shortening during which the described diapiric structures were squeezed, welded and thrusted (thrust-weld of Miravete anticline, potential salt withdrawal in the Cenozoic Aliaga synclinorium and the Miocene Teruel diapir).

This investigation of the Maestrat basin builds on important advances in salt tectonics over the last decades, beginning in the 1940s through 1980s with studies of the Iberian fold and thrust belt where salt tectonics and halokinetic sequences are pre-served, such as in the Pyrenees and Basque-Cantabrian Basin and the Betic Cordillera (e.g. Brinkmann & Logters, 1968; Moseley, Cuttelll, Lange, Stevens, & Warbrick, 1981; Ríos, 1948). More recent investigations into the role of salt tectonics, specifically in the large European and North African Permo-Triassic salt basins, illustrate its influence during both extension and subsequent compressional inversion (Soto et al., 2017). The identification of halokinetic depositional sequences (e.g. Giles & Lawton, 2002; Giles & Rowan, 2012), even in regions where no trace of salt-bearing rocks is preserved, has been associated with diapiric structuration, and the age of contemporaneous dep-ositional units determines the timing of salt tectonic-related de-formation. Some excellent examples occur in the Western Alps (e.g. Graham et al., 2012), the southern Pyrenees and Basque-Cantabrian Basin (e.g. Bodego & Agirrezabala, 2013; López-Horgue et al., 2010; Lopez-Mir et al., 2014; Poprawski et al., 2016; Saura et al., 2016) and the Central High Atlas (Martín-Martín et al., 2017; Moragas et al., 2017, 2018; Teixell et al., 2017). One of the most significant characteristics of these exam-ples is the lack of extensional faults cutting the post-salt deposi-tional sequences. The lack of extensional faults in the post-salt strata is due to decoupling of the presalt structure (basement) and the post-salt structure. In most cases, the bending of post-salt units after a short phase of extension produces long, narrow grabens that trigger reactive, active and passive diapirism along salt walls (e.g. Dooley & Schreurs, 2012).

By applying these salt tectonic concepts, a new geolog-ical cross section has been constructed between the eastern Cañada-Benatanduz and western Ababuj anticlines enclosing the Miravete salt-related anticline in its centre (Figure  13). The geological cross section is constructed using the detailed

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geological section across the Miravete anticline and the geo-logical sections from the IGME (1979) geological maps of Villarluengo and Alfambra (Gautier, 1979; Olivé, Godoy, &

Moissenet, 1981). The presalt basement is cut by a westerly dipping fault located beneath the Miravete anticline, as deter-mined by the presence of thicker Lower Cretaceous strata on its

F I G U R E 1 2 Schematic model of pre-Cenozoic compression diapiric evolution of the Miravete salt antilcine combined with results from Castel de Cabra growth anticline and Cañada Vellida salt wall. During the first stage (Jurassic), the anticline shows thinner platform sequences along its crest. Second stage records the increase of subsidence in the western flank coevally its collapse along the Rememderuelas–Camarillas fault system in its central sector. Potential salt extrusion along the footwall of the fault system occurred as well as in the Cañada Vellida salt wall. The third stage of diapiric evolution records both the growth of the salt anticline or salt wall in Miravete and continued extrusive diapirism at Cañada Vellida salt wall. The fourth and last stage occurred during the Alpine shortening, tightening previous diapiric structures

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western flank when restored at the base of Upper Cretaceous strata. The extensional fault system of Remenderuelas–Camarillas could possibly be related in space and time to the basement fault beneath the Miravete anticline at depth, but is not necessarily connected. In fact, in our interpretation, the Remenderuelas–Camarillas fault system is a salt-related growth fault that collapsed the western flank of the Miravete salt wall along its central segment. Excellent examples of simi-lar growth faults are imaged on seismic lines crossing the Horn Graben in the southern North Sea (Nalpas & Brun, 1993), and in the offshore Campos, Santos and Espírito Santo basins on the Brazilian margin (Alves, Cartwright, & Davies, 2009; Demercian, Szatmari, & Cobbold, 1993), among others.

The extensional geometry of this part of the Maestrat Basin is evident after restoration at the base-Upper Cretaceous level. This geometry resembles other preserved salt basins of Europe located away from the Iberia-Africa and Iberia-Europe plate boundaries, which experienced little to no modification by Alpine compression. The depocentre of the SE part of the Iberian Basin is 120- to 140-km wide (Salas et al., 2001;

Seillé et al., 2015) and likely includes numerous salt struc-tures that still need to be studied, of which Miravete, Castel de Cabra and Cañada Vellida-Pancrudo, have been identified in this study. Other sedimentary basins developed above Upper Triassic salt show comparable numbers of salt structures with similar geometries. For example the Central Polish Basin is about 140-km wide and contains five central diapiric salt walls and marginal salt anticlines (Krzywiec et al., 2017), and the Central Glückstadt Graben displays a total of eight salt walls in the centre of the graben and salt anticlines along its margins (Warsitzka, Kley, Jähne-Klingberg, & Kukowski, 2016, mod-ified from Baldschuhn, Binot, Fleig, & Kockel, 2001), bound-ing minibasins which may contain different stratigraphies.

6.2 | Diapiric evolution of the Maestrat Basin in the Iberian microplate framework

The halokinetic evolution of the Maestrat Basin shares a sim-ilar history with other salt basins in Iberia during the Jurassic

F I G U R E 1 3 Regional geological map and E-W trending line locating the geological cross section encompassing the Ababuj, Miravete and Cañada-Benatanduz anticlines separating the Camarillas and the Fortanete-La lastra synclines (Villarluengo MAGNA; Gautier, 1979). Most interesting is the low structural relief of the Miravete antilcine core as well as its apparent poor continuity of Jurassic and lowermost Cretaceous layers within it. The regional cross section is based on diapiric interpretations as discussed in this paper (see location in Figure 2)

Escucha and Utrillas Fm.Late Cretaceous

Cenozoic Benassal Fm. Villarroya Fm.

Forcall Fm.

Xert Fm.

El Castellar Fm.

Jurassic

Triassic

Camarillas Fm.

Morella-Artoles Fm.

Miravete anticline Fortanete synclineCamarillas syncline Cañada-Benatanduzanticline

La Lastra synclineW E

1 2 3 4 5 km0

–1

0

1

2

–2

Ababuj anticline

Cañada-Benatanduz anticlineLa Lastra syncline

Fortanete syncline

Camarillas syncline

Miravete anticline EW

Cross sectionAbabuj anticline

1 2 3 4 5 km0

Escucha-Utrillas

Camarillas

Artoles

Late Cretaceous

Benassal

Jurassic

Xert

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and Early Cretaceous and was possibly influenced by the larger scale Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Iberian microplate (Figure 14).

Widespread Upper Triassic salt diapirism was active in most of the extensional basins within the Iberian microplate during the Mesozoic (e.g. Vergés et al., 2019), including: the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (Bodego & Agirrezabala, 2013; López-Horgue et al., 2010; Poprawski et al., 2014, 2016; Quintà et al., 2012), the Pyrenean Basin (Canérot et al., 2005; Jammes et al., 2010; Lopez-Mir et al., 2014; McClay et al., 2004; Saura et al., 2016), the Iberian Basin (Canérot, 1991), the Betic Basin (Martínez del Olmo et al., 2015; Pedrera et al., 2014), the Algarve Basin (Ramos et al., 2016) and the Lusitanian Basin (Alves et al., 2003). In all of these regions, salt tectonics occurred during Jurassic and Early Cretaceous times, and most show evidence for reactivation during Alpine compression starting in the Late Cretaceous and continuing into the Miocene (Figure 14).

From the Late Jurassic to late Early Cretaceous, a major transcurrent-transtensional event has been determined along the Europe-Iberia plate boundary according to Nirrengarten, Manatschal, Tugend, Kusznir, and Sauter (2018). Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous extensional rifting reactivated diapirs and listric fault systems in the Basque-Cantabrian and Asturias basins (Cámara, 2017; Zamora, Fleming, & Gallastegui, 2017), the Bay of Biscay (Ferrer, Jackson, Roca,

& Rubinat, 2012) and probably also in the South-Central Pyrenees (Cámara & Flinch, 2017; Saura et al., 2016). Diapiric activity seems to have diminished or even completely stopped during the Late Cretaceous in the Maestrat Basin. In contrast, this period corresponds to widespread diapiric ac-tivity in other areas of the Iberian Peninsula (Figure 14). In the Pyrenees, the development of listric faults detaching on Triassic evaporates, created raft systems, which were active during the Late Cretaceous up to the onset of inversion as-sociated with the Alpine orogeny (Cámara & Flinch, 2017; López-Mir, Muñoz, & García-Senz, 2015; Saura et al., 2016). In the diapiric areas of the Atlantic, the Basque-Cantabrian and Asturias basins and the Bay of Biscay, both raft tectonics and passive diapirism were active during this period result-ing in very well-developed diapiric structures (Cámara, 2017; Ferrer et al., 2012; Zamora et al., 2017).

In the study region, Alpine reactivation of the precom-pressional diapiric structures is indicated by the Teruel di-apir within the Iberian Range, which was active during the Tortonian–Messinian (e.g. Alonso-Zarza & Calvo, 2000). Elsewhere, in the Pyrenean, the Betic-Rif and Iberian fold and thrust belts, the large number of diapir reactivations during Alpine shortening, and their widespread distribution suggests that this phenomenon is regional, and that the role of salt mobilization during the Mesozoic extension was very important. This has been recently established by detailed

F I G U R E 1 4 Compilation of the main diapiric phases that occurred in the diapiric provinces described for the Iberian Peninsula; dashed lines indicate uncertain ages for the corresponding diapiric phases. The interpretation of diapiric stages from the Iberian Range is based on field evidence listed in the figure and detailed in previous sections of this paper. Time scale according to Gradstein and Ogg (2012). Numbers and letters next to red circles refer to locations in Figure 1

Eastern Betics Asturian basinoffshore

Passive diapirism Diapir rejuvenationEarly salt mobilization Reactive and active diapirism e.g., 15 = locations in Fig. 1

Basque-Cantabrianbasin onshore

Miocene

Oligocene

Eocene

UpperJurassic

MiddleJurassic

LowerJurassic

LateTriassic

Maastrichtian

Campanian

SantonianConiacian

Paleocene

TuronianCenomanian

Albian

Aptian

BarremianHauterivianValanginianBerriasian

Plate kinematic modelIberia-Europe; point 42.8

N, 2.0 E, present day

Salt anticlineSalt wallprimary welding

Salt wallfault collapse &salt extrusion

Salt anticlineearly saltmobilization

Rejuvenated diapirsqueezing &secondary welding

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tectono-sedimentary studies of high-quality northern Iberian outcrops (e.g. Cámara, 2017; Cámara & Flinch, 2017; Canérot et al., 2005; Ferrer et al., 2012; López-Horgue et al., 2010; López-Mir et al., 2015; Poprawski et al., 2014; Saura et al., 2016; Zamora et al., 2017; among others).

In the large-scale Atlantic-Tethys context, Jurassic open-ing of the northern domain of the Central Atlantic triggered the southeastward transtensional drift of Africa with respect to Iberia and Europe, forming the highly segmented Ligurian-Tethys ocean and margins. Considering the segmented na-ture of the Jurassic plate boundary defined by several authors (Frizon de Lamotte et al., 2011; Handy, Schmid, Bousquet, Kissling, & Bernoulli, 2010; Sallarès et al., 2011; Schettino & Turco, 2011; Vergés & Fernàndez, 2012), the NW-SE Iberian-Maestrat Basin can be considered as a transform zone of the Ligurian-Tethys margin limiting the two ENE-WSW margin of the Betics and NE-SW Catalan Coastal Ranges. According to the model of Nirrengarten et al. (2018), the Iberian plate during the Jurassic, is marked by a period of relative tectonic quiescence in the relative movement of the Iberian plate with respect to Europe (Figure 14). This wide-spread extensional phase ended in the Early Cretaceous, coinciding with the northward propagation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge across the south Newfoundland-Iberia margin (Nirrengarten et al., 2018). This crucial event triggered the large transtensional motion of Iberia relative to the rest of Europe, with an eastwards movement of the Iberian micro-plate of about 720 km during Early and Late Cretaceous up to late Santonian at 83.5 Ma. The faster eastwards drift occurred over about 28 Myr from earliest Cretaceous to the earliest Albian at a rate of 20 mm/year, followed by a slower period of drift of 8 mm/year. It is interesting to note the synchroneity of the highest drift motion of the Iberia microplate with the highest diapiric activity in the Maestrat Basin (Figure 14).

7 | CONCLUSIONS

A halokinetic model for the origin of the Miravete anticline is the best model for explaining the structural and stratigraphic observations made in the field. Earlier models, based solely on Alpine reactivation of normal faults do not adequately explain the facies distribution patterns, platform prograda-tion directions, formational thickness variations on oppo-site flanks of the anticline, intraformational unconformities, nor the progressive changes in bed orientation with distance from the anticline core, all of which strongly suggest an actively growing structure from the Jurassic through Early Cretaceous. The following conclusions summarize the pro-posed halokinetic model and its implications.

1. Widespread diapiric structures are recognized for the first time in the Miravete anticline and surrounding structures

as indicated by well-exposed typical salt-related fea-tures (salt walls, collapse normal faults, hook and flap geometries), and unambiguous halokinetic depositional sequences that are documented in three examples, in-dicating protracted salt movement starting during the Jurassic and extending to the Albian at least.

2. The Miravete anticline is interpreted as a diapiric anti-cline, despite the scarcity of outcrops of Upper Triassic evaporites. The growth of Miravete occurred over tens of millions of years during the Jurassic and especially dur-ing the Early Cretaceous. Halokinesis developed in four stages, including the last one related to the Alpine shorten-ing that defines the present shape of the anticline.

3. This halokinetic interpretation is supported by the core of the anticline interpreted as a subvertical salt weld or thrust-weld, separating two steep flanks with opposing orientations and different stratigraphies and ages, which correspond to halokinetic depositional sequences of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.

4. The Miravete salt anticline started to grow during the Jurassic, as indicated by thin platform sequences of this age separated by angular unconformities attributed to early salt movement along the central segment of the salt weld (stage 1).

5. During the Hauterivian–Early Barremian, the central sec-tor of the Miravete salt anticline evolved as a salt wall ridge along which the El Castellar and Camarillas depos-its onlapped an already developed palaeotopography. This period was also characterized by the collapse of the west-ern flank of the salt anticline along a 10-km-long N-S fault system, west-dipping and subparallel to the edge of the diapir. Potential extrusion of salt along its footwall may occur (stage 2).

6. During the Late Barremian–Aptian times, the anticline evolved as either a salt anticline or as a salt wall influ-encing the growth of carbonate platforms (Xert, Forcall, Villarroya de los Pinares and Benassal formations) as indi-cated by the apparent reduction in thickness along the cr-estal domain. The progradation directions of the Villarroya de los Pinares is at a high angle to the anticline trend in-dicating that their deposition was influenced by the rising diapiric ridge up to the end of the Albian (stage 3).

7. Regionally, the well-exposed Castel de Cabra salt an-ticline and Cañada Vellida salt wall diapiric structures confirm the widespread diapirism during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous in the Maestrat Basin. The NE flank of the Cañada Vellida salt wall is characterized by hook pat-terns and by a 500-m-long upturned flap, comprising thin Upper Jurassic carbonates. An incomplete 500-m-thick Lower Cretaceous succession onlaps against the flap dur-ing the infilling of the SW flank of the Aliaga minibasin.

8. An E-W trending regional cross section across the Ababuj, Miravete and Cañada-Benatanduz anticlines was

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constructed, representing distinctive geometries of salt-re-lated rift basins. The diapiric development and its control on the growth of salt anticlines and diapir walls were sig-nificant and partially decoupled from basement faults. The Camarillas and Fortanete minibasins already displayed bowl geometries at the onset of Palaeogene shortening (stage 4).

9. The most active period of diapiric growth in the Maestrat Basin occurred during the Early Cretaceous and this was also recorded in the Eastern Betics, Asturias and Basque-Cantabrian basins. This period coincides with the peak of eastward drift of the Iberian microplate at rates of 20 mm/year, followed by a decreased rate of 8 m/year in earliest Albian time. Deviatoric stresses related to plate kinemat-ics thus possibly playing a role in diapiric evolution.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis work was funded by Equinor Research Centre, Bergen (Norway), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Projects ALPIMED (PIE-CSIC-201530E082) and SUBTETIS (PIE-CSIC-201830E039) with additional support from the Generalitat de Catalunya grant AGAUR 2017 SGR 847. We thank Toni Mestres for the drone photographies. We also thank Emilio Casciello, Eduard Saura and Giulio Casini for scientific discussions and to Eugene Iwaniw for an early review. This work has greatly benefited from the constructive reviews by Mary Ford, Juan Ignacio Soto and Marc Aurell as well as from those of the Associate Editor, Craig Magee.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENTThe data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

ORCIDJaume Vergés  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4467-5291 Yohann Poprawski  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3753-2804 Ylènia Almar  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4821-3537 Peter A. Drzewiecki  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5692-0039 Mar Moragas  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6152-3177 Telm Bover-Arnal  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5599-3711 Chiara Macchiavelli  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2564-2600

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How to cite this article: Vergés J, Poprawski Y, Almar Y, et al. Tectono-sedimentary evolution of Jurassic–Cretaceous diapiric structures: Miravete anticline, Maestrat Basin, Spain. Basin Res. 2020;32:1653–1684. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12447