Evolution of the Pyrenees during the Variscan and Alpine Cycles, Volume 2

Synorogenic and Postorogenic Evolution

Nicolas Saspiturry, Jessica Uzel, Alexandre Ortiz

• Publisher: Wiley-ISTE
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781789452068
• eBook ISBN:
  9781394446131
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Geology & Earth Sciences

This book explores the geological history of the Pyrenees over the past 90 million years, with a particular focus on their compressive and post-compressive evolution. It first presents the overall structure of the mountain range, then examines the development of the northern and southern Pyrenean foreland basins through their sedimentary records, allowing the successive phases of orogenic construction to be identified. Special attention is given to the dismantling of the eastern crustal root in relation to the Oligocene–Miocene opening of the Gulf of Lion.

Evolution of the Pyrenees during the Variscan and Alpine Cycles 2 then highlights the contributions of several innovative approaches used to better constrain the transition from compressive to post-compressive tectonics. These include studies of relief flattening and incision processes; U–Pb geochronology applied to fault-related carbonates; cosmogenic nuclide dating combined with geomorphological analyses; and investigations into the thermal evolution of the Pyrenean rift basins. The book also documents Quaternary glacial fluctuations that affected the Pyrenees.

In conclusion, it presents a geological map of the northern slope of the mountain range at a scale of 1:250,000 and draws attention to the uniqueness of Pyrenean blue corundum.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• 1 Structure of the Pyrenees at the Crustal Scale
• 2 Syncompressive Alluvial Conglomerates: Markers of Exhumation in the Eastern Pyrenees
• 3 Tectono-Sedimentary Evolution of the Aquitaine Basin from the Priabonian to the Pliocene
• 4 The Source-to-Sink Evolution of the Jaca Basin (Southern Pyrenees)
• 5 The Western Mediterranean Extension and the Dismantling of the Eastern Pyrenees
• 6 A “Late Pyrenean” Phase at the Burdigalian/Langhian Transition (Corbières, France)?
• 7 Planation Surfaces and Post-Compressive Evolution of the Pyrenean Chain
• 8 Dating and Erosion Rates of the Pyrenees: In Situ-Produced Cosmogenic Isotopes
• 9 Post-Compressive Incision of the Pyrenean Valleys: Insights from Karst Records
• 10 Evolution of the Geothermal Gradient from Cretaceous Rifting to Pyrenean Compression (Western Pyrenees)
• 11 Pleistocene and Holocene Glacial Fluctuations in the Pyrenees
• 12 Digital Geological Map of the Northern Slope of the Pyrenees at 1:250,000 Scale
• 13 The Corundums of the Albitites Related to the Urdach Lherzolites: Lapidary Enhancement
• List of Authors
• Index
• End User License Agreement