The structure and tectonic evolution of the Aguilón fold-nappe, Sierra Alhamilla, Betic Cordilleras, SE Spain

Detailed structural work in the Sierra Alhamilla, SE Spain, shows that the Aguilón nappe, comprising Triassic and older metasedimentary rocks, is a fold-nappe. The most prominent set of small-scale folds changes from dominantly N-vergent in the upper, right-way-up limb to S-vergent in the greatly thinned lower limb. The nappe closes to the north, and must have been emplaced in this direction. Nappe formation was accompanied by small-scale folding and extensive solution-transfer producing a pronounced differentiated crenulation cleavage. These structures overprint an earlier set of folds and cleavage, and are overprinted in turn by late N-vergent structures. The lower limb of the nappe was thinned and disrupted during continued nappe transport. Pre-Triassic schist in the core of the nappe was affected by medium-grade metamorphism of probable post-Triassic age. The contact with low-grade Permo-Triassic sediments above and below the schist coincides with a distinct change in metamorphic grade. This contact may be a post-metamorphic extensional fault that is now folded around the nappe, which suggests that nappe formation was preceded by extensional faulting. This is consistent with gravity spreading as the driving process for nappe emplacement.