Sedimentological and palaeohydrological responses to tectonics and climate in a small, closed lacustrine system: Oligocene As Pontes Basin (Spain)

A small, closed, lacustrine system developed during the restraining overstep stages of the Oligocene As Pontes strike-slip basin (Spain). The increase in basin accommodation and the headward spread of the drainage, which increased the water input, triggered a change from shallow, holomictic to deeper, meromictic conditions.

Sedimentación lacustre en la Cuenca Cenozoica de As Pontes (A Coruña)

The lacustrine and swampy sequences recorded in the As Pontes basin are rather diverse in terms of facies and sequential arrangement, depending on the considered basin zone. Since these sequences developed synchronously and very close, the paleoclimate conditions had to be similar and the observed differences must be attributed to the tectonic influence.

Origin of a restraining bend in an evolving strike-slip system: The Cenozoic As Pontes basin (NW Spain)

The As Pontes basin (12 km2), NW Iberian Peninsula, is bounded by a double restraining bend of a dextral strike-slip fault, which is related to the western onshore end of the Pyrenean belt. Surface and subsurface data obtained from intensive coal exploration and mining in the basin since the 1960s together with additional structural and stratigraphic sequence analysis allowed us to determine the geometric relationships between tectonic structures and stratigraphic markers. The small size of the basin and the large amount of quality data make the As Pontes basin a unique natural laboratory for improving our understanding of the origin and evolution of restraining bends. The double restraining bend is the end stage of the structural evolution of a compressive underlapping stepover, where the basin was formed. During the first stage (stepover stage), which began ca. 30 Ma ago (latest Rupelian) and lasted 3.4 My, two small isolated basins bounded by thrusts and normal faults were formed. For 1.3 My, the strike-slip faults, which defined the stepover, grew towards each other until joining and forming the double restraining bend, which bounds one large As Pontes basin (transition stage). The history of the basin was controlled by the activity of the double restraining bend for a further 3.4 My (restraining bend stage) and ended in mid-Aquitanian times (ca. 22 Ma).

Origin of a restraining bend in an evolving strike-slip system: The Cenozoic As Pontes basin (NW Spain)

The As Pontes basin (12 km2), NW Iberian Peninsula, is bounded by a double restraining bend of a dextral strike-slip fault, which is related to the western onshore end of the Pyrenean belt. Surface and subsurface data obtained from intensive coal exploration and mining in the basin since the 1960s together with additional structural and stratigraphic sequence analysis allowed us to determine the geometric relationships between tectonic structures and stratigraphic markers. The small size of the basin and the large amount of quality data make the As Pontes basin a unique natural laboratory for improving our understanding of the origin and evolution of restraining bends. The double restraining bend is the end stage of the structural evolution of a compressive underlapping stepover, where the basin was formed. During the first stage (stepover stage), which began ca. 30 Ma ago (latest Rupelian) and lasted 3.4 My, two small isolated basins bounded by thrusts and normal faults were formed. For 1.3 My, the strike-slip faults, which defined the stepover, grew towards each other until joining and forming the double restraining bend, which bounds one large As Pontes basin (transition stage). The history of the basin was controlled by the activity of the double restraining bend for a further 3.4 My (restraining bend stage) and ended in mid-Aquitanian times (ca. 22 Ma).

Forecasting coal resources and reserves in heterogeneous coal zones using 3D facies models (As Pontes Basin, NW Spain)

Forecasting coal resources and reserves is critical for coal mine development. Thickness maps are commonly used for assessing coal resources and reserves; however they are limited for capturing coal splitting effects in thick and heterogeneous coal zones. As an alternative, three-dimensional geostatistical methods are used to populate facies distributionwithin a densely drilled heterogeneous coal zone in the As Pontes Basin (NWSpain). Coal distribution in this zone is mainly characterized by coal-dominated areas in the central parts of the basin interfingering with terrigenous-dominated alluvial fan zones at the margins. The three-dimensional models obtained are applied to forecast coal resources and reserves. Predictions using subsets of the entire dataset are also generated to understand the performance of methods under limited data constraints. Three-dimensional facies interpolation methods tend to overestimate coal resources and reserves due to interpolation smoothing. Facies simulation methods yield similar resource predictions than conventional thickness map approximations. Reserves predicted by facies simulation methods are mainly influenced by: a) the specific coal proportion threshold used to determine if a block can be recovered or not, and b) the capability of the modelling strategy to reproduce areal trends in coal proportions and splitting between coal-dominated and terrigenousdominated areas of the basin. Reserves predictions differ between the simulation methods, even with dense conditioning datasets. Simulation methods can be ranked according to the correlation of their outputs with predictions from the directly interpolated coal proportion maps: a) with low-density datasets sequential indicator simulation with trends yields the best correlation, b) with high-density datasets sequential indicator simulation with post-processing yields the best correlation, because the areal trends are provided implicitly by the dense conditioning data.

The coal bearing Cenozoic As Pontes Basin (NW Spain): Geological influence on its coal's characteristics

Lignite deposits in the Cenozoic As Pontes strike-slip basin (northwestern Spain)were formed as a function of specific paleoclimatic conditions and tectonic evolution of the basin.

Magnetoestratigrafía de las sucesiones cenozoicas de la cuenca de As Pontes(La Coruña, Noroeste de España).

La cuenca terciaria de As Pontes (Noroeste de España), asociada a un corredor de fallas transcurrentes de dirección NW-SE, ha sido datada mediante magnetoestratigrafia, para lo cual se han estudiado un total de cuatro sucesiones magnetoestratigráficas. Las litologías estudiadas han sido sobre todo arcillas aluviales y palustres-lacustres, con un contenido variable de materia orgánica. En total se han desmagnetizado unos 900 especímenes, mediante desmagnetización térmica y por campos alternantes. Los minerales responsables de la magnetización en las rocas estudiadas son la magnetita y los sulfuros de hierro. A partir de los datos paleomagnéticos, se puede establecer que la sedimentación en la cuenca comenzó en el cron 10r (parte alta del Starnpiense) y se prolongó, como mínimo, hasta el subcron 6AAr.2n (Aquitaniense superior). Así, la duración de la sedimentación en la cuenca fue de unos 6,2 Ma, abarcando desde la última parte del Oligoceno temprano hasta el Mioceno temprano. La correlación magnetoestratigráfica de las diferentes sucesiones de la cuenca ha permitido establecer una correlación cronológica muy precisa a escala de cuenca, determinando la casi total isocronía de la mayor parte de los diferentes niveles de lignito y de las unidades litoestratigráficas de la cuenca. Por otro lado, las declinaciones medias muestran una rotación de 9'+4' para el relleno sedimentario de la cuenca de As Pontes, en sentido horario con respecto a la declinación del Oligoceno-Mioceno, coherente con el movimiento dextrógiro del corredor de fallas transcurrentes de dirección NW-SE. La datación del registro sedimentario de la cuenca de As Pontes permite establecer que los sistemas de fallas transcurrentes de orientación NW-SE del noroeste de la Península Ibérica fueron fuertemente activos desde la última parte del Oligoceno temprano hasta el Mioceno temprano. La finalización del movimiento principal de estos sistemas de fallas coincidió con el fin de actividad del margen entre la microplaca Ibérica y la placa Europea. Esto implicaría que el final de la actividad tectónica principal coincide en el ofshore y en el onshore del NW peninsular.

Tectonic-palaeoenvironmental forcing of clay-mineral assemblages in nonmarine settings: the Oligocene-Miocene As Pontes Basin (Spain)

Two small, alluvial-lacustrine subbasins developed during the early restraining overstep stages of the Oligocene-Miocene As Pontes strike-slip Basin (NW Spain). Later, the basin evolved into a restraining bend stage and an alluvial-swamp-dominated depositional framework developed. The palaeobiological record demonstrates that the Oligocene-Miocene palaeoclimate in NW Spain was subtropical, warm and humid to subhumid.