The Geology of Spain

This book provides the first comprehensive account in English of the geology of mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary islands. It has been written by 159 research-active, mostly Spanish authors working together in teams from over 20 universities and other centres of research excellence. The 19 chapters begin with an overview of Spanish geology prepared by the editors, followed by a detailed examination of Iberian Precambrian and Palaeozoic rocks in Spain, Variscan magmatism and tectonics, and the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary record and fossil record. Subsequent chapters deal with the Alpine orogeny in the Pyrenees, Betics and other mountain ranges of Spain and the Balearic Islands, and with Cenozoic magmatism, including the classic hot-spot-related volcanism of the Canary Islands. The final chapter focuses on economic and environmental geology, emphasizing metallic deposits and industrial minerals, hydrocarbon energy resources, water supply, and modern seismic hazard. Finally a bibliography of around 4000 references provides a uniquely valuable information source. Encompassing subjects as diverse as the origin of Spanish granites, the palaeogeographic and tectonometamorphic history of the Iberian plate, human evolution in the SW Mediterranean, and modern volcanism and earthquake activity, The Geology of Spain is a key reference work suitable not only for libraries across the world, but of interest to all researchers, teachers and students of SW European geology.
Jurassic
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Published:January 01, 2002
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CiteCitation
Marc Aurell, Guillermo Meléndez, Federico Olóriz, Beatriz Bádenas, Jesús E. Caracuel, José Carlos García-Ramos, Antonio Goy, Asunción Linares, Santiago Quesada, Sergio Robles, Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar, Idoia Rosales, José Sandoval, Cesar Suárez De Centi, José M. Tavera, Marta Valenzuela, 2002. "Jurassic", The Geology of Spain, W. Gibbons, Teresa Moreno
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Abstract
At the beginning of the Jurassic period, southern European areas formed a single continental mass open to the east (western Tethys), and the Iberian plate lay between latitude 25°N and 35°N. It was separated from the larger European plate to the north by a narrow trough corresponding to the early rifting of the Bay of Biscay. To the NW it was separated from the Laurentia–Greenland Plate by an epicontinental sea showing a typical horst and graben structure, which would eventually become the palaeogeographical connection between the northern and central Atlantic. The opening of the Bay of Biscay took place...