The landscape of the eastern Huércal-Overa Basin reflects the influence of a tectonic context thataffected its younger landforms, and involved Quaternary neotectonic activity and the dominantalluvial sedimentary environment. From sedimentary descriptions, aerial photo-interpretation, geo-morphological mapping and the use of GIS techniques, the geodynamic evolution of this part ofthe Huércal-Overa basin during the late Pliocene and Quaternary has been reconstructed, emerging a complicated pattern. The main tectonic activity is associated with the entrance of the left-lateral strike-slip Lorca-Alhama fault (oriented NE-SW) in the Huércal-Overa basin. The interactionof this fault with earlier ENE-WSW to E-W faults inherited from the opening stage of the basinduring the Miocene formed a subsiding area (the Cubeta del Saltador) with pull-apart characteristics superimposed on the previous Miocene basin, and tectonic highs in both the northern and eastern margins.

Trabajo presentado en el VI Congreso Geológico de España, celebrado en Zaragoza (España),del 12 al 15 de julio de 2004

Peer reviewed