Introduction
Both geologically and morphologically, the Pyrenean mountain chain forms an important divide, one that separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of the European continent.The Pyrenees (Pyrénées, in French) also form the boundary between the Ebro Valley and the folded-foreland basin of N Spain in the S, and the Garonne Valley region of France in the N. The drainage divide and political frontier between France and Spain do not coincide everywhere, the most important exception being the upper reaches of the Garonne River in the Spanish Valle de Arán. The 100 km wide Pyrenean geological province extends 1000 km; i.e. eastward from NW Spain (Galicia or Gallaecia, Asturias, and Cantabrian Mountains) through the Pyreneen and into the French Languedoc-Aix-en-Provence region; the latter lies S of the E extension of the largely covered N Pyrenean frontal fault (Figs 220-221) Only the central part of the geological province is discussed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Banda, E. and Wickham, S.M. (ed.) (1986) The geological evolution of the Pyrenees, Tectonophysics, 129(1–4), 381 pp.
BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières), Société Elf Recherches, Société ESSO de Recherches et d'Exploitation du Pétrole, and Société Nationale des Pétroles d'Aquitaine (1974) Géologie du Bassin d'Aquitaine. Orléans, France: Editions BRGM, 26 maps.
BRGM (1980) Carte Géologique de la France et de la Marge Continentale, 1:500 000, Orléans, France.
BRGM (1980–1977) Carte Géologique de la France, 1:50 000 and 1:80 000, Orléans, France. Individual maps listed in Hall and Johnson (1986) and Johnson and Hall (1989).
Bull. Soc. Géol. France (1990) Le programme ECORS dans les Pyrénées, Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 6, 205–364.
Burbank, D.W., VergésJ., Muñoz, J.A. and Bentham, P. (1992) Coeveal hindward-and forward-imbricating thrusting in the south-central Pyrenees, Spain: timing and rates of shortening and deposition Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 104(1), 3–17.
Carez, L. (1903–1909) La Géologie des Pyrénées Française, 6 vols. Paris: Imprimerie nationale.
Choukroune, P. (1989) The ECORS Pyrenean deep seismic profile reflection data and the overall structure of an orogenic belt, Tectonics, 8, 23–39.
Choukroune, P. and Mattauer, M. (1978) Tectonique des plaques et Pyrénées: sur le fonctionnement de la faille transformante nord-pyrénéenne; comparaisons avec des modeles actuels. Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 20, 689–700.
Choukroune, P., Pinet, B. Roure, F. and Cazes, M. (1990a) Major Hercynian thrusts along the ECORS Pyrenees and Biscay lines, Bull. Soc. Géol. France. Ser. 8. 6.313–20.
Choukroune, P., Roure, F. Pinet, B. and ECORS Pyrenees Team (1990b) Tectonophysics.173, 411–23.
Desegalux, P., Foure, F. and Villein, A. (1990) Structural evolution of the Pyrenees: tectonic inheritance and flexural behaviour in the continental crust. Tectonophysics182, 211–25.
deSitter, L.U. and Zwart, H.J. (1962) Geological map of the Paleozoic of the central Pyrenees, Sheets 1 and 2, Leidse Geol. Mededlingen.27, 190–236.
Hall, C.A. and Bennett, V.C. (1979) Significance of Iherzolite at the Étang de Lhers, central Pyrenees, southern France, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 45, 349–54.
Hall, C.A. and Johnson, J.A. (1986) Apparent western termination of the N. Pyrenean fault and tectonostratigraphic units of the western N. Pyrenees, France and Spain. Tectonics.5.607–27.
International Geological Map of Europe (1973) 1:1 500 000, B5 Paris-Sud. Bundessansalt für Bodenforshung/UNESCO, Place de Fontenoy, Paris.
Johnson, J.A. and HallC. A. Jnr (1989) The structural and sedimentary evolution of the Cretaceous N. Pyrenean basin, southern France. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 101, 231–47.
Pinet, B. et al. (1987) Crustal thinning of the Aquitaine shelf (Bay of Biscay) from deep seismic data. Nature, 325, 513–6.
Poupinet, G., Souriau, A. Vadell, M. and Njike-Kassala, J.D. (1992) Constraints on the lithosphere structure beneath the N. Pyrenean fault from teleseismic observations. Geology, 20, 157–60.
Vergés, J. and Muñoz, J.A. (1990) Thrust sequences in the southern central Pyrenees, Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 8, 265–71.
Vielzeuf, D. and Kornprobst, J. (1983) Crustal splitting and the emplacement of Pyrenean Iherzolites and granulites, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 67, 87–96.
Vissers, R.L.M. (1992) Variscan extension in the Pyrenees, Tectonics. 11, 1369–84.
Zwart, H.J. (1979) The geology of the central Pyrenees. Leidse Geol. Mededlingen.50. 1–74.
Cross references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Chapman & Hall
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hall, C.A. (1997). France: Spain: Pyrenees . In: Encyclopedia of European and Asian Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4495-X_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4495-X_32
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-74040-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4495-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive