Arnaud VACHERAT

Geodynamics of the post-orogenic foreland basins

Supervisor:
Stéphane Bonnet, Frédéric Mouthereau and Vincent Regard
GET-OMP Toulouse

Major Results

Intracontinental endorheic basins are key elements of source-to-sink systems as they preserve sediments eroded from surrounding catchments. We show that contrasting excavation of the Ebro and Duero basins drives a reorganization of their drainage network through a series of captures and resulted in the southwestward migration of their main drainage divide, independently from tectonics and climate.

Abstract

Drainage reorganization in intracontinental basins has strong implications on the sediment routing system and on the landscape evolution at a cratonic scale. Fluvial captures have strong impact on drainage areas, fluxes, and so on incision capacity, especially for the captured basin. Although the two Ebro and Duero hydrographic basins recorded similar histories, they are characterized by very different morphologic features. The Ebro basin is highly excavated, whereas the Duero basin is well preserved and may be considered as almost still endorheic. These two bordering basins then show contrasting preservation states of their endorheic stages and represent an ideal natural laboratory to study what factors (internal / external) control drainage divide mobility, and drainage network and landscape evolution in post-orogenic basins.

 

To that aim, field and map observations and the Chi-analysis of river profiles across the divide along the boundary between the Ebro and Duero drainage basins in the Northern Iberian Peninsula were undertaken to evaluate the migration of their divide. Thus, we conclude that drainage reorganization, and capture of the Duero rivers by the Ebro ones, independently from tectonics and climate, enable endorheism in the Duero basin due to drainage area loss.

Topographic map of the Duero and Ebro basins and surrounding belts.
(b) Averaged topographic section throughout the Duero and Ebro basins showing important incision contrast between the two basins.
The Duero basin recorded low incision, especially in its upper part, whereas the Ebro basin is highly excavated.

Shortening of the axial zone, pyrenees: Shortening sequence, upper crustal mylonites and crustal strength 

Shortening of the axial zone, pyrenees: Shortening sequence, upper crustal mylonites and crustal strength

Bellahsen, N., Bayet, L., Denele, Y., Waldner, M., Airaghi, L., Rosenberg, C.,… & Vacherat, A. (2019). Shortening of the axial zone, Pyrenees: Shortening sequence, upper crustal mylonites and crustal strength. Tectonophysics, 766, 433–452.

keywords:  collision, rheology, Pyrenees, basement, greenschist

DOI: https://doi. org/10.1016/j.tecto.2019.06.002

Drainage reorganization and divide migration induced by the excavation of the Ebro basin 1(NE Spain)

Drainage reorganization and divide migration induced by the excavation of the Ebro basin 1(NE Spain)

Vacherat, A., Bonnet, S., Mouthereau, F. (2017): Drainage reorganization and divide migration induced by the excavation of the Ebro basin 1(NE Spain). Earth Surf. Dynam. Discuss.

keywords: Source to sink, drainage, rivers dynamics, Ebro, Duero, Tertiary, Quaternary

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2017-53