Evolution of the South-Iberian paleomargin: From hyperextension to continental subduction Pedrera, Antonio Ruiz-Constán, A. García Senz, Jesús Azor Pérez, Antonio Marín Lechado, Carlos Ayala, Conxi Díaz de Neira, José Alberto Rodríguez Fernández, Luis Roberto Three crustal-scale sequentially restored cross-sections along the Central External Betic Cordillera enable us to pinpoint the role of extreme crustal thinning, tectonic inheritance and salt tectonics during the evolution of the South-Iberian paleomargin from Mesozoic rifting to Cenozoic continental subduction. This interpretation puts forward the existence of a former highly extended Mesozoic rift system, namely the Subbetic Basin. The basin comprises three main domains that coincide with the classical zoning of the External Betics: (i) The Intermediate units in the northern basin margin represent primary thick minibasins separated by salt walls; (ii) the External Subbetic units attest an inflated salt body in a central trough; and (iii) the Median and Internal Subbetic units in the southern basin margin are analogous to a group of primary minibasins with intercalations of submarine volcanic rocks overlying hyperextended crust. Shortening led to the extrusion of a salt canopy and the development of secondary minibasins. Furthermore, the tectonic inversion of the Subbetic Basin created two major thrusts sheets detached at the Upper Triassic evaporites, accommodating a shortening of �100–145 km at early Eocene-middle Miocene time. Compression reshaped the hyperextended domain into a subduction trench, and the former transfer faults into tear faults. Ongoing shortening led to the subduction of the South-Iberian paleomargin beneath the Albor�an Domain lithosphere. Our results provide a new perspective on the inversion of segmented rift basins partly floored by mantle rocks and call for a major reconsideration on the tectonic architecture and evolution of the Betic-Rif Cordillera. 2025-01-13T11:58:42Z 2025-01-13T11:58:42Z 2020-06 journal article Journal of Structural Geology, 138, 104122 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/98971 10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104122 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ open access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License