Spatio-temporal Evolution of Topography, Flexure, and Exhumation of the Pyrenees Mountains

Описание: Assistant Professor of Tectonics Dr. Maggie Ellis Curry discusses her work investigating the topography of the Pyrenees and the tectonic evolution of the mountain range.

The Pyrenees are an asymmetric, doubly-vergent orogen with two foreland basins that preserve a record of deformation dating back to the Mesozoic. Extensive research and exploration efforts on the mountain belt and flanking foreland basins have provided an exceptional dataset for investigating the topographic and exhumational history of the mountain belt.

Using numerical modeling, subsurface data, and thermochronology, I investigate the spatio-temporal variations in lithospheric flexure, topographic relief, and rock exhumation in response to the developing orogen. Results indicate the mountain belt achieved its modern relief by the end of the Eocene, and post-orogenic decay has been slow and limited. Within that topographic framework, exhumation propagated from east to west and is notably influenced by post-orogenic surface processes.

This study highlights the importance of constraining surface topography when evaluating the tectonic evolution, and shows the utility of combining subsurface and surface datasets with novel numerical modeling to determine active feedbacks during orogenesis.


Maggie Ellis | Assistant Professor of Tectonics, University of Houston
https://uh.edu/nsm/earth-atmospheric/...

Research that Matters: The Bureau of Economic Geology
https://www.beg.utexas.edu/