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Cerro del Hierro, Spain: the largest exposed early Cambrian palaeokarst

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2020

Eduardo Mayoral Open the ORCID record for Eduardo Mayoral [Opens in a new window] ,
María Eugenia Dies Álvarez ,
José Antonio Gámez Vintaned ,
Rodolfo Gozalo ,
Eladio Liñán  and
José Miguel Molina
Eduardo Mayoral*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Huelva, 21071Huelva, Spain Department of Applied Geosciences, CCTH – Science and Technology Research Centre, University of Huelva, 21071Huelva, Spain
María Eugenia Dies Álvarez
Affiliation:
Department of Specific Didactics, Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Ambientales (IUCA), University of Zaragoza, 50009Zaragoza, Spain
José Antonio Gámez Vintaned
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Sciences & Information Technology, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750Tronoh (Perak), Malaysia
Rodolfo Gozalo
Affiliation:
Department of Botany and Geology, University of València, 46100Burjassot, Spain
Eladio Liñán
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, IUCA, University of Zaragoza, 50009Zaragoza, Spain
José Miguel Molina
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and CEACTierra, University of Jaén, 23071Jaén, Spain
*
Author for correspondence: Eduardo Mayoral, Email: mayoral@dgeo.uhu.es
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Abstract

We study the largest exposed example of an early Cambrian palaeokarst, associated with laterites and developed during rifting of the Ossa–Morena Zone. The lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, facies and the genesis reflect episodes of sea-level fall (Cerro del Hierro Regression) related to tectonic events and palaeoclimate. This palaeokarst can be primarily considered as the result of early Cambrian polyphase karstification in an extensional tectonic regime, later modified by Neogene–Quaternary geomorphological processes. The event may correlate with other regressive events of a similar age in Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, South America and Australia. This episode also has local names (e.g. Cerro del Hierro Regression in the Mediterranean region; Woodlands Regression in the UK). It is sometimes accompanied by additional karst development outside of Spain that is compared and interpreted in a global context.

Keywords

Ossa–Morena ZoneCambrianStage 3 (Series 2)karstificationbiostratigraphypalaeoenvironment
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 158 , Issue 5 , May 2021 , pp. 811 - 824
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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