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In this study we contrast the results of different geophysical methods in order to describe the karst system surrounding of the Gruta de las Maravillas cave (Aracena, Spain). A comprehensive study of the geophysical responses of the known cavity was carried out, after which several sections were studied to detect the karst architecture and cave continuity. To ensure precision, the inner 3D-topography of the cave was determined by classical geodetic techniques and a digital terrain model was performed with differential GPS. The microgravity method was used to obtain the residual gravity map of the entire study zone, whose minima could be related to caves. Then, the negative gravity anomalies were analyzed to plan several lines for implementing further geophysical methods: magnetic profiles (MP), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), induced polarization (IP), 2D seismic prospection (refraction tomography and reflection sections) and ground penetrating radar (GPR). The resulting models for each line explored were integrated with detailed geological maps to establish the unknown continuity of the caves. Finally, we discuss the suitability of each geophysical technique for cave detection in marble with sulfur host rock and propose the best procedures to constrain their geometries., Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

[EN] The acequias de careo are ancestral water channels excavated during the early Al-Andalus period (8th-10th centuries), which are used to recharge aquifers in the watersheds of the Sierra Nevada mountain range (Southeastern Spain). The water channels are maintained by local communities, and their main function is collecting snowmelt, but also runoff from rainfall from the headwaters of river basins and distributing it throughout the upper parts of the slopes. This method of aquifer artificial recharge extends the availability of water resources in the lowlands of the river basins during the dry season when there is almost no precipitation and water demand is higher. This study investigates the contribution of the careo channels in the watershed of Bérchules concerning the total aquifer recharge during the 2014-2015 hydrological year. Several channels were gauged, and the runoff data were compared with those obtained from a semi-distributed hydrological model applied to the same hydrological basin. The natural infiltration of meteoric waters accounted for 52% of the total recharge, while the remaining 48% corresponded to water transported and infiltrated by the careo channels. In other words, the careo recharge system enhances by 92% the natural recharge to the aquifer. Our results demonstrate the importance of this ancestral and efficient channel system for recharging slope aquifers developed in hard rocks. The acequias de careo are nature-based solutions for increasing water resources availability that have contributed to a prosperous life in the Sierra Nevada. Its long history (>1200 years) suggests that the system has remarkable resilience properties, which have allowed adaptation and permance for centuries in drastically changing climatic and socioeconomic conditions. This recharge system could also be applied to -or inspire similar adaptation measures in- semi-arid mountain areas around the world where it may help in mitigating climate change effects.

Study region: Old Las Salinas spring in Medina del Campo, Duero river basin, central Spain. Study focus: Medina del Campo groundwater body (MCGWB) is a multilayer semiconfined aquifer subject to intensive pumping since the 1970’s, where the current existence of spas where there used to be traditional baths could confirm the existence of deep groundwater flow paths. The old spring of Las Salinas (OSLS) is a saline anomaly in an aquifer with predominance of CaCO3H waters whose occurrence has not yet been formally explained. Long-term geological, geophysical, hydrogeological and hydrochemical records were integrated and complemented with field work to clarify its existence. New hydrological insights for the region: Outcomes led to the conclusion that the hydrochemistry of the Olmedo and Palacio de las Salinas salt baths is associated with the existence of a major threshold in the impervious basement of the aquifer, which intercepted deep regional groundwater flow and caused upwelling to the surface under unperturbed conditions. These results allow for the development of a conceptual flow model at the regional scale that explains the changes in natural water chemistry that have been identified in recent decades., Unión Europea. Horizonte 2020, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

Assessing water resources in high mountain semi-arid zones is essential to be able to manage and plan the use of these resources downstream where they are used. However, it is not easy to manage an unknown resource, a situation that is common in the vast majority of high mountain hydrological basins. In the present work, the discharge flow in an ungauged basin is estimated using the hydrological parameters of an HBV (Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning) model calibrated in a “neighboring gauged basin”. The results of the hydrological simulation obtained in terms of average annual discharge are validated using the VI-ETo model. This model relates a simple hydrological balance to the discharge of the basin with the evaporation of the vegetal cover of the soil, and this to the SAVI index, which is obtained remotely by means of satellite images. The results of the modeling for both basins underscore the role of the underground discharge in the total discharge of the hydrological system. This is the result of the deglaciation process suffered by the high mountain areas of the Mediterranean arc. This process increases the infiltration capacity of the terrain, the recharge and therefore the discharge of the aquifers that make up the glacial and periglacial sediments that remain exposed on the surface as witnesses of what was the last glaciation.

Assessing water resources in high mountain semi-arid zones is essential to be able to manage and plan the use of these resources downstream where they are used. However, it is not easy to manage an unknown resource, a situation that is common in the vast majority of high mountain hydrological basins. In the present work, the discharge flow in an ungauged basin is estimated using the hydrological parameters of an HBV (Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning) model calibrated in a “neighboring gauged basin”. The results of the hydrological simulation obtained in terms of average annual discharge are validated using the VI-ETo model. This model relates a simple hydrological balance to the discharge of the basin with the evaporation of the vegetal cover of the soil, and this to the SAVI index, which is obtained remotely by means of satellite images. The results of the modeling for both basins underscore the role of the underground discharge in the total discharge of the hydrological system. This is the result of the deglaciation process suffered by the high mountain areas of the Mediterranean arc. This process increases the infiltration capacity of the terrain, the recharge and therefore the discharge of the aquifers that make up the glacial and periglacial sediments that remain exposed on the surface as witnesses of what was the last glaciation.

[EN] Epikarst – the shallow, surficial part of a karstic massif – has a significant influence on the spatio-temporal variability of recharge and the hydrodynamic functioning of many karst aquifers. In the Mediterranean morphoclimatic zone, the average thickness of a well-developed epikarst is around ten metres, but the spatial patterns of its degree of development are very heterogeneous due to the complex interaction of a number of different factors such as lithology, fracturing, weathering, soil and vegetation. In addition, direct field observation is difficult because good outcropping conditions are restricted to particular locations, some areas are not accessible and the size of the study area is often too large for exhaustive field surveys. Satellite-based remote sensing, however, provides a complete coverage of an entire area with spectral resolutions that detect variability in features that can define image textures related to the development of the epikarst. This paper describes a quantitative methodology for epikarst mapping using satellite images and field data. The proposed method comprises an unsupervised classification to define the spectral signature of each of three epikarst development categories in a high-resolution satellite image followed by a supervised classification of the terrain into one of the three categories on a low spatial resolution scale. The training areas in the field are assigned to the three categories by a panel of experts using the Delphi method. Geophysical data are used for validation to overcome any bias that may be introduced by the panel. The proposed methodology has been applied to the Sierra de las Nieves karstic aquifer (Málaga, southern Spain). The outcome is a map of estimated epikarst development that is an approximation to reality and which can be improved as more experimental data become available.

[EN] This research underlines the need to improve water management policies for areas linked to confined karstic aquifers subjected to intensive exploitation, and to develop additional efforts towards monitoring their subsidence evolution. We analyze subsidence related to intensive use of groundwater in a confined karstic aquifer, through the use of the InSAR technique, by the southern coast of Spain (Costa del Sol). Carbonates are overlain by an unconfined detritic aquifer with interlayered high transmissivity rocks, in connection with the Mediterranean Sea, where the water level is rather stable. Despite this, an accumulated deformation in the line-of-sight (LOS) direction greater than -100 mm was observed by means of the ERS-1/2 (1992-2000) and Envisat (2003-2009) satellite SAR sensors. During this period, the Costa del Sol experienced a major population increase due to the expansion of the tourism industry, with the consequent increase in groundwater exploitation. The maximum LOS displacement rates recorded during both time spans are respectively -6 mm/yr and -11 mm/yr, respectively. During the entire period, there was an accumulated descent of the confined water level of 140 m, and several fluctuations of more than 80 m correlating with the subsidence trend observed for the whole area. Main sedimentary depocenters (up to 800 m), revealed by gravity prospecting, partly coincide with areas of subsidence maxima; yet ground deformation is also influenced by other factors, the main ones being the fine-grained facies distribution and rapid urbanization due to high touristic pressure.

Aquifers in permeable formations developed in high-mountain watersheds slow down the transfer of snowmelt to rivers, modifying rivers' flow pattern. To gain insight into the processes that control the hydrologic response of such systems the role played by groundwater in an alpine basin located at the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula is investigated. As data in these environments is generally scarce and its variability is high, simple lumped parameter hydrological models that consider the groundwater component and snow accumulation and melting are needed. Instead of using existing models that use many parameters, the Témez lumped hydrological model of common use in Spain and Ibero-American countries is selected and modified to consider snow to get a simplified tool to separate hydrograph components. The result is the TDD model (Témez-Degree Day) which is applied in a high mountain watershed with seasonal snow cover in Southern Spain to help in quantifying groundwater recharge and determining the groundwater contribution to the outflow. Average groundwater recharge is about 23% of the precipitation, and groundwater contribution to total outflow ranges between 70 and 97%. Direct surface runoff is 1% of precipitation. These values depend on the existence of snow. Results are consistent with those obtained with chloride atmospheric deposition mass balances by other authors. They highlight the important role of groundwater in high mountain areas, which is enhanced by seasonal snow cover. Results compare well with other areas. This effect is often neglected in water planning, but can be easily taken into account just by extending the water balance tool in use, or any other, following the procedure that has being developed.

Aquifers in permeable formations developed in high-mountain watersheds slow down the transfer of snowmelt to rivers, modifying rivers' flow pattern. To gain insight into the processes that control the hydrologic response of such systems the role played by groundwater in an alpine basin located at the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula is investigated. As data in these environments is generally scarce and its variability is high, simple lumped parameter hydrological models that consider the groundwater component and snow accumulation and melting are needed. Instead of using existing models that use many parameters, the Témez lumped hydrological model of common use in Spain and Ibero-American countries is selected and modified to consider snow to get a simplified tool to separate hydrograph components. The result is the TDD model (Témez-Degree Day) which is applied in a high mountain watershed with seasonal snow cover in Southern Spain to help in quantifying groundwater recharge and determining the groundwater contribution to the outflow. Average groundwater recharge is about 23% of the precipitation, and groundwater contribution to total outflow ranges between 70 and 97%. Direct surface runoff is 1% of precipitation. These values depend on the existence of snow. Results are consistent with those obtained with chloride atmospheric deposition mass balances by other authors. They highlight the important role of groundwater in high mountain areas, which is enhanced by seasonal snow cover. Results compare well with other areas. This effect is often neglected in water planning, but can be easily taken into account just by extending the water balance tool in use, or any other, following the procedure that has being developed.

Bahia Esperanza, constituting the NE tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, is made up of Paleozoic clastic sedimentary rocks overlain by a Jurassic volcano-sedimentary series and intruded by Cretaceous gabbros and diorites. The area is located along the southern part of the Pacific Margin magnetic anomaly belt. Field magnetic researches during February 2010 contribute to determining the deep geometry of the intermediate and basic intrusive rocks. Moreover, the new field data help constrain the regional Pacific Margin Anomaly, characterized up to now only by aeromagnetic and marine data. Field magnetic susceptibility measurements of intrusive intermediate and basic rocks, responsible for magnetic anomalies, ranges from 0.5 × 10− 3 SI in diorites to values between 0.75 × 10− 3 SI and 1.3 × 10− 3 SI in gabbros. In addition, a significant remanent magnetism should also have contributed to the anomalies. The regional magnetic anomaly is characterized by a westward increase from 100 nT up to 750 nT, associated with large intrusive diorite bodies. They probably underlie most of the western slopes of Mount Flora. Gabbros in the Nobby Nunatak determine local residual rough anomalies that extend northwards and westwards, pointing to the irregular geometry of the top of the basic rocks bodies below the Pirámide Peak Glacier. However, the southern and eastern boundaries with the Buenos Aires Glacier are sharp related to deep glacier incision. As a result of the glacier dynamics, magnetic anomalies are also detected north of the Nobby Nunatak due to the extension of the anomalous body and the presence of gabbro blocks in the moraines. The Bahia Esperanza region is a key area where onshore field geological and magnetic research allows us to constrain the shape of the crustal igneous intrusions and the basement glacier geometry, providing accurate data that complete regional aeromagnetic research

Bahia Esperanza, constituting the NE tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, is made up of Paleozoic clastic sedimentary rocks overlain by a Jurassic volcano-sedimentary series and intruded by Cretaceous gabbros and diorites. The area is located along the southern part of the Pacific Margin magnetic anomaly belt. Field magnetic researches during February 2010 contribute to determining the deep geometry of the intermediate and basic intrusive rocks. Moreover, the new field data help constrain the regional Pacific Margin Anomaly, characterized up to now only by aeromagnetic and marine data. Field magnetic susceptibility measurements of intrusive intermediate and basic rocks, responsible for magnetic anomalies, ranges from 0.5 × 10− 3 SI in diorites to values between 0.75 × 10− 3 SI and 1.3 × 10− 3 SI in gabbros. In addition, a significant remanent magnetism should also have contributed to the anomalies. The regional magnetic anomaly is characterized by a westward increase from 100 nT up to 750 nT, associated with large intrusive diorite bodies. They probably underlie most of the western slopes of Mount Flora. Gabbros in the Nobby Nunatak determine local residual rough anomalies that extend northwards and westwards, pointing to the irregular geometry of the top of the basic rocks bodies below the Pirámide Peak Glacier. However, the southern and eastern boundaries with the Buenos Aires Glacier are sharp related to deep glacier incision. As a result of the glacier dynamics, magnetic anomalies are also detected north of the Nobby Nunatak due to the extension of the anomalous body and the presence of gabbro blocks in the moraines. The Bahia Esperanza region is a key area where onshore field geological and magnetic research allows us to constrain the shape of the crustal igneous intrusions and the basement glacier geometry, providing accurate data that complete regional aeromagnetic research

Active faults from the Campo de Dalías (SE Betic Cordillera) allow us to constrain the deformation styles involved in the development of segmented oblique-slip faults. This sector constitutes the widest outcrop of Plio-Quaternary sediments in the northern boundary of the Alboran Sea. It has emerged since the Late Pliocene, and therefore provides recent deformation markers that are not disturbed by erosive processes. The faults started to grow during the Pleistocene, reactivating previous hybrid joints, with a normal-dextral slip. We present a detailed map of the largest fault in the area, the Loma del Viento fault, comprising six onshore segments. Based on field work and aerial photography, the distributions of the contiguous joints have been mapped, and the joints reactivated as faults are identified. Some of these fault segments are hard-linked, and fault slip enhances toward the linkage sectors between them with associated sedimentary depocenters. An electrical tomography profile reveals the wedge geometry of a unit of Pleistocene conglomerates and red silts that were coevally deposited during the fault movement. Long-term slip rate in the central part of the fault is estimated at 0.07 ± 0.03 mm/y. In addition, a seismic crisis nucleated close to the Loma del Viento fault during November 2010 was recorded. Moment tensor analysis of the two mainshocks (Mw 3.5 and 4.2) provides a focal solution indicating a N120°E striking right-lateral strike-slip fault. The corrugated morphology of the Loma del Viento fault may have influenced its seismic behavior. Some of the fault segments are oblique to the general motion of the fault. These oblique segments would provide higher resistance against the general fault motion and could lock the fault, leading to accumulate elastic energy

The Ronda Depression constitutes a Neogene intramontane basin located in the external zones of the Western Betic Cordillera. Major deformation structures affect only the southwestern part of its sedimentary infill and consist of NNE–SSW and WNW–ESE box folds that developed simultaneously. New gravity data reveal two negative NNE–SSW elongated Bouguer anomalies, unrelated to basin depocenters, but corresponding to the accumulation of low-density ductile Triassic basement rocks in the core of antiforms or directly under the northwestern undeformed sedimentary infill. The Subbetic basement is also deformed by early-Burdigalian to Serravallian NNE–SSW folds and thrusts, although there is no clear continuity with those affecting the late-Miocene sedimentary infill. The aim of this contribution is to describe in detail the late-Miocene folds that deform the Ronda Depression, as well as to discuss the role of the basement nature on their reactivation. The reactivation of the pre-Tortonian folds, due to the heterogeneous distribution of evaporitic Triassic rocks in the basement as well as the presence of rigid limestones on the southwestern basin boundary, determined the simultaneous orthogonal fold development that only evidence local deformation.

Seismic hazard is associated with recent and present fault activity in mountain ranges. In the Betic-Rif alpine mountain chain, tectonic activity started in the Cretaceous, and topographic uplift continues since Tortonian times as a consequence of the NW–SE oblique convergence between Africa and Eurasia. The deformation is active and produces seismicity that sometimes has catastrophic consequences. The Al Hoceima earthquake (February 24, 2004), considered one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded instrumentally in the westernmost Mediterranean (M = 6.3), caused great damage in the region. Seismological studies agree that the main shock was situated on land, at the limit between the External and Internal Zones of the Rif, at a depth of 10–14 km. The focal mechanism points to a strike-slip solution with a NW–SE oriented P axis, quite similar to those of the significant 1994 earthquake swarm located to the north. The epicenter aftershocks distribution would signal the presence of a N–S oriented sinistral fault, activated by the NW–SE regional compression associated to plate boundary convergence. In this setting, the seismogenic fault ruptures related to these seismic events are expected to have reached the Earth's surface. However, detailed field work carried out 1 month after the earthquake does not evidence any N–S strike-slip coseismic fault in the epicentral area. The main observed effects were landslides, damages to constructions, and locally open cracks indicating an unexpected NW–SE extension. Scarce N–S faults are normal, the main ones being located several kilometers away from the epicentral area. To explain this apparent contradiction between geological and seismological observations, we propose a decoupled tectonic model with crustal detachments that separate a deep brittle crust from an upper crust undergoing uplift, and the development of large folds and normal faults. This geological setting, common to internal zones of cordilleras, may need to be take