THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEOGENE BASINS IN THE SE BETIC CORDILLERA (SE SPAIN): A CASE STUDY OF THE TABERNAS‐SORBAS AND HUERCAL OVERA BASINS

Neogene— Quaternary sedimentary basins in SE Spain contain a record of the geodynamic evolution of the Internal Zone of the Betic Cordillera. The basement of the Internal Zone is composed of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic metasediments which have undergone variable degrees of metamorphism. The External Zones consist of largely unmetamorphosed sedimentary rocks which were deposited on the SE margin of the Iberian Plate during the Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic. Westward tectonic emplacement of these terranes onto the Iberian Plate took place between the end of the Palaeogene and the middle Miocene. In this paper, we investigate the late Miocene (Tortonian‐Messinian) stratigraphy of two basins in the Internal Zone — the Tabernas‐Sorbas and Huercal Overa Basins. We also consider some recently‐acquired structural data.