Local stress fields and intraplate deformation of Iberia: variations in spatial and temporal interplay of regional stress sources

Tertiary to present deformation in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula reflects spatial and temporal variations of the activity of the plate boundaries. Local deformation patterns observed in many of the numerous intraplate Tertiary basins and their borders, such as the Madrid Basin and the Sierra de Altomira, are at first sight incompatible with the regional stress field under which they were formed. We demonstrate, however, that they can be explained as the effect of several stress fields that acted on the Iberian Peninsula from earliest Tertiary onward. Data on local deformation can constrain both magnitudes and directions of forces acting on the plate boundaries of Iberia, enabling us to estimate the relative importance of the different plate driving and deforming mechanisms providing further constraints on the tectonic evolution of Iberia. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.