Architecture and tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the intramontane Baza Basin (Bétics, SE-Spain): Constraints from seismic imaging

The Baza basin is a large Neogene intramontane basin in the Bétic Cordillera of southern Spain that formed during the Tortonian (late Miocene). The Bétic Cordillera was produced by NW–SE oblique convergence between the Eurasian and African Plates. Three seismic reflection lines (each 18km long; vibroseis method) were acquired across the Baza basin to reveal the architecture of the sedimentary infill and faulting during basin formation. We applied rather conventional CDP data processing followed by first arrival P-wave tomography to provide complementary structural information and establish velocity models for the post-stack migration. These images show a highly asymmetric structure for the Basin with sediments thickening westward, reaching a maximum observed thickness of >2200m near the governing Baza Fault zone (BFZ). Three major seismic units (including several subunits) on top of the acoustic basement could be identified. We use stratigraphic information from the uplifted block of the BFZ and other outcrops at the basin edges together with available information from neighboring Bétic basins to tentatively correlate the seismic units to the known stratigraphy in the area. Until new drilling or surface outcrop data is not available, this interpretation is preliminary.