AUTONOMOUS (NOT PLATE-TECTONIC)
GEODYNAMICS OF PYRENEES

V.I. Shevchenko, T.V. Guseva, I.P. Dobrovolsky, I.S. Krupennikova, A.A. Lukk

Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Abstract. According to the literary materials, the tectonic structure, seismicity and modern geodynamics of the sublatitudinal Pyrenees are considered. Geological evidence suggests that in the structure of this edifice the main role is played by flaky overthrusts, partially shifting into tectonic covers, and the folds associated with them.  The decrease in the width of the Pyrenees in the near-terminational direction, across the strike, expected in the context of the plat-tectonic concept, due to the compression resulting from the convergence of the Eurasian in the north and the African and Iberian lithospheric plates in the south, is not confirmed by geodetic data.  The GPS-measurements revealed an increase in the width of the Pyrenees. The increase in the width of this structure is also established by seismological data, based on the interpretation of the sets of mechanisms of earthquake foci. Thus, there is a clear contradiction between the results obtained, on the one hand, by geological and, on the other hand, by geodetic and seismological methods.  This contradiction is proposed to be eliminated by invoking previously developed ideas about the volume expansion of stratified rocks, the expansion of the corresponding parts of the Earth's crust as a result of the inflow of additional mineral matter with deep fluids rising from the lower crust/upper mantle.

Keywords: tectonic structure, seismicity, stress state, modern geodynamics, Pyrenees.

About the authors

SHEVCHENKO Vladimir I. – Ph. D. (geol.-min.), senior researcher, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (499) 254-90-35.
E-mail: shevch@ifz.ru

GUSEVA Tamara V. – Ph. D. (tech.), leading researcher, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (499) 254-24-96. E-mail: guseva@ifz.ru

DOBROVOLSKY Igor P. – Ph. D. (phys. and math.), chief researcher, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (499) 254-53-16. E-mail: dipedip@gmail.com

KRUPENNIKOVA Irina S. – science researcher, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (499) 254-24-96. E-mail: ik@ifz.ru

LUKK Albert A. – Ph. D. (phys. and math.), leading researcher, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (499) 254-90-35. E-mail: lukk@ifz.ru